The Southampton-based radio station 88.3 WPPB-FM, which is Long Island's only National Public Radio station, will become 88.3 WLIW-FM on Monday, according to an announcement from WNET Group, which acquired the station in March.
Local personalities including Brian Cosgrove, Gianna Volpe, Ed German, and Michael Mackey will remain on the air alongside important national programming and a number of popular shows. Listeners will now be able to hear "This American Life," "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me," "Freakonomics," "RadioLab," "TED Radio Hour," and more.
"We are excited about this new chapter for 88.3 WLIW-FM," Diane Masciale, general manager and vice president of television's WLIW21 and of the newly renamed station. "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. . . ."
The Federal Communications Commission and the New York State Attorney General's Office have both signed off on the sale of 88.3 FM to the WNET Group, allowing the media company to have a dual license with both a PBS television station and an NPR station.
The radio station 88.3 WPPB-FM is one of several that are local to the East End. Others include 92.7 WLNG-FM of Sag Harbor and the three stations that make up Long Island Radio Broadcasting L.L.C. They are 101.7 WBEA-FM, 92.9 and 96.9 WEHM-FM, and 102.5 WBAZ-FM.
