WLNG#Programming and history

Image:Wlng-studio.jpg

WLNG has only had three ownership changes since its founding in 1963.

Fitzgerald C. Smith (1922–2005) started the station on August 13, 1963. Fitzgerald (known as Jerry) had been a reporter for The New York Times and NBC radio.{{cite news |title=Obituary : Fitzgerald C. Smith |url=http://archives.mtexpress.com/story_printer.php?ID=2005104752 |access-date=October 14, 2020 |work=The Idaho Mountain Express |date=August 2005}} WLNG began broadcasting on AM at 1600 kHz. In 1996 the 1600 frequency was sold to WWRL so that they could increase the power of their station which was on the same frequency closer to New York City.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-960730.html |title=New England RadioWatch: July 30, 1996 |access-date=January 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428155352/http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-960730.html |archive-date=April 28, 2016 |url-status=live }} WLNG has been broadcasting on FM since 1969. Its FM transmitter is located on a hill in Noyack, New York, which disc jockeys call "Mount Sidney" after longtime station president Paul Sidney (1940–2009[http://www.hamptons.com/News/Obituaries/6899/Paul-Sidney-Of-WLNG-Dies-At-69.html "Paul Sidney of WLNG Dies at 69"]. Hamptons Online. April 3, 2009.). The station's call letters come from Long Island. It transmitted in monaural until January 20, 2011, a rarity on the FM band which is mostly stereo.{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/WLNGRadio/info|title=WLNG FM Goes Stereo|via=Facebook|publisher=WLNG Radio|date=January 20, 2011}}{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMvJxSMTdbs|title=WLNG Stereo 92.1 FM|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307040117/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMvJxSMTdbs|archive-date=March 7, 2016|url-status=live|publisher=WLNG92|via=YouTube|date=January 23, 2011|access-date=April 26, 2013}}{{cite web|last=Erickson|first=Mike|date=September 16, 2011|url=http://wheatstone-blog.com/?p=658|title=WLNG: That SOUND!|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213124917/http://wheatstone-blog.com/?p=658|archive-date=December 13, 2013|url-status=dead|publisher=Wheatstone Audio Processing|access-date=April 26, 2013}}

The station was sold to Robert King in 1969. King was owner of Montauk Caribbean Airlines (later Long Island Airways) which offered commuter air service between East Hampton and New York City. The station was operated by a trust after his death in 2014.{{cite web |last1=Howard |first1=Johnette |title=WLNG Radio to Be Sold |url=https://www.easthamptonstar.com/archive/wlng-radio-be-sold |work=The East Hampton Star |access-date=October 14, 2020}}

WLNG has earned a reputation as a throwback to an earlier era with its frequent use of jingles, reverb, frequent remote broadcasts at local events, and personality disc jockeys.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/nyregion/radio-wlng-found-its-style-and-is-sticking-with-it.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title=RADIO; WLNG Found Its Style, And Is Sticking With It|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 3, 2004}} In 1998, on the occasion of the station's 35th anniversary on the air, and president Paul Sidney's 34th year there, he stated "The key to staying around for 35 years is pretty simple: Be local, in news, sound and music."{{cite news|last=Hinckley|first=David|date=August 22, 1998|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/deejay-oriented-wlng-mike-article-1.808071|title=At Deejay-oriented WLNG, Mike Still Makes Right|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080405/https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/deejay-oriented-wlng-mike-article-1.808071|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York|page=63|access-date=April 26, 2013}}

The station's target market is the Hamptons and eastern Long Island,{{cite web|url=http://www.wlng.com/whoweare.htm|title=Who We Are|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830135721/http://www.wlng.com/whoweare.htm|archive-date=August 30, 2012|url-status=dead|publisher=WLNG|access-date=September 10, 2012}} though the station has been noted as being heard "from Mastic to Montauk; the signal even reaches parts of Rhode Island and Connecticut". According to Sidney and local business people, the station built good relationships with local establishments, and as of 2004 was producing 250 remote broadcasts per year from community locales, events and businesses.{{cite web|url=http://readme.readmedia.com/news/show/NYS_Broadcasters_Association_to_Welcome_WLNG_s_Sidney_into_2007_Hall_of_Fame/1479 |title=NYS Broadcasters Association to Welcome WLNG's Sidney into 2007 Hall of Fame |publisher=readmedia.com |date= May 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720155243/http://readme.readmedia.com/NYS_Broadcasters_Association_to_Welcome_WLNG_s_Sidney_into_2007_Hall_of_Fame/1479 |archive-date=July 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 10, 2011}}

