Seven Mountains Media has continued its realignment of its Elmira/Corning NY cluster following the acquisition of Sound Communications’ properties in the market and divestment of multiple signals to Family Life Ministries.
Northeast Radio Watch reports the following changes have taken place, with some additional moves to follow later this summer.
- AC “Magic-FM” shifts from 92.7 WENI-FM South Waverly PA and 97.7 WENY-FM Big Flats NY to 1230 WENY Elmira/106.7 W294BU Corning/106.9 W295BY Elmira.
- That move drops Conservative Talk “The Patriot” from WENY/W295BY, but it remains on 1450 WENI/103.3 W277DG Corning.
- The company has merged the two Classic Hits brands as their existing “Cool Radio” shifts from 104.9 WPHD Montour Falls to 98.7 WGMM Corning replacing “98.7 Gem-FM“.
- Classic Rock “The Met” shifted from 820 WMTT Horseheads/100.9 WMTT-FM Horseheads to 92.7 WENI-FM
- Classic Hip Hop “Jamz 101.7” W269BK Horseheads/96.1 WCBF-HD3 has added a simulcast on 107.9 W300DH Corning replacing a simulcast of “Cool“
- 820 WMTT, 97.7 WENY-FM, 100.9 WMTT-FM (moving to 101.1 to serve the Ithaca market), and 104.9 WPHD will all join Family Life’s Christian network.
Seven Mountains has yet to implement plans for the stations it has acquired in Hornell and Olean NY except that Country “101.9 The Ride” WZKZ Alfred has moved to Family Life leaving its programming on 1360 WOEN/96.3 W242CT Olean.
Original Report 6/2: With the three-way deal between Seven Mountains Media, Family Life Ministries, and Sound Communications involving stations in the Elmira/Corning and Olean NY markets closing on Tuesday, June 1, the companies have begun moving brands to new frequencies.
The AC “Magic” format that had been on 92.7 WENI-FM South Waverly PA and 97.7 WENY-FM Big Flats NY has been dropped from 97.7 as that frequency moves to Family Life’s ownership. Replacing 97.7 in the simulcast is 1230 WENY Elmira and 106.7 W294BU Corning. 1230 had been simulcasting Conservative Talk “The Patriot” that remains on 1450 WENI/103.3 W277DG Corning. 106.7 W294BU had been rebroadcasting “Kickin Country 105.3” WKPQ Hornell.
The Sound Communications properties are the third cluster in Elmira acquired by Seven Mountains Media since entering the market in 2019 with the purchase of Community Broadcasters’ properties. They added Equinox Broadcasting’s stations in December 2019 leading to signal and format changes for five of their brands last July.
The Sound Communications acquisition will see Seven Mountains Media add 92.7 WENI-FM South Waverly PA, 98.7 WGMM Corning, 105.3 WKPQ Hornell, 1230 WENY Elmira, 1450 WENI Corning, 103.3 W277DG Corning, 106.7 W294BU Corning, and 106.9 W295BY Elmira in the market along with stations in Olean. They also divested 97.7 WENY-FM Big Flats, 820 WMTT Horseheads, 104.9 WPHD Montour Falls and 100.9 WMTT-FM Horseheads NY (to be moved to 101.1 Enfield/Ithaca) to Family Life.
The latter deal will require frequency shifts for Classic Rock “101 The Met” 100.9 WMTT-FM/820 WMTT and Classic Hits “Cool 104.9” WPHD Montour Falls/Elmira. WPHD’s format also overlaps with Sound’s “98.7 Gem-FM” WGMM although while WPHD is 1970s and 1980s focused Classic Hits, WGMM is centered on the 80s and 1990s. The deal also gives Seven Mountains two Country brands in the market with WKPQ joining the “Bigfoot” quadcast heard on 94.7 WQBF Tioga PA, 95.1 W236AK Corning, 96.1 WCBF Elmira, and 97.1 WOBF Canaseraga/Hornell.
