But local Black media legends Lynne Hayes-Freeland, Chris Moore will be heard on the FM dial at 100.1
by Rob Taylor Jr.
Courier Staff Writer
If hip-hop radio station WAMO 100.1 FM has moved up the dial to 107.3 FM, and on Nov. 2, news/talk station KDKA-AM 1020 will be simulcast on 100.1 FM, then where is R&B station 107.3 The Beat moving to?
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh’s R&B lovers, “The Beat” is gone, the New Pittsburgh Courier has learned.
Flip on the FM radio, and the upbeat R&B songs from the likes of New Edition, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston are nowhere to be found. Those artists were heard on 107.3 The Beat for the past 14 months, when The Beat launched in June 2019. For now, 107.3 and 100.1 FM are broadcasting hip-hop. But on Nov. 2, 100.1 FM will begin airing a simulcast of KDKA AM 1020.
Entercom, the company that owns KDKA Radio, acquired the 100.1 FM translator signal from WAMO owner Martz Communications. Officials at KDKA said it was the perfect way to celebrate its 100-year anniversary; KDKA is believed to be the country’s first commercial radio station, broadcasting presidential election results over the air on Nov. 2, 1920. If you’re wondering, Republican Warren G. Harding won the presidential election that night.
Now, 100 years and one day later, KDKA will broadcast election results on FM for the first time.
LYNNE HAYES-FREELAND can be heard on the FM dial at 100.1 beginning Monday, Nov. 2.
If you’re a fan of Pittsburgh African American media stalwarts like Lynne Hayes-Freeland and Chris Moore, you’ll be hearing them on KDKA’s 100.1 FM. Hayes-Freeland’s show airs weekdays from noon to 3 p.m.; Moore’s show airs Sundays from 5 to 9 p.m.
“KDKA Radio is part of the radio history books not just here in Pittsburgh, but on a national level,” said Michael Spacciapolli, market manager for Entercom Pittsburgh, in a statement. “After serving Pittsburghers on our AM dial for the last 100 years, we are thrilled to expand the reach of historic KDKA on FM.”
The Courier reported in its Oct. 21 edition that The Beat’s most prominent on-air personality, Ki Ki Brown, was leaving the station as of Oct. 23. The Beat continued playing its old school music through Sunday, Oct. 25, before it was blown up in favor of the WAMO hip-hop music.
Local radio personalities Kiki Brown and Portia Foxx, were the hosts of the Breast Cancer Survivor’s Happy Hour, held at Savoy, Oct. 27, 2017. (Photo by Tationna Smalley/File Photo)
The Beat’s syndicated morning show, “DeDe in the Morning,” will continue to air for WAMO 107.3, which signals the end for “Big Boy’s Neighborhood,” the morning show for WAMO on 100.1 FM.
It’s unclear if the “Quiet Storm” show that plays slow R&B jams will return to the airwaves on WAMO 107.3. It’s also unclear if gospel music, which was on The Beat on Sunday mornings, will return to WAMO 107.3, with Brother Marlon Martin as host.
WAMO 107.3’s weekday lineup is as follows: DeDe in the Morning, middays with Portia Foxx, afternoons with Justin Luvv, and evenings with Mike Dean. Foxx is an Allderdice High School graduate; Dean is a Perry Traditional Academy graduate.
CHRIS MOORE’s Sunday radio show ON KDKA-AM will soon be heard on the FM dial at 100.1 beginning Monday, Nov. 2, as KDKA Radio has acquired the broadcast rights to the FM signal. KDKA will still be heard on 1020 AM.
About Post Author