The station is noted for its use of numerous jingles (many from the original PAMS jingle library), which are often aired back-to-back. Paul Sidney, who was with the station beginning in 1964, started the jingle practice. As the use of jingles declined in the 1970s, Sidney "became obsessed with them" and collected over 2,000. As he put it in a New Yorker magazine "Talk of the Town" article in 2002, "We're the only station that when we say 'Here comes fourteen in a row' we're not talking about records."{{cite magazine|last=Green|first=Adam|date=July 22, 2002|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/07/22/020722ta_talk_green|title=East End Oldie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929155515/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/07/22/020722ta_talk_green|archive-date=September 29, 2007|url-status=live|magazine=The New Yorker}}

WLNG was one of the first radio stations in the country to focus on playing oldies, and identified itself as "The Oldies Station" beginning in the early 1960s despite a consultant's warning.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} While the station included current hits in rotation for decades and even as recently as 1999, today its playlist is almost all oldies.

As of 1988, WLNG competed with 22 other stations in its market.{{cite news|last=Ketcham|first=Diane|date=December 25, 1988|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/25/nyregion/radio-redux-frequencies-are-in-demand.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=Radio Redux: Frequencies Are in Demand|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306182101/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/25/nyregion/radio-redux-frequencies-are-in-demand.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archive-date=March 6, 2016|url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 6, 2012}} In 2005 Edison Research wrote about WLNG's standing in the area:

:"...one of the oddest success stories of recent months: WLNG Eastern Long Island, N.Y., whose broad playlist, retro jingles, and endless remotes have made it a radio junkie's favorite for years. Then the market got its first ratings, and suddenly WLNG was No. 3 12-plus – an individually owned station hanging in when the groups were pulling out, or at least getting nervous."{{cite web|last1=Ross|first=Sean|editor-last=Silvia|editor-first=Laura|date=January 24, 2005|url=http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2005/01/dont_drop_oldie.php|title=Don't Drop Oldies Before You've Read This|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122142956/http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2005/01/dont_drop_oldie.php|archive-date=January 22, 2013|url-status=dead|website=Edison Research|access-date=December 6, 2012}}

In 1995, the station began leasing transmission tower space to Connecticut-based classical and NPR-affiliate WSHU-FM, during a period of increasing competition for listeners in specific demographics.{{cite news|last=Spiegel|first=Meryl|date=May 26, 1996|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/26/nyregion/out-east-fierce-rivalry-on-radio-dial.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=Out East, Fierce Rivalry On Radio Dial|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306205426/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/26/nyregion/out-east-fierce-rivalry-on-radio-dial.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archive-date=March 6, 2016|url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 6, 2012}} At the time, the station was described by a competitor (WEHM), as probably generating "the most sales in the region", and Sidney stated that "banks regarded WLNG as the most successful station on the East End".

On May 29, 2015, longtime WLNG air personality Rusty Potz ended his run on the "Potz On The Program". Potz, who had been in radio for 52 years, retired to Sarasota, Florida, with his wife, Margaret, although he continues to work part-time selling advertising for the station.{{cite news|first=Stephen J.|last=Kotz|date=May 29, 2015|url=https://sagharborexpress.com/rusty-potz-wlng-dj-for-40-years-signed-off-for-last-time-on-friday__trashed/|title=Rusty Potz, WLNG DJ for 40 Years, Signs Off|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615055500/https://sagharborexpress.com/rusty-potz-wlng-dj-for-40-years-signed-off-for-last-time-on-friday__trashed/|archive-date=June 15, 2018|url-status=dead|newspaper=Sag Harbor Express}}

At the start of 2019, with Evans and Foschi taking over the station half a month prior, the station's format was refined with its focus continuing on local programming.

