please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message wbmp city new york new york broadcast area new york city area branding 92.3 amp radio slogan new york s new hit music frequency 92.3 mhz also on hd radio 92.3 hd2 k rock 92.3 hd3 radio disney first air date december 25 1948 1948 12 25 as wmca fm format rhythmic top 40 erp 6 000 watts haat 415 meters class b facility id 58579 callsign meaning amp radio b follows a in the alphabet former callsigns wmca fm 1948 1951 whom fm 1951 1975 wktu 1975 1985 wxrk 1985 2005 and 2007 2012 1 wfny fm 2006 2007 wnow fm 2012 2014 owner cbs radio cbs radio east inc. sister stations wcbs wcbs fm wcbs tv wfan wfan fm wins wlny tv wnew fm webcast 92.3 amp radio webstream k rock webstream hd2 website 923ampradiony . com krockradio.com hd2 wbmp 92.3 mhz branded as 92.3 amp radio is an american fm radio station licensed to new york city . owned by cbs radio wbmp broadcasts a rhythmic top 40 music format for the new york metropolitan area . the station was the flagship of the howard stern show from november 1985 to december 2005 and the opie and anthony show from april 2006 until march 2009 . wbmp has studios located in the hudson square district of manhattan and has a transmitter atop the empire state building . wbmp broadcasts in hd . a rock music format known as k rock airs on the hd 2 channel and radio disney a children s music format airs on the hd 3 channel . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1948 1975 1.2 wktu 1975 1985 1.2.1 mellow 92 disco 92 1.2.2 92ktu 1.3 wxrk 1985 2005 1.3.1 92.3 k rock 1.4 wfny fm 2006 2007 1.4.1 92.3 free fm 1.5 re launch for wxrk 2007 2009 1.5.1 k rock returns 1.6 92.3 now 2009 2014 1.6.1 tic tak stunt 1.6.2 howard stern returns 1.6.3 hurricane sandy 1.6.4 wow controversy 1.7 92.3 amp radio 2014 present 2 k rock2 and hd radio operations 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit early years 1948 1975 edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message the station first using the call letters wmca fm went on the air on december 25 1948 . it was co owned with wmca radio 570 am by former new york state senator nathan straus . fm radio was not a successful venture for straus and he decided to either sell the fm station or close it down altogether . in late 1950 straus sold the station to the owners of whom radio 1480 am now wzrc and whom fm appeared on february 26 1951 featuring a variety of formats including ethnic background music classical spanish and easy listening . by the early 1970s whom fm had a spanish language easy listening format . wktu 1975 1985 edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message mellow 92 disco 92 edit whom and whom fm in the early 70 s were sold to sjr communications . on june 5 1975 whom fm became wktu taking on an adult contamporary format and was positioned as soft rock . they were known as mellow 92 . they played current ac songs that crossed over to top 40 as well as a mix of music from 1964 forward . core artists included eagles stevie wonder elton john james taylor paul simon stylistics linda ronstadt four tops carly simon barry manilow and some more contemporary cuts by barbara streisand . for 60 s music the station played softer beatles songs mamas and papas spanky and our gang association fifth dimension among others . the station steered clear of ac only songs and standards vocalists as well as hard rock or uptempo r & b. eventually the station evolved re positioned as mellow rock dropped artists like the carpenters most r & b product and added some softer songs from aor artists . unlike today s adult contemporary music formats wktu by early 1978 was only playing artists heard on album oriented rock stations using the softer songs from their popular albums . artists found primarily on top 40 stations were no longer included . wktu was still called mellow 92 at that point . ratings were relatively low . the mellow 92 continued until june 1978 . meanwhile station executive david rapaport father of actor michael rapaport visited new york s studio 54 discoth que on half a dozen occasions and was very impressed with the crowds there . he got the idea that a disco based station was needed as several fm based top 40 stations were leaning disco in other markets although no one was airing all disco music around the clock . as a result rapaport purchased 200 disco records and brought them into the station . wktu abruptly flipped to a disco based rhythmic top 40 format with the tagline disco 92 at 6 p.m. on july 24 1978 . the same disc jockeys from the mellow format were at first kept on with paco from spanish language sister station 1480 wjit added for afternoons . that fall the station rose from worst to first unseating long time leader 770 wabc in the 18 30 age demographic . air personalities of this era included