WEPN (AM)

WEPN
Broadcast areaNew York metropolitan area
Frequency1050 kHz
Branding1050 ESPN
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatSports radio
AffiliationsESPN Radio
Ownership
Owner
WHSQ
History
First air date
March 19, 1922
(102 years ago)
 (1922-03-19)
Former call signs
  • WHN (1922–1948)
  • WMGM (1948–1962)
  • WHN (1962–1987)
  • WFAN (1987–1988)
  • WUKQ (1988–1989)
  • WEVD (1989–2003)
Call sign meaning
ESPN Radio
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID65636
ClassB
Power50,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
40°46′36.37″N 74°3′6.51″W / 40.7767694°N 74.0518083°W / 40.7767694; -74.0518083
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitegoodkarmabrands.com/espn-new-york

WEPN (1050 kHz) is a sports radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned-and-operated by Good Karma Brands and its transmitter site is located in North Bergen, New Jersey.

The 1050 AM facility in New York signed on in 1922 as WHN. For the majority of its existence under these call letters, as well as during its 14-year stint as WMGM, the station broadcast several different music-based formats, finally assuming a country music format in 1973. In 1987, WHN dropped its country format to become the first radio station dedicated entirely to sports programming, changing its call letters to WFAN. A series of transactions in the late 1980s resulted in WFAN's format and call letters moving in October 1988 to 660 AM (on which WFAN has continued to broadcast since), with the brokered programming format and call letters of The Forward-owned WEVD (previously on 97.9 FM) being moved to 1050 AM in February 1989. In 2001, The Walt Disney Company took control of the station (later buying it and renaming it to WEPN in 2003) and transformed it into a full-time affiliate of its ESPN Radio network. In 2012, WEPN became an affiliate of the Spanish-language ESPN Deportes Radio network, reverting to broadcasting the English-language ESPN Radio upon ESPN Deportes Radio's shutdown in 2019.

Since its return to ESPN Radio programming in 2019, the station has aired the national ESPN Radio lineup in its entirety, including programs not cleared by WHSQ (880 AM) or, prior to August 2024, WEPN-FM (98.7). WEPN also carries overflow play-by-play rights, including most New York Islanders games, and some New York Rangers games.

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WEPN". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.