WLNG's local news coverage, according to the station's vice president in 2007, is considered the best by many locals and is famous for being the definitive source "with close to a 90% share" for weather information during major storms. On July 17, 1996, the station was broadcasting a live remote from Jamesport, New York when TWA Flight 800 crashed into the nearby Atlantic Ocean, and states that it was the first to break news of the event.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/somethinginairra00fish |url-access=registration |quote=TWA Flight 800 WLNG. |title=Something in the Air: Radio, Rock, and the Revolution That Shaped a Generation |year=2007 |last=Fisher |first=Marc |publisher=Random House |page=[https://archive.org/details/somethinginairra00fish/page/321 321] |isbn=9780375509070 |access-date=January 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614025946/https://archive.org/details/somethinginairra00fish |archive-date=June 14, 2020 |url-status=live }}

In 2007, the station became affiliated with ESPN 1050, for local broadcasts of ESPN sports radio, however it was not without some coverage difficulties, according to Newsday.{{cite news|last=Best|first=Neil|date=November 3, 2007|url=http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/neil-best/sportswatch-radio-daze-jagr-shoots-and-scoresssssss-1.743568|title=Sportswatch: Radio daze: 'Jagr shoots . . . and scoresssssss'|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222103417/http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/neil-best/sportswatch-radio-daze-jagr-shoots-and-scoresssssss-1.743568|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=dead|newspaper=Newsday|access-date=December 6, 2012}}

Before the 2011 Hurricane Irene, WLNG was listed as the "reliable resource for the latest on the hurricane's progress" by Rep. Tim Bishop, (D-New York),{{cite web|last=Bishop |first= Timothy H. |date=August 26, 2011 |title=Hurricane Irene Resources |publisher=US Fed News Service, Including US State News |format=Press release |url=http://timbishop.house.gov/latest-news/hurricane-irene-resources/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610075857/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2435844571.html |archive-date=June 10, 2014 |access-date=December 6, 2012 |url-status=live}} and was the designated broadcast information source.{{cite news|last=Sherman|first=Joanne|date=August 24, 2011|url=http://shelterislandreporter.timesreview.com/2011/08/10161/midweek-forecast-puts-east-end-in-storm-path-irene-takes-aim-at-the-northeast/|title=Midweek forecast puts East End in storm path, Irene takes aim at the Northeast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211222921/http://shelterislandreporter.timesreview.com/2011/08/10161/midweek-forecast-puts-east-end-in-storm-path-irene-takes-aim-at-the-northeast/|archive-date=December 11, 2013|url-status=live|newspaper=Shelter Island Reporter, Times Review Newsgroup|access-date=December 6, 2012}}

During Hurricane Sandy in 2012 WLNG continued broadcasting and streaming online on generator power, using flashlights, as the storm surge rose to "ankle deep" in the studio. When a "burning" smell was detected, the station finally went off air from 8 pm. Monday until 3 a.m Tuesday when the water subsided.{{cite news|last=Watson|first=Dawn|date=November 6, 2012|url=http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/East-End/443764/No-Power-No-Problem-For-Local-Radio|title=No Power, No Problem For Local Radio|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030222/http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/East-End/443764/No-Power-No-Problem-For-Local-Radio|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live|newspaper=East Hampton Press & Southampton Press|access-date=December 6, 2012}} After the storm, WLNG helped coordinate relief supplies and vehicles with local police.{{cite news|last=Salvi|first=Carrie Ann|date=November 8, 2012|url=http://easthamptonstar.com/?q=node/6715|title=Many Relief Efforts For Sandy Victims|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615005059/http://easthamptonstar.com/?q=node%2F6715|archive-date=June 15, 2018|url-status=dead|newspaper=East Hampton Star|access-date=December 6, 2012}}