kenn hayes randy place paul robinson trip reeb mary thomas dave mallow and joe guarisco . during the height of the disco craze wktu was the station to follow in new york . initially wktu played mostly dance disco and a few rhythm friendly pop and rock songs such as miss you by the rolling stones for example but by 1979 the station began to add more r & b music though they played some at the launch in 78 as well as well as rhythm friendly new wave rock . by then wktu was still regarded as a disco station but could be more accurately described as rhythmic contemporary hit radio . since that term was not yet used the station had been classified as urban contemporary . during this period disc jockeys such as paco g. keith alexander rosko j.d. holiday paul zarcone dale reeves bob bottone jim harlan carlos dejesus joe causi guy broady jay thomas freddie colon don geronimo al bandiero and diane pryor graced the airwaves as the station continued to be at or near the top into the 1980s . paco later went to jail for drug dealing which is curious considering he had a successful career in radio and didn t need the money that the illicit profession of drug dealing provided . 92ktu edit in 1981 sjr communications sold wktu to infinity broadcasting which merged with cbs radio the station s current owners in 1997 . also that year wktu added more dance based new wave to the format . wktu remained among the top ten new york city radio stations through 1983 . shortly thereafter wktu received new competition from whtz and wplj both of which adapted a chr format . the station maintained respectable but declining ratings due to the new competition . by mid 1984 wktu moved to a mainstream chr format as well giving up its disco past but the ratings continued to decline . that fall the station added legendary wabc host dan ingram to afternoons and jo maeder the madame from miami s y 100 joined jay thomas in the morning and did her own midday show but the station continued to struggle in the ratings . to make matters worse then named 103.5 wapp also went chr that fall . so strong was the memory of the late 1970s wktu that despite all the subsequent on air changes the general public still regarded it as a disco station . even though wapp moved back to playing mostly rock music in the form of a rock based chr in june 1985 giving wktu one less competitor the station management thought a more drastic change was needed . since new york city only had one full time rock station with wnew fm there was an opportunity . wxrk 1985 2005 edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message 92.3 k rock edit on july 13 1985 at midnight the same day wktu aired the historic live aid concert the station switched to an album oriented rock format adopted the moniker k rock and changed their call letters to wxrk . the wktu call letters later reappeared on new york city s 103.5 fm with a dance pop format in 1996 . initially the format at wxrk was similar to the pre 1983 wplj as the air personalities left the station gradually in the next several months exceptions were maria malito and jo maeder who became known as the rock and roll madame . jimmy fink from wplj was one of the first new radio personalities to be hired . after being fired from wnbc that october howard stern signed on to do afternoons and initially combined music with talk but in february 1986 stern took over the morning slot . his morning show became the highest rated in the market dethroning don imus who previously had the highest rated morning show for several years on 660 wnbc . later that year stern s show became syndicated with wxrk as its flagship station . by 1987 stern stopped playing music on his show altogether while the station changed to a classic rock format that same year . the airstaff became full of veterans from other new york rock stations including dave herman pete fornatale meg griffin vin scelsa and alison steele from wnew fm along with jimmy fink tony pigg marc coppola and john zacherle from wplj . in 1993 the greaseman s syndicated show was put in the nighttime slot bookending stern with an act that was often quite controversial . by the mid 1990s modern rock had become popular . in mid 1993 in new york city radio whtz began to play a lot of modern rock despite primarily being a chr station . late in 1993 classical music station wncn switched formats and became waxq q 104.3 with a mix of hard and modern rock . moreover wnew fm switched to a modern rock format in the summer of 1995 and later evolved to first an adult based modern rock format by the end of that year and then a more eclectic adult rock mix by 1996 . nevertheless by the beginning of 1996 there was no full time modern rock station in new york city . to fill the void wxrk switched to a modern rock format on january 5 1996 right after stern s show . to kick