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WLIR

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WLIR, known as "The World Famous WLIR", is a modern rock station that broadcasts on the 107.1 frequency in the Long Island, New York, USA area. The station helped launch the careers of many famous disc jockeys. Its transmitter is located near East Quogue, New York.
Contents

WLIR History

WLIR was founded in 1959 by John R. Rieger. It was licensed to Garden City, NY and played a mix of Broadway tunes and classical music from a basement studio in the Garden City Hotel. In 1971, part-time announcer Mike Harrison convinced Rieger to change to a progressive rock format. This meant playing obscure artists, playing many cuts off an album (not just the hit singles), and having disc jockeys speak in a slow, mellow tone. The station also became known for its concert series and support of local bands such as The Good Rats. As the 1970's went on, most rock stations drifted to the more commercial album oriented rock, but WLIR bucked this trend. As punk and New Wave Rock started to become popular at the end of the 1970's most rock stations ignored these genres but WLIR again bucked the trend by playing artists from these genres. On August 2, 1982, the station made a significant change in format from progressive to what it called "Dare to be Different". It featured new wave, early alternative rock, synthpop, and novelty records. The personalties of the disc jockeys became much more upbeat. The station became known worldwide for introducing new artists and playing singles months (if not years) before other stations. WLIR became the first radio station in the country to play U2, The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Duran Duran, Madonna, George Michael, and Prince. The station was one of the few commercial radio stations in the United States to play these type of artists. One method of doing this was the ["Screamer of the Week"] a promotion in which listeners would call in and vote for their favorite new song of the week. A criticism of the station in this period was that it favored artists from Great Britain at the expense of local bands. In 1987, the station's license was revoked after a fifteen-year battle, and as a result on December 18, 1987, the station's ownership changed. The call letters of WLIR were changed to WDRE by the new owner, Jared Communications, while the previous owner (Elton Spitzer's Stereo Broadcasters Inc.) took the WLIR call letters to an AM radio station in Westchester County, New York, and the station's moniker became "New Music First". In 1991, the station changed its moniker again, this time to "The Cutting Edge of Rock".

A WLIR-WDRE New York advertisement from the late 1980s.
Enlarge
A WLIR-WDRE New York advertisement from the late 1980s.

In 1992, WDRE New York started simulcasting its programming with what was 103.9 WIBF Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, which later became WDRE Philadelphia. Subsequently, in the mid 90's, The Underground Network was formed. These stations simulcasted WDRE New York and consisted of WFAL 101.1 Cape Cod, WRGL 94.1 Nashville, KDRE 101.1 Little Rock WWCP 96.7 Albany KFTH 107.1 Memphis, WMRW 98.5 Westhampton, as well as WIBF. After several years, The Underground Network was ended and it was decided in 1996 that WDRE New York would switch formats to AAA, bring back Malibu Sue (who had been fired earlier by then PD Ralph Mottla), change its call letters back to WLIR and change it's moniker to "The Island". As a result, WDRE Philadelphia became an independent local modern rock station.

The explosion in popularity of grunge and alternative rock in the early 1990's caused problems for the station. The synthesizer-based music on which much of the station's playlist was based was now out of fashion. Alternative rock artists which used be played almost exclusively on the station were now being played on most rock and pop stations. WLIR tried to tweak the format several times, but the ratings continued to plummet.

On January 9, 2004, Univision bought the 92.7 frequency and other assets [for $56.9 million dollars] and began broadcasting a Spanish radio format under the call letters WZAA. The WLIR call letters and format moved to the 107.1 frequency in the Long Island area. However, since this station was located about 50 miles east of the original WLIR, many of WLIR's fans in New York City, southwestern Connecticut, southern Westchester County, New York and even the extreme western parts of Long Island itself could not easily receive the station (many of these areas were closer geographically to another 107.1 station in northern Westchester County which hindered reception).

On September 15, 2005, the station changed formats to a smooth jazz/chill music format known as "FM Channel 107: NeoBreeze." As a result of the format change, which was also instituted to two other stations owned by the WLIR's owners (The Morey Organization), all of the on-air staff was fired. This truly marked the end of WLIR's unique "new music" format after almost three decades. In addition, with the new format, the station would run commercial-free during the day, with the actual airtime during this period paid for by advertisers. According to the station's owners, this move was made as an attempt to take on satellite radio and MP3 players, which had been cutting into listeners of traditional radio.

In a rare turn of events, on December 20, 2005, the NeoBreeze format was dumped, and the WLIR came back. Apparently, The Morey Organization underestimated the listener's loyalty to WLIR. The only on-air personality is Andre, playing a new two-hour Flashback Lunch. The four commercials per hour "brandcasting" is still in effect, which allows for more songs to be played per hour.

Air Personalities

Memorable Moments and Shows

Clubs and Venues

External links

FM radio stations in the New York City market

By frequency: 88.1 | 88.3 | 88.7 | 88.9 | 89.1 | 89.1 | 89.5 | 89.9 | 90.3 | 90.3 | 90.3 | 90.7 | 91.1 | 91.5 | 92.3 | 92.7 | 93.1 | 93.5 | 93.9 | 94.3 | 94.7 | 95.5 | 96.3 | 96.7 | 97.1 | 97.5 | 97.9 | 98.3 | 98.7 | 99.1 | 99.5 | 100.3 | 100.7 | 101.1 | 101.9 | 102.7 | 103.1 | 103.5 | 103.9 | 104.3 | 105.1 | 105.5 | 105.9 | 106.7 | 107.1 | 107.1 | 107.5

By callsign: WALK | WAWZ | WAXQ | WBAI | WBGO | WBLS | WCAA | WCBS | WCWP | WDHA | WFAS | WFDU | WFME | WFMU | WFNY | WFUV | WHCR | WHPC | WHTZ | WHUD | WKCR | WKHL | WKJY | WKRB | WKTU | WLTW | WMJC | WNEW | WNYC | WNYE | WNYU | WPAT | WPLJ | WQCD | WQHT | WQXR | WRDR | WRKS | WRHU | WRTN | WSIA | WSOU | WSKQ | WWPR | WWZY | WXPK | WZAA

Past Stations: WNBC | WPIX

Based on a list from [the New York Radio Guide].

 

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