WFAN-FM
sports radio station in New York City

WFAN-FM (101.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to New York, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station simulcasts a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM", or "The FAN", along with co-owned WFAN (660 AM). Its studios are in the Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Lower Manhattan.
WFAN-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 6,000 watts, transmitting from atop the Empire State Building. WFAN-FM broadcasts using HD Radio technology. Its HD digital subchannels carry Audacy's national sports networks, Westwood One Sports and BetMGM.
History
Early years
The station traces its origin to an experimental Apex band radio station, W2XWF on 42.18 MHz, which was authorized in 1940 and licensed to radio engineer William G. H. Finch.
In May 1940, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM radio band operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz. On October 31, 1940, the first 15 construction permits for commercial FM stations were issued, including one to W. G. H. Finch for a station in New York City on 45.5 MHz, which was issued the call sign W55NY. Effective November 1, 1943, the FCC modified its policy for FM call signs, and the station was assigned the call sign WFGG, which was changed to WGHF in 1945. One of the uses of the station was to test Finch's sub-carrier facsimile system. By 1946, the station was broadcasting on 99.7 MHz, moving to 101.9 in 1947.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “WFAN-FM” is sports radio station in New York City. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through WFAN-FM, sports and radio, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “sports radio station in New York City” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7949166. Authority coordinates are 40.748, -73.986. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1945.
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This entry incorporates text from “WFAN-FM” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.