WLIW-FM

WLIW-FM (88.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Southampton, New York and serving eastern Long Island and coastal Connecticut. Owned by WNET, it is a sister station to PBS member television station WLIW, and features programming from American Public Media, NPR and Public Radio International.[2] The station also broadcasts in HD.[3]

"WPPB" redirects here. For the Boca Raton, Florida television station that held the call sign WPPB-TV on channel 63 from 1986 to 2008, see WBEC-TV. For the radio station in Providence, Rhode Island, see WPPB (AM).

WLIW-FM

City	Southampton, New York
Broadcast area	Eastern Long Island
Frequency	88.3 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	WLIW-FM 88.3
Slogan	Long Island's Only NPR Station
Programming
Format	Public radio
Affiliations	American Public Media, NPR, Public Radio International
Ownership
Owner	WNET.org (WNET)
Sister stations	WLIW, WMBQ-CD, WNDT-CD, WNET, NJTV
History
First air date	March 11, 1980 (1980-03-11) (40 years ago) as WPBX
Former call signs	WPBX (1980–2002) WLIU (2002–2010) WPPB (2010–2020)[1]
Former frequencies	91.3 MHz
Call sign meaning	Long Island West
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	38340
Class	B1
ERP	5900 watts (horizontal) 25,000 watts (vertical)
HAAT	66 meters (217 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	40°53′17″N 72°26′43″W
Links
Public license information	Profile LMS
Webcast	Listen live (via TuneIn)
Website	www.wliw.org/radio/

It is the only NPR station on Long Island (population about 8 million). It is one of three public radio stations broadcast to eastern Long Island. The other stations are Connecticut-based WSHU/WSUF and Connecticut Public Radio, both of which access the market via repeater stations.[4]

In addition to its to NPR programming, local programs include jazz, rhythm and blues, world music and music from Broadway theater, as well as "Heart of the East End" with Gianna Volpe, "The Afternoon Ramble" with Brian Cosgrove and "The Urban Jazz Experience" with Ed German.

History

Southampton College (1978–2010)

The original station was a carrier current station, WSCR, housed in a Southampton College dormitory suite, and run as a student club. The founding members included Aaron Mann, Peter Sarros, Bruce Chappelle, Andy Novick, and Mike Unher. After much of the equipment was lost to theft, and finding the theft covered by insurance, construction of a new stereo FM station began in the basement of Southampton Hall by 1978. The antenna tower was raised in January 1980, and the station went on the air, still as a club and funded by student activity fees, as WPBX at 91.3 MHz on March 11, 1980. The first two songs played were "On the Air" and "DIY" by Peter Gabriel. The original power output of the FM transmitter was ten (10) watts. However, even with this low RF power output, the station could be received by a listener in Sag Harbor, NY, 7 miles away, who employed a yagi type directional antenna, pointed towards the station's transmitter on the Southampton campus. It was completely student-run, with free-form programming, and largely ignored by the administration, until 1981-82 when the administration imposed some control and installed Joseph Valerio to run the station. Valerio arranged to carry Texaco's Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts and programming began evolving toward an NPR-style format. On July 6, 2002, the station changed its call sign to WLIU.[1] In February 2002, the station changed to a jazz format. In April 2004, the station changed to a news format.

Peconic Public Broadcasting (2010–2020)

The station broadcast from the second floor of Chancellors Hall on the campus of Stony Brook Southampton until the spring of 2010. The State University of New York at Stony Brook had taken over the LIU campus (previously named Southampton College) in 2006. At the time of the takeover, an agreement was made to permit the station to continue to broadcast from the school through 2009 and that it could continue to use the tower on the campus through 2024.

The transfer of ownership of the station from Long Island University to Peconic Public Broadcasting was completed on December 15, 2010 and the call-letters changed to WPPB to reflect this.[5] The studios were moved to Hill St. in Southampton village after Peconic Public Broadcasting took ownership.

The acquisition was led by Wallace A. "Wally" Smith who was station manager of WLIU. Smith was station manager of KUSC when it converted from an all rock station to a classical music station in Los Angeles, California[6] and was President of that radio station until 1996 (Smith's wife Bonnie Grice was an on air announcer at both KUSC and WPPB. She left WPPB for Sag Harbor radio station WLNG shortly before the announcement of the sale to WNET).[7][8][9] The grassroots effort had included Alec Baldwin, Joy Behar and Jann Wenner.[8] The package for the acquisition was $2.7 million ($1.35 million in cash; picking up $400,000 in transition operating costs; and maintaining WCWP radio station for one year at LIU's parent C.W. Post campus—estimated at $1 million).[10]

WNET.org (2020–present)

On October 24, 2019, it was announced that WNET would acquire WPPB for nearly $1 million, making it a sister to its Long Island PBS member station WLIW.[11] On June 15, 2020, the station rebranded and changed its calls to WLIW-FM, adding more national NPR programming to its lineup .[12][13]

References

1. "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access Database. FCC Media Bureau. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
2. "WLIW-FM public inspection files". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
3. "Station Search Details". CDBS Public Access Database. FCC Media Bureau. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
4. "Radio Stations in Southampton, New York".
5. Chinese, Vera (December 16, 2010). "Peconic Bay Broadcasting completes deal for WLIU". Riverhead News-Review. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
6. "The Story of Classical KUSC".
7. "President of KUSC Quits Trouble-Plagued Station". 1996-09-30.
8. "Newsday | Long Island's & NYC's News Source | Newsday".
9. "WLNG - WLNG Staff".
10. "Newsday | Long Island's & NYC's News Source | Newsday".
11. "WNET/New York Buys A Hamptons FM". All Access. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
12. "A New Identity for Southampton Radio Station". The East Hampton Star. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
13. "WPPB Relaunches As WLIW-FM". RadioInsight. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.

External links

• Official website

• WLIW in the FCC's FM station database
• WLIW on Radio-Locator
• WLIW in Nielsen Audio's FM station database