WIRY (AM)

Martin L. Schulman filed an application to build a new station on 1340 kHz in Plattsburgh on April 11, 1949, with preliminary plans to eventually transfer the station to a corporation partially owned by employees.{{cite news |title=April 14 Applications |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=April 18, 1949 |page=76}} After an amendment to specify Clinton County Broadcasting Corporation as the applicant that September,{{cite news |title=September 29 Applications |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=October 3, 1949 |page=80}} the construction permit was issued on November 4, 1949,{{cite news |title=Fulltime Granted 'Times-Picayune' Station |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=November 7, 1949 |page=82}} and issued the WIRY call sign that December.{{cite news |title=FCC Roundup |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=December 12, 1949 |page=79}} Additional principals in Clinton County Broadcasting included former WEAV commercial manager Joel H. Scheier, Walter H. Petterson, and John R. Commins; Schulman was Scheier's son-in-law.{{cite news |title=Ownership Changes |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=May 16, 1955 |page=143}} WIRY went on the air January 30, 1950,{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999|year=1999|page=D-309|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1999/D-Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1999..pdf|access-date=February 25, 2018}} as a Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate.{{cite news |title=WIRY Debut: Set For Next Thursday |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=January 23, 1950 |page=42}} As early as 1955, Scheier told trade publication Broadcasting–Telecasting that WIRY's format consisted of "local programming of news and music that our local listeners like", accompanied by "a tremendous amount of public service".{{cite news |last1=Christopher |first1=Lawrence |title=Radio in 1955: Grass Roots Giant |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=April 18, 1955 |pages=38–40, 44, 46, 48}}

In the early 1950s, WIRY's owners made plans to expand into television through an affiliated company, Great Northern Television. It first applied for ultra high frequency channel 28 at Plattsburgh in 1952.{{cite news |title=Television Grants and Applications |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=July 21, 1952 |page=78}} After withdrawing the channel 28 application on September 29, 1953,{{cite news |title=Applications Dismissed |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=October 5, 1953 |page=118}} Great Northern instead proposed to use the very high frequency channel 5 allocation at Lake Placid to build a station near Bloomingdale on October 9;{{cite news |title=Owensboro, Lake Placid Applications |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=October 12, 1953 |page=11}}{{cite news |title=For The Record |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=October 19, 1953 |page=122}} this construction permit was issued that December.{{cite news |title=Withdrawal of Competitive Bids Allows TV Grants in Five Cases |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=December 7, 1953 |page=58}} After relocating the channel 5 permit to North Pole,{{cite web |title=WPTZ history cards |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=86770 |access-date=March 17, 2025 |format=PDF}} the television station signed on in 1954 as WIRI.{{cite news |title=WIRI (TV) Begins; Tvs Now Total 417 |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=December 13, 1954 |page=84}} Despite the association with WIRI television, Joel H. Scheier affirmed that WIRY's principals remained committed to radio, vowing that, "Radio will never die, nor ever fade away." In 1956, WIRI was sold to Rollins Broadcasting{{cite news |title=WIRI (TV) Sale Approval Asked |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=February 27, 1956 |page=9}} and renamed WPTZ.

Joel H. Scheier bought Armand A. Mancuso's 10-percent stake in Clinton County Broadcasting for $4,500 in 1955, increasing his interest in WIRY to 43{{frac|1|3}} percent. The following year, Scheier paid $16,000 to acquire Vincent S. Jerry, John M. Nazak,

Martin Schulman, Donald L. Pelkey and Thomas A. Robinson's stakes in the station.{{cite news |title=Ownership Changes |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=October 15, 1956 |page=102}} In 1958, Scheier sold WIRY to Charles B. Britt Jr., executive vice president of WLOS and WLOS-TV in Asheville, North Carolina, for $200,000.{{cite news |title=Changing Hands |work=Broadcasting |date=October 20, 1958 |page=97}}

Britt's WIRY, Inc., put a second station on the air in 1961: WIRD (920 AM) in Lake Placid.{{cite web |title=WIRD history cards |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=60957 |access-date=March 17, 2025 |format=PDF}} WIRD was sold to a group led by Lincoln F. Dixon and Donald A. Nardiello in 1965.{{cite news |title=Ownership changes |work=Broadcasting |date=March 8, 1965 |page=92}} Control of WIRY was transferred to Britt-Pelkey, Inc., in 1973;{{cite web |title=WIRY history cards |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=60965 |access-date=March 17, 2025 |format=PDF}} in 1976, Donald L. Pelkey bought Britt's stake, becoming 85-percent owner of WIRY.{{cite news |title=Ownership changes |work=Broadcasting |date=February 9, 1976 |page=59}} By 1989, when the station bought a Birch ratings breakout book after previously refusing to subscribe to Arbitron and Birch ratings for the full Plattsburgh–Burlington market, WIRY was reaching 36.2 percent of Clinton County radio listeners.{{cite news |last1=Peterson |first1=Mike |title=WIRY's local format tops in local ratings |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=prre19890812-01.1.3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------- |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=Press-Republican |date=August 12, 1989 |page=3}}

