WPIE signed on in 1989 as Tompkins County's third AMradio station and the Ithaca, New York market's 12th station on both radio bands. It broadcasts on 1160 kHz. Since November 2010, it has been locally owned and operated by Vizella Media and has been an ESPN Radio affiliate with national sports coverage, local coverage of the Cornell Big Red, Ithaca Bombers, Cortland Red Dragons, TC3 Panthers, and Section IV high school sports, and regional coverage of the Syracuse Orange and New York Yankees.
History
The Federal Communications Commission licensed the station on April 16, 1986, as WJCU to Elmira, New York-area radio personality Joel Clawson and local engineer William Sitzman. Two Trumansburg businessmen also were silent partners in the venture.[citation needed]
About three months later, the FCC approved a callsign change to WPIE, which was chosen in honor of Clawson's wife, a baker.
The station signed on in 1989, airing an easy listening format that featured music from abroad obtained by Sitzman's programming company. Some of the music was not available commercially in the United States, and gave an alternative to common pop music heard in the US. Some of the music was also from custom recording sessions.
This is an example of the original WPIE logo
The studio was in a former gasoline station in the hamlet of Jacksonville, New York, about midway between Trumansburg and Ithaca on Route 96. One of the gas station's tanks had leaked several years earlier, rendering the water at the studio unpotable.
The station began airing Trumansburg High School football and basketball games, as well as South Seneca High School football, in 1992. Sports coverage was expanded the next year, when the Elmira-based Pembrook Pines Media Group bought the station.
The new owner brought a new format, country music, which garnered the station more listeners and advertisers.[citation needed]
Within a couple of years, the station moved into a new studio at its tower site, off Seneca Road in Trumansburg.
In the late 1990s, Pembrook Pines switched WPIE to an all-sports format, featuring ESPN Radio, and moved its main studio into its Elmira headquarters, which included the studios of all-sports WELM, easy-listening WEHH, urban contemporaryWLVY and country WOKN, all of which serve the Elmira-Corning market rather than Ithaca.
Originally, WPIE and WELM aired different satellite-delivered programming with the exception of major sports broadcasts. Eventually, the stations began simulcasting, splitting only for WPIE's Ithaca-area local sports broadcasts.
In 2007, the station resumed its affiliation with Syracuse University. WPIE has also aired some Ithaca College sports and Ithaca High School sports.
In August 2010, WPIE entered a joint sales agreement with Taughannock Media, later Vizella Media, owned by former WIII/WKRT manager Todd Mallinson and his wife, in anticipation of selling the station. The station dropped the Buffalo Bills in favor of the New York Jets in the fall of 2010.
In November 2010, WPIE was purchased by Taughannock Media, later Vizella Media, and moved its studio and offices to a new facility in Lansing, NY, though the towers and transmitter remain in Trumansburg. Many improvements had been made, including new studio and remote broadcasting equipment and transmitter upgrades. Shortly after relocating, the station added an afternoon local sports talk show - "Between the Lines" - to its programming lineup.
In January 2011, WPIE became the flagship home of Cornell Wrestling broadcasts. In September 2011, it added local high school and local football sports talk show "Game Day" to its fall lineup on Saturday mornings.
WPIE airs nearly 70 high school play-by-play broadcasts throughout the year, including regular season and postseason football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, and lacrosse games. Past broadcasts have included numerous state championships, including titles for Lansing baseball (2012), Newark Valley football (2016), Moravia boys basketball (2017 and 2024), Watkins Glen girls basketball (2017), Lansing boys soccer (2017 and 2018), Marathon boys soccer (2019), Newfield boys basketball (2022), and Moravia girls basketball (2024).
In November 2013, WPIE added an FM translator on 107.1MHz, in addition to 1160 AM. WPIE rebranded as ESPN Ithaca 1160/107.1.
In June 2017, ESPN Ithaca added an FM translator on 107.1MHz near Watkins Glen.
ESPN Ithaca is an 24-time award winner by the New York State Broadcasters Association for Excellence in Broadcasting.
WMUA is a student-run college radio station owned by the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts. The station's broadcast license is held by the University of Massachusetts. WMUA celebrated its 70th anniversary of continuous on-air broadcasting during the 2017-2018 school year. The station debuted a second, online-only stream called WMUAx in September 2017.
WJFK is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a sports gambling radio format. Licensed to Morningside, Maryland, and serving the Washington metropolitan area, the station is owned by Audacy, Inc. The radio studios are in Southeast DC in the Navy Yard neighborhood. Programming is supplied by the co-owned BetQL Network and Infinity Sports Network.
