WGWE

WGWE is an FM radio station licensed to Little Valley, New York. The station, with a tower atop Fourth Street in the village of Little Valley, broadcasts a classic hits format on 105.9 MHz and operates under the ownership of the Seneca Nation of Indians; the Seneca nation purchased WGWE's construction permit from Randy Michaels in early 2009. Originally a locally-originated automated station for its first several months, the station began broadcasting what is now Cumulus Media Networks' Classic Hits Radio satellite format in late June 2010 in all shifts except weekday mornings and noon. Mike "Smitty" Smith, former disc jockey at WPIG and member of the Salamanca City Council, is the station manager, hosting the morning drive time show and noon call-in request hours from studios inside the former Uni-Mart in Salamanca. Additional local hosts were added several months later; "Ace Boogie" hosts a rock and blues oriented afternoon drive program, while Jesse Garon joined WGWE for middays in October 2011, becoming the first non-Seneca member of the station's air staff. Additional staff can also be heard on station announcements and advertisements. Local high school and youth athletics, Southern Tier Diesel football home games, and Buffalo Bandits lacrosse are carried on the station as well. National Native News is heard twice during the day. The station does not employ any professional weather services, instead taking public domain forecasts from the National Weather Service.

The station's playlist can be described as full-service and features a mix of oldies ranging from the 1950s through early 1980s, classic rock, native music, soul music, classic country, and even an occasional contemporary country song. One song that stands out on the station's playlist is "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow," a song performed by Johnny Cash and written by Peter La Farge and Bob Dylan about the construction of the Kinzua Dam; it was the first song played upon the station's sign-on and is played every Friday at noon. A half-hour on each Saturday morning is devoted to traditional Seneca music, which is also heard in the station's bumpers and station identifications instead of traditional radio jingles. It is paired with "Weekend Chat," the station's public affairs program. In November 2010, the station added the weekly hourlong series "Soul to Soul," hosted by The Blues Hounds, an all-Seneca blues band from the Cattaraugus Reservation.

The station is operated independently of the Seneca government, however it does advocate Seneca views through public service announcements, outlining the Senecas' position on items of interest such as the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act and New York's continuing taxation efforts on cigarettes, both of which the Seneca government opposes. The station is owned by Seneca Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Seneca Holdings, which is wholly owned by the Seneca Nation. Dave Kimelberg, an enrolled citizen of the Seneca Nation, leads Seneca Holdings as its CEO to diversify the Seneca Nation's economy through various companies. He was instrumental in forming and implementing WGWE.

WGWE is the official broadcast partner for the Native American Music Awards.

External links

• WGWE official Web site
• WGWE Classic Rock Hits on Facebook
• Salamanca Press article on station's launch
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WGWE
• Radio-Locator information on WGWE
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WGWE