Donald Pelkey sold WIRY to William Santa's Hometown Radio Inc. for $175,000 in 1994.{{cite news |title=New Age Broadcasting Doubles With WTPX-FM For $21.25 Million |work=Radio & Records |date=August 12, 1994 |pages=8, 10}} Santa owned the auto dealership that was next door to WIRY's Cornelia Street studios.{{cite web |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=A Trip Back in Time to Plattsburgh |url=https://www.fybush.com/site-020829.html |access-date=March 17, 2025 |date=August 29, 2002}} In 2008, the station vacated the Cornelia Street facility, which had formerly been a veterinary office and was demolished to make room for a Walgreens, and moved to a new studio on US 9 south of Plattsburgh.{{cite news |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=Non-Competes Outlawed in New York |url=https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2008/080811/nerw.html |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=NorthEast Radio Watch |date=August 11, 2008}}{{cite news |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=Bob Grant Out (Again) at WABC |url=https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2008/081201/nerw.html |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=NorthEast Radio Watch |date=December 1, 2008}} With the move, the station began transmitting into a Valcom whip antenna, instead of the guyed tower used on Cornelia Street.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fybush.com/site-20150619/|title=Site of the Week 6/19/15: More of New York's North Country|date=19 June 2015}}

WIRY began leasing FM radio station WPLB (100.7) in 2016; the rechristened WIRY-FM would mostly simulcast the AM side, with syndicated music programs airing in place of sports (Bill Santa, WIRY's owner, stated that major sports teams prefer AM radio affiliates).{{Cite web|url=http://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/wiry-launches-fm-signal/article_596c0468-e978-50ca-9723-8bc39d21e999.html|title=WIRY launches FM signal}}

In September 2019, a coalition led by the station's news director Dave Andrews along with Clinton County businessmen and politicians was revealed to be in negotiations to purchase WIRY from Bill Santa. The station's full-service format was not expected to change.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/wiry-to-be-sold/article_d5bd967f-16dd-5133-bcd6-ca42ea0caa33.html|title = WIRY to be Sold}} The purchase by Hometown Communications, LLC, at a price of $287,500, was consummated on December 27, 2019. The new owners did not continue the local marketing agreement with Radioactive, LLC, to simulcast on WIRY-FM, which went off the air in early 2020.{{cite news |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=NorthEast Radio Watch 4/27/2020: NYC Morning Voice Silenced |url=https://www.fybush.com/nerw-20200427/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=Fybush.com |date=April 27, 2020}} Andrews' group, who called themselves the "Four Amigos", vowed to restore local management to the station (Santa did not live in Plattsburgh by the time of the sale) and keep it viable; they also tightened WIRY's playlist, focusing exclusively on songs from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s rather than its previous mixture of oldies and newer music.{{cite news |last1=Delisle |first1=McKenzie |title=‘Amigos’ buy WIRY, keep AM radio signal alive in Plattsburgh |url=https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2020/01/amigos-buy-wiry-keep-am-radio-signal-alive-in-plattsburgh/ |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=Adirondack Daily Enterprise |date=January 15, 2020}}

On March 12, 2025, WIRY announced the cancellation of all of the station's spoken word programming and unveiled plans to introduce special pre-recorded segments celebrating the station's diamond anniversary.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-14 |title=WIRY Ceases Operations |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/296647/wiry-ceases-operations/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=RadioInsight |language=en-US}} After fierce listener backlash, WIRY acknowledged the next day that this programming stunt was actually a farewell montage, and that WIRY was shutting down. WIRY ownership blamed the change on the shift of music listening habits to online platforms, which diverted listeners away from local full-service radio; the station also cited an increase in music royalties and an inability to recruit advertising salespeople.{{cite news |title=Plattsburgh's WIRY radio to shut down after 75 years of broadcasting |url=https://www.mynbc5.com/article/plattsburghs-wiry-radio-to-shut-down-after-75-years-of-broadcasting/64180149 |access-date=March 14, 2025 |work=WPTZ |date=March 13, 2025 |language=en}}

At the time of its closure, WIRY operated a full-service, music-centered and locally originated format featuring an eclectic variety of genera. The station described its format as a mix of adult contemporary, country music, and oldies. The station had a live local morning show and an extensive local news and sports bureau, carrying the Plattsburgh Cardinals hockey team in winter months and high school sports. The station also maintained several creative advertising programs, including a listing of lunch menus from advertisers and a radio help-wanted show titled "Who's Hiring". Weather forecasts were taken from public domain National Weather Service reports.

The station served as an affiliate for the New York Yankees, New York Giants, Westwood One, The Beatle Years with Bob Malik, When Radio Was and The Country Music Greats Radio Show.

In addition, the station also streamed on the Internet. WIRY streamed continuously after starting a website in October 1997,{{cite news |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=North East RadioWatch |url=https://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-971030.html |access-date=March 17, 2025 |date=October 30, 1997}} and survived the Internet radio bust that forced many stations to stop streaming {{circa|2002}}.

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|http://wiry.com/}}

{{AM station data|73035|WIRY}}

• {{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=60965 |title= History Cards for WIRY|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards)

{{clear}}

{{Burlington-Plattsburgh Radio}}

{{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in New York}}

{{AM Stereo radio stations in the United States}}

{{AM Stereo radio stations}}

IRY

Category:Radio stations established in 1950

Category:Full service radio stations in the United States

Category:1950 establishments in New York (state)