WLIE

[wgliradio]

Seems like a CD playing Christian Contemporary tracking. From what I hear the Henry's have finally closed on a sale. Anyone know what is happening?

 

[mkdanz]

Yep the deal was finally closed and the Henry's are out of radio. The FCC Database indicated the deal closed January 24, 2008 (if I'm reading that correctly).

Here's an article on the company, but I have no idea what will happen to the format.

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2007/12/17/daily18.html

 

[MarcB]

You know something guys, if I remember correctly it was around the beginning of February 2007 when WLIE/540 first went to their Spanish CCM format even tho it was still under the previous ownership. Maybe the LMA was only for one year and now the station is in a holding pattern until another LMA is signed.

 

[MarcB]

Someone on Dr. Sniffen's board claims they called the phone number on Radio Alerta's website (the network they were feeding on WLIE) and they were told that WLIE has been experiencing technical difficulties.

I'm not buying that excuse.

 

[Jiml]

I still love the fact that:

The building still says "Island Talk 540"

And the van is still parked in the driveway with "Business Talk NY" on it.

 

[mkdanz]

You can keep going, the website is still up, with the 'Ask the Experts' page.
Radio Locater still shows "Business Talk NY"...

Its like The Twilight Zone, with time standing still for the last couple of years.

 

[Ted Russell]

Re: WLIE = Radio Kutzpah

Seems like WLIE is running the Jewish programming that used to run on WSNR 620. They even said 620 WSNR a few times this morning. The audio was not very good. I figured it was a simulcast so I tuned to 620 to see if that was the case. The odd thing is that 620 was running what sounded like the Russian format that had been on 87.7/Ch6 before Pulse took over.

 

[mkdanz]

I read on the other board (hate getting info from there but couldn't confirm it elsewhere), that this is temporary and that the plan is to move the old Russian programming from 87.7 over to 540.

 

[RadioFixerCLE]

Re: WLIE = Radio Kutzpah

The odd thing is that 620 was running what sounded like the Russian format that had been on 87.7/Ch6 before Pulse took over.

Not the same format.

The Russian station on AM 62 is Davidzon Radio....they do news/talk shows and are owned by a newspaper group called -- obviously -- Davidzon Media, run by a guy named Gregory Davidzon. http://www.davidzonradio.com/

This is G.D. himself: http://www.davidzonradio.com/staff-93.htm

The broadcasters that used to be on 87.7 were Radio VSE .... and that station specialized more in Russian Dance/Top-40 music. Their website, http://www.radiovse.com now bounces over to Pulse 87.

 

[MarcB]

When time did they flip? They were in English at 11AM, but by 2:45PM they were foreign language.

 

[Ted Russell]

They were in English at 11AM, but by 2:45PM they were foreign language.

I don't know. Maybe they didn't flip. If it is a Jewish Network, it is possible that the foreign language you heard was either hebrew or yiddish. On my way home tonight between 6:30 and 7pm the station was playing jewish sounding music with commercials and announcements in english.

 

[MarcB]

Okay. My friend and I couldn't identify what language it was when we heard it. The show that was on prior to 11AM was weird. It was some guy talking about kitchen appliances and how much they cost.

 

[Ted Russell]

The show that was on prior to 11AM...was some guy talking about kitchen appliances and how much they cost.

Yes, I heard that too. Those guys must have been on all morning. I'm guessing it must have been some kind of a paid promotional thing? The one guy was challenging the other guy to talk about as many products as possible in a three minute window. There was a commercial for "Uncle Moisey" coming to perform in the area. There were also commercials for a bunch of places in Brooklyn and Queens. It certainly is an interesting and different kind of listen.

 

[bub]

Why can't they just broker it back out to Business Talk Radio Network; the format they had previously? I don't see the harm in it.

 

[MarcB]

Why can't they just broker it back out to Business Talk Radio Network; the format they had previously? I don't see the harm in it.

I don't see the harm in it either, but BTR wants nothing to do with Principle Broadcasting because Stu Henry sold the station to Principle rather than to BTR. That's part of the reason BTR had attempted to buy and why they were buying time on 98.5 FM.

 

[mkdanz]

As I responded to your comment on other boards, Principle would not have a business issue with BTRN. The dispute was between the Henry's and BTRN, not Principle and BTRN. If BTRN really felt they wanted to be on Long Island from a strategic perspective, they would have reached out. BTRN missed the puchasing window for WLIE AND they backed out of the deal with TMO for other Long Island properties. Their desire to be on Long Island seemes to have passed (or they just can't afford it.)

Also, what little I can learn about the Principle properties is that they are owned by an investment company, and tend to focus and have expertise in ethnic and religious broadcasting. The Christian, Jewish and rumored Russian programming seem to fit their model, and investors tend to stick with a successful plan. It also may open up an appearance of conflict of interest for an investment company to have investment programming.