WSKW is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Skowhegan, Maine. It is owned by J. Hanson Company and it carries a radio format of sports from Infinity Sports Network. The studios and offices are in the Lee Farm Mall in Augusta.
WENY-TV is a television station in Elmira, New York, United States, affiliated with ABC, CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Lilly Broadcasting, the station has studios on Old Ithaca Road in Horseheads, and its transmitter is located on Higman Hill in Corning.
WLVY is a commercial AM radio station that is licensed to two adjacent cities in the Southern Tier of New York, Elmira Heights and Horseheads, New York. It is owned by Tower Broadcasting and airs a Top 40 (CHR) radio format.
WELM signed on in 1947 as Chemung County's second radio station and the Elmira-Corning, New York market's third. It broadcasts on 1410 kHz. The station uses a three-tower array, broadcasting with 5,000 watts from a single tower until sundown, when the power is reduced to 1,000 watts and the pattern becomes directional from all three towers.
WMAJ is an AM radio station in the Elmira-Corning market of New York state. It broadcasts at 1,000 watts at day and 910 watts at night from studios in Corning, New York. It airs an adult contemporary format branded as "Magic 106.7/106.9".
KQWB is an American AM radio station located in Fargo, North Dakota, owned by Jim Ingstad's Radio FM Media. Its studios are located on 7th Avenue South in Fargo, while its transmitter array is located north of Glyndon.
Kevin Connors is a sports television journalist for ESPN. He is a versatile studio host in sports television, handling ESPN's coverage of college basketball and college football, as well as Baseball Tonight. He is also a regular anchor on SportsCenter. In addition, Connors handles play-by-play duties for college basketball, college football, and Major League Baseball broadcasts on ESPN. He is also a voice in the popular EA Sports video game "College Football 25." Connors was previously a sports reporter and sports anchor for WCBS-TV, the flagship station of CBS in New York City and WCBS-880.
WFOB is a commercially licensed AM radio station, broadcasting at 1430 kilohertz at a maximum power output of 1,000 watts, with a three-tower directional antenna pattern, with differing constants day and night. WFOB is licensed to Fostoria, Ohio, which is located in Wood, Seneca, and Hancock counties.
WGGO is an AM radio station located in Salamanca, New York, United States. The station broadcasts at 1590 kHz. WGGO is owned by Holy Family Communications as part of its network of Catholic radio stations, The Station of the Cross.
WHCU is a commercial radio station in Ithaca, New York, that programs a news/talk radio format. The station has been owned by Saga Communications, operating as part of its Cayuga Radio Group, since 2005. The studios and offices are on Hanshaw Road in Ithaca.
WMVI is a Class A radio station licensed to Mount Vernon, Indiana, serving the Posey County, Indiana market. The format became ESPN Radio on January 1, 2007. The station is owned by The Original Company, based in Vincennes, Indiana. It used to air Indiana Pacers basketball, Indianapolis Colts football, and St. Louis Cardinals baseball, as well as Indiana University football and basketball. The station now only has affiliations with Indiana University men's football and basketball. The primary sports coverage is now Mount Vernon Wildcats Athletics including football and boys varsity basketball.
WJIM is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Lansing, Michigan. It is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a news/talk format. It is also the flagship station of the Michigan Talk Network. Studios and offices are on Pinetree Road in Lansing.
KAFN is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format. Licensed to Benton, Arkansas, the station mainly programs local content for Saline County, along with the southern portion of the Little Rock metropolitan area.
WKPQ is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Hornell, New York, United States, the station serves the Elmira-Corning area including the Canisteo valley and northern Pennsylvania. The station is currently owned by Seven Mountains Media.
WHHO was a radio station broadcasting a sports talk format. Licensed to Hornell, New York, United States, the station served the Elmira-Corning area. The station was owned by Bilbat Radio, Inc.. The station had been the home of Eric Massa's weekly radio broadcasts. Gene Burns, a Hornell native, began his long broadcasting career at the station.
WVIN-FM is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary format. Licensed to Bath, the station serves the Elmira-Corning area of New York's Southern Tier. The station is owned by Gordon Ichikawa, through licensee Tower Broadcasting, LLC. The studios are on Washington Street Extension in Bath.
WICB is a college radio station licensed to serve Ithaca, New York, United States. Established in 1941 and receiving its FCC license in 1948, the station is owned by Ithaca College.
WAMC is a public radio station licensed to Albany, New York. Along with WAMC-FM (90.3), the station serves as a flagship station of the Northeast Public Radio network, which carries a listener-supported, commercial-free radio format of news, talk and eclectic music. The WAMC stations are members of National Public Radio (NPR).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
