WQHT began as an experimental station, W2XWG, licensed to the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and located at the Empire State Building in New York City.

W2XWG started operations in April 1939, initially as an "Apex" station, used for determining the coverage area of transmitting frequencies higher than those used by the standard AM broadcast band.

[5] In May 1940, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM band operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz.

[8] However, NBC reported that equipment shortages resulting from the outbreak of World War II meant it was unable to get delivery of W51NY's high powered transmitter,[3] and on June 10, 1942, the construction permit for commercial operation was canceled, and the W51NY call sign deleted.

The station's last broadcast as W2XWG took place on September 23, 1944,[11] with its debut as WEAF-FM coming the next day, now with seven-day-a-week programming from 3-11 p.m. that was an expansion over W2XWG's schedule of only operating Saturday through Wednesday.

On October 18, 1954, the call letters were changed to WRCA-FM,[16] reflecting NBC's then-parent company, the Radio Corporation of America, but returned to WNBC-FM on May 22, 1960.

For a brief period starting in late 1974, the station attempted a fully automated beautiful music format for a younger demographic, called "The Love of New York".

The station then went to a commercial break and, after airing the hourly legal ID at midnight, switched to an adult contemporary music format with a soft rock lean, under the moniker Y-97.

[clarification needed] By the end of 1978, after toying briefly with an all-Beatles format, WYNY evolved to a middle of the road (MOR) sound featuring artists such as Frank Sinatra, The Carpenters, Elvis Presley, Barry Manilow, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Carly Simon, and Barbra Streisand.

Musically, WYNY added Motown songs, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, Donna Summer, and soft hits from the contemporary artists.

The station was also a pioneer of Contemporary Christian music in the city, airing the weekly show Masterpeace, hosted by Steven Joseph.

In April 1987, country music station WHN announced plans to go to sports full-time on July 1, becoming all-sports WFAN.

Conversely, Emmis transferred the WQHT call sign and rhythmic contemporary format from 103.5 to the former WYNY at 97.1 FM, becoming "Hot 97" at 5:30 pm.

"[23]: 336  In response, Emmis named Judy Ellis its general manager (a position in which she served until 2003), and WQHT started to add more R&B and hip hop music.

Dan Charnas recounted the perception of this move: "The trades ran stories on the new trend, typified by the Emmis stations, Hot 97 and Power 106: hiring street kids or entertainers with little or no radio experience at the expense of longtime professionals who had paid their dues.

[23]: 347–348 In 1993, Funkmaster Flex joined the station and was host of the Friday Night Street Jam and a weekly two-hour show where he mixed hip-hop live from the studio.

A few years later, the two had a public falling out, resulting in Williams being fired from WQHT and Martinez assuming afternoon drive, where she remained until she was hired by WWPR-FM on June 19, 2014.

In addition, Emmis will take a 23.72% stake in the new company's common equity, and continue to manage the stations under shared services agreements.

"[30] Following angry protests from the public, Miss Jones, DJ Envy, and Tasha Hightower were suspended for two weeks while Todd Lynn and songwriter Rick Del Gado were fired.

Wu Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck stated that the group faced a 10-year blacklist by Hot 97 after a fiasco involving their booking at the concert.

In June 1997, the group was on tour with Rage Against the Machine in Europe in support of the Wu-Tang Forever album, but was also booked to perform at the Summer Jam.

This led to what Deck says was a 10-year blacklist of Wu Tang from Hot 97, and even other New York radio stations, which affected their commercial reputation and music sales.

[38] Other notable controversies include a 2001 show in which Jay Z put embarrassing childhood photos of Mobb Deep's Prodigy "up on that Summer Jam screen".

The 2002 concert saw a bailout from headliner Nas after the station objected to him hanging an effigy of Jay Z from the stage during the height of their rivalry.

Later beefs involving 50 Cent and Ja Rule, Eminem's feud with The Source, a 2006 show that had Busta Rhymes parading a series of rap legends onstage, and then-Hot 97 airstaffer Miss Jones dissing Mary J. Blige on air after the singer did not mention her name when she sent shout-outs to the Hot 97 DJs.

That comment and the alleged sexual relationship between the self-proclaimed "Queen of rap" and the host Ebro Darden would prompt Lil Wayne to pull Minaj and the rest of the acts signed to Cash Money Records out of the event.

[42] This was later addressed by Ebro Darden and Rosenberg on their morning show, responding to remarks that include the charge that Hot 97 is a "CORPlantation," but Darden, who admits that he agrees with Chuck D on addressing the issues, later pointed out by responding that "I think there's validity to what he's saying as to, 'I guess Hot 97 could be more local," and added "But people that listen to us when we research the songs don't vote those songs high enough to stay around.

[44] The following day (June 8), WQHT addressed the issue on its morning show and plans to refund the customers who could not get into the event, while the American Civil Liberties Union's New Jersey chapter called for the state Attorney General's office to investigate if any violations were reported.

Although the Festival Village portion was cancelled due to weather for the 2016 event, Hot 97 confirmed their annual Summer Jam will continue "rain or shine".

[46] The event and its influence, despite losing credibility, constant rivalry between artists and with the station itself, and declining audiences, continues to be a legacy for WQHT.