WSKQ, branded La Mega 97.9, streams salsa, merengue, bachata and reggaeton free on Radio Shuffle, broadcasting in Spanish from a transmitter mounted on the Empire State Building. It is one of the highest-rated radio stations in New York City in any language, a tropical-music powerhouse that spent years beating English-language giants at their own game.
From a Jewish Daily Forward Simulcast to Tropical Radio
The frequency at 97.9 FM has been on air since July 1, 1951, originally signing on as WEVD-FM and simulcasting the AM station owned by The Jewish Daily Forward, carrying brokered ethnic programming, Jewish content and pop standards, according to the station's history. That identity had nothing to do with the station New Yorkers know today. The real transformation came in 1993, when Alfredo Alonso took over and reformatted the signal as Mega 97.9, La Mega, built around tropical Latin music rather than the ethnic and standards programming the frequency had carried for four decades.
The Morning Show That Beat Howard Stern
La Mega's rise became impossible to ignore once El Vacilón de la Mañana hit the air on August 9, 1993, created by comedian and host Luis Jiménez after program director George Mier invited him to New York specifically to launch it. Over the next thirteen years, the show grew into the most listened-to Spanish-language morning program in the United States, and by 1998 Arbitron's ratings had it beating Howard Stern's legendary morning show outright in the New York market, a result that marked a real turning point for Spanish-language radio nationally. Jiménez left the show in January 2007 under a non-compete tied to a new Univision Radio contract, and Spanish Broadcasting System brought in Dominican-born Juan Carlos Alonso and Puerto Rican host Frankie Jay to carry the morning slot forward.
Beating Everyone, Regardless of Language
La Mega's success eventually stopped being a story about Spanish-language radio specifically. By 1998 the station had already overtaken longtime market leader WLTW-FM, and the gains kept compounding over the following decades. In June 2014, WSKQ-FM claimed the number one position among all adults 18 to 49 in New York, regardless of language, a milestone for a station broadcasting entirely in Spanish to top every English-language competitor in the country's largest radio market.
Broadcasting From the Top of New York
WSKQ's transmitter sits atop the Empire State Building, putting the station's physical signal source at one of the most recognizable points in the city's skyline. Owned today by Spanish Broadcasting System, La Mega keeps its tropical format centered on salsa, merengue, bachata and reggaeton, the sound that carried it from a 1993 rebrand to the top of the entire New York market.
Listen to La Mega 97.9 Free on Radio Shuffle
Tune in to La Mega 97.9 on Radio Shuffle, no account, no app, no fee. Press play and hear the New York tropical station that beat Howard Stern in the ratings and then beat everyone else too.