WWRL
[9] Stations were also informed that if they wanted to continue operating, they needed to file a formal license application by January 15, 1928, as the first step in determining whether they met the new "public interest, convenience, or necessity" standard.
[10] On May 25, 1928, the FRC issued General Order 32, which notified 164 stations, including WWRL, that "From an examination of your application for future license it does not find that public interest, convenience, or necessity would be served by granting it.
[6]: 188 With the slogan "The Voice of Queens County," WWRL began to broadcast programs in Italian, German, French, Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, and Czech, as well as English.
Most programs on the station were oriented towards Hispanic and Black listeners, and Greek, Syrian, Irish, Ukrainian, Russian, and Scandinavian shows also joined the schedule.
records could be popular with white audiences... [and] are exerting a great influence on the music played on contemporary and pop-contemporary formatted stations.
"[16] Beginning in May 1966, WWRL instituted an "integrated music programming policy" that added rock and pop hits in addition to R&B to the playlist.
"[21] The Federal Communications Commission reprimanded Sonderling Broadcasting in May 1971 for allowing the Reverend James Lofton Jr. to use WWRL facilities to solicit money in exchange for tips for a numbers game.
[6]: 190 [25] In an era when sports programming on radio was limited to live play-by-play, news briefs, and a select few call-in shows,[26] Enterprise was described as an "abortive attempt to launch the all-sports format" and shut down before year's end.
[28] In 1982, Viacom donated WWRL to the United Negro College Fund, which immediately sold the station to National Black Network subsidiary Unity Broadcasting.
[6]: 190 [29] Replacing the contemporary R&B were urban gospel and reggae music, plus worship services from local black churches were broadcast live on evenings and weekends.
[30][31] These rallies included a controversial one on September 9, 1995, in which Sharpton claimed that Jewish building owner Fred Harari wanted to evict a record store so that a "white interloper" could "expand his business on 125th Street.
"[31][32] Following that comment, Harari's business, a clothing store named Freddy's Fashion Mart, was destroyed in an arson, leading to eight deaths.
[40] To resolve issues of co-channel interference, WWRL bought and later shut down three nearby stations on the 1600 or 1590 frequencies: WERA 1590 in Plainfield, New Jersey, WLNG 1600 in Sag Harbor, New York, and WQQW 1590 in Waterbury, Connecticut.
"[43] To distinguish itself from FM urban contemporary stations WBIX and WRKS, starting in the summer of 1999, WWRL devoted Saturdays to playing Caribbean music, and added R&B from the 1950s and earlier to its playlist.
[49][50] Barnard College sociology professor Jonathan Rieder called the show "an interracial buddy pair, the radio equivalent of Lethal Weapon".
[53] By the beginning of 2003, WWRL had talk shows for most of the week, with music only broadcast on weekends, specifically Caribbean on Saturdays and gospel on Sundays.
[55][56][57] In August 2006, WWRL became the flagship station for Air America, a politically liberal talk radio network that had previously broadcast on 1190 WLIB.
[58] Beginning on October 29, 2007, Mark Riley and New York television personality Richard Bey co-hosted the WWRL morning show.
[62] On December 13, 2013, WWRL announced it would change format to Regional Mexican music in Spanish, citing low advertising revenue as a reason.
