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| Broadcast area | Eastern Long Island |
| Frequency | 88.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 88.3 WLIW-FM |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English |
| Format | Public radio |
| Affiliations | American Public Media,NPR,Public Radio Exchange |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WEER,WLIW,WNET,NJ PBS,WMBQ-CD,WNDT-CD | |
| History | |
First air date | March 11, 1980; 45 years ago (1980-03-11) |
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies | 91.3MHz (1980-1993) |
Call sign meaning | Long Island (taken from sister TV station) |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 38340 |
| Class | B1 |
| ERP |
|
| HAAT | 66 meters (217 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°53′17.3″N72°26′41.3″W / 40.888139°N 72.444806°W /40.888139; -72.444806 |
| Translator(s) | 96.9 W245BA (Manorville) |
| Repeater(s) | 88.7 WEER (Montauk) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaTuneIn) |
| Website | www |
WLIW-FM (88.3FM) is a radio station licensed toSouthampton, New York, and servingeastern Long Island andcoastal Connecticut. Owned byThe WNET Group, it is a sister station toPBS member television stationWLIW, and features programming fromAmerican Public Media,NPR andPublic Radio Exchange.[3] The station also broadcasts inHD.[4]
It is the only NPR station based onLong Island (population about 8 million). It is one of three public radio stations broadcast to eastern Long Island. The other stations areConnecticut-basedWNPR,WSHU-FM andWSUF, which access the market viarepeater stations.[5]
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.
The original station was acarrier current station, WSCR, housed in aSouthampton College dormitory suite, and run as a student club.[6] 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 original power output of the FM transmitter was ten watts.
WPBX was completely student-run, withfreeform 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 carryTexaco'sMetropolitan Opera radio broadcasts and programming began evolving toward an NPR-style format. In February 2002, the station changed to ajazz format. On July 6, 2002, the station changed its call sign to WLIU,[1] reflecting its ownership byLong Island University (LIU).[7] In April 2004, the station changed to a news format.
The station broadcast from the second floor of Chancellors Hall on the campus ofStony 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.[8] 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 ofKUSC when it converted from an all rock station to a classical music station in Los Angeles, 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 stationWLNG shortly before the announcement of the sale to WNET).[9] The grassroots effort had includedAlec Baldwin,Joy Behar andJann Wenner.[10] The package for the acquisition was $2.7 million ($1.35 million in cash; picking up $400,000 in transition operating costs; and maintainingWCWP radio station for one year at LIU's parent C.W. Post campus—estimated at $1 million).[11]
On October 24, 2019, it was announced thatWNET would acquire WPPB for nearly $1 million, making it a sister to its Long IslandPBS member stationWLIW.[12] WNET's purchase was consummated on March 18, 2020, at a final price of $944,834. On June 15, 2020, the station rebranded and changed its calls to WLIW-FM, adding more national NPR programming to its lineup.[13][14]
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W245BA | 96.9 FM | Manorville, New York | 139341 | 10 | 143.8 m (472 ft) | D | 40°50′32.4″N73°2′23.4″W / 40.842333°N 73.039833°W /40.842333; -73.039833 (W245BA) | LMS |