The station has allowed guest hosts on air, if their airtime was sponsored. In 1987, a pair of (sponsored) 5th grade students broadcast for three hours, during which "all did not go well", catching the attention of New York Times "Long Island Journal Desk" columnist Diane Ketchum.{{cite news|last=Ketcham|first=Diane|date=March 22, 1987|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/22/nyregion/long-island-journal-136287.html|title=Long Island Journal Desk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109152658/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/22/nyregion/long-island-journal-136287.html|archive-date=November 9, 2017|url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 6, 2012}}

• In 1993, WLNG won a National Association of Broadcasters Crystal Radio Award "for excellence in community service".{{cite web|url=http://www.nab.org/events/awards/pastAwardWinners.asp?id=1927|title=Past Award Winners – 1993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104034758/http://nab.org/events/awards/pastAwardWinners.asp?id=1927|archive-date=November 4, 2012|url-status=dead|website=National Association of Broadcasters|access-date=December 6, 2012}}
• In 2007, Paul Sidney was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://hof.nysbroadcasters.org/2007-inductees/paul-sidney/|title=Hall of Fame 2007 Inductees – Paul Sidney|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025130614/http://hof.nysbroadcasters.org/2007-inductees/paul-sidney/|archive-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=live|website=New York State Broadcasters Association|date=March 20, 2007 |access-date=December 6, 2012}}
• On the March 20, 2014, and January 6, 2016, episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Billy Joel and Jimmy Fallon discuss a plot they have to "crash" the WLNG studio in Sag Harbor. They claim the plan was devised during a party at Howard Stern's house of which they both attended{{cite news|url=http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/Sag-Harbor/55861/Billy-Joel-And-Jimmy-Fallon-Plot-To-Crash-WLNG-In-Sag-Harbor|title=Billy Joel and Jimmy Fallon discuss a plot to crash WLNG In Sag Harbor|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216003150/http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/Sag-Harbor/55861/Billy-Joel-And-Jimmy-Fallon-Plot-To-Crash-WLNG-In-Sag-Harbor|archive-date=February 16, 2015|url-status=live|newspaper=The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press|access-date=February 15, 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/billy-joel/billy-joel-on-the-tonight-show-says-he-ll-dj-on-his-sirius-xm-channel-and-duets-with-jimmy-fallon-1.11300720|title=Billy Joel, on 'The Tonight Show,' says he'll DJ on his Sirius XM channel, and duets with Jimmy Fallon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216171332/http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/billy-joel/billy-joel-on-the-tonight-show-says-he-ll-dj-on-his-sirius-xm-channel-and-duets-with-jimmy-fallon-1.11300720|archive-date=February 16, 2016|url-status=live|newspaper=Newsday|access-date=February 9, 2016}}

{{Reflist|35em|refs=

{{cite web |work=CDBS Public Access Database |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |title=Call Sign History |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=39640&Callsign=WLNG |access-date=April 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103401/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=39640&Callsign=WLNG |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live }}

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• R. B. Stuart, "[http://www.hamptons.com/Style-And-Living/People-in-Focus/1753/Broadcasting-to-a-Little-Piece-of-the-World.html Broadcasting to a Little Piece of the World]," Hamptons.com
• [http://www.internetwork.com/radio/wlng.htm WLNG Radio Tribute Page] — a tribute to WLNG AM & FM
• [http://sagharboronline.com/sagharborexpress/page-1/wlng-celebrates-50-years-on-air-24895 WLNG Celebrates 50 Years on Air] – Sag Harbor Express – August 8, 2013
• [http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/Sag-Harbor/28997/WLNG-Looks-Back-At-50-Years-On-The-Air WLNG Looks Back At 50 Years On The Air] – The Southampton Press – August 13, 2013

• {{Official website}}

{{FM station data|39640|WLNG}}

• {{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=62807 |title= History Cards for WLNG (1600 AM)|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards)
• {{YouTube|user=WLNGRadio|WLNG}}

{{Long Island Radio}}

{{Oldies Radio Stations in New York}}

Category:1969 establishments in New York (state)

Category:Adult hits radio stations in the United States

Category:Mass media in Suffolk County, New York

Category:Oldies radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 1969

LNG

Category:Sag Harbor, New York

Category:Southampton (town), New York