WLRI-LP
 | |
| City of license | Gap, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area |
Eastern Lancaster County, PA Western Chester County, PA |
| Branding | WLRI 93FM |
| Slogan | "LanChester's News Leader" |
| Frequency | 92.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | October 16, 2003 |
| Format | All-News: |
| Class | L1 |
| Facility ID | 135143 |
| Callsign meaning | "We're LanChester Radio Information" |
| Former callsigns | WOMB-LP, WOCT-LP, WGCP-LP, WLDW-LP, WOBS-LP, WGPQ-LP, WLBX-LP, WLIZ-LP, WTPP-LP, WPAG-LP, WLAL-LP, WOPR-LP[1] |
| Affiliations | Pacifica Radio Network |
| Owner |
LanChester Radio Information, Inc. (LanChester Radio Information, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | WLRI+PLUS Channel (online/cable) |
| Webcast | mywlri.com |
| Website | mywlri.com |
WLRI-LP (92.9 FM) is a low-power FM radio station licensed to serve Gap, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by LanChester Radio Information, Inc., and the broadcast license is held by Octave Communications Association. It airs classic hits programming.[2]
Having been assigned more than 20 sets of call letters in its short history, the station was most recently assigned the WLRI-LP call sign on December 8, 2008.[1]
Station history
WLRI-LP was founded June 15, 2001, when County Line Broadcast Group applied for an LPFM construction permit. On April 2, 2002, CLBG reorganized to Octave Communications Association. On October 16, 2003 Octave Communications Association was granted a construction permit from the FCC. On December 29, 2003 WOMB-LP signed on the air at half power. On January 1, 2004, "B93" WOMB-LP launched. The studios were based on Christiana Avenue in Gap. The building at Christiana