After acquiring Public News/Talk “Peconic Public Broadcasting” 88.3 WPPB Southampton NY last fall, New York City area public television operator WNET Group has relaunched the station as 88.3 WLIW-FM.
The rebranding matches the call letters of co-owned WLIW-TV 21, which has served as Long Island’s Public Television outlet since 1969. The station will continue to feature local programs such as Morning Edition Long Island Local News with Michael Mackey, Heart of the East End with Gianna Volpe, The Afternoon Ramble with Brian Cosgrove, The Urban Jazz Experience and Friday Night Soul with Ed German, Media Mavens with Gianna Volpe, Broadway to Main Street, but has revamped its schedule to include additional national NPR shows.
WLIW-FM serves the eastern end of Long Island including the Hamptons giving the WNET Group access to many high income donors who live in New York and have weekend beach homes in the area.
The WNET Group, parent company of New York’s THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, announced the call letter change of its Southampton, New York based radio station 88.3 WPPB-FM to 88.3 WLIW-FM, effective Monday, June 15. The station, Long Island’s only National Public Radio station, will also now be available for listeners to stream on Long Island and beyond at wliw.org/radio.
The new 88.3 WLIW-FM will introduce a dynamic new programming schedule, keeping local shows and hosts in place while adding popular national radio titles. The local offerings will continue to include Morning Edition Long Island Local News with Michael Mackey, Heart of the East End with Gianna Volpe, The Afternoon Ramble with Brian Cosgrove, The Urban Jazz Experience and Friday Night Soul with Ed German, Media Mavens with Gianna Volpe, Broadway to Main Street and many other local programs. These local shows will now be joined by national shows including, Morning Edition and All Things Considered, The Takeaway, Fresh Air, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me, Weekend Edition, The Moth, This American Life, Planet Money/How I Built This, RadioLab, Freakonomics, Ted Radio Hour, and more. Audio versions of public television programs PBS NewsHour, PBS NewsHour Weekend and MetroFocus will also be featured. Listeners can visit wliw.org/radio to explore the new schedule in full.
“We are excited about this new chapter for 88.3 WLIW-FM,” said Long Island native and resident Diane Masciale, Vice President & General Manager of WLIW21 and 88.3 WLIW-FM and Executive Producer of local productions at WLIW. “Now, for the first time, you can find the local voices you have come to love as well as popular national titles on the same station. We are truly tapping into the power of public media to provide our community a better listening experience on Long Island’s only NPR channel.”
The WNET Group acquired WPPB-FM, an NPR station based in Southampton, in March. Long-serving WPPB-FM General Manager Dr. Wally Smith has been named General Manager Emeritus. The purchase, which was approved by the FCC and the New York State Attorney General’s office, made WLIW a dual licensee, operating both a PBS television station and NPR radio station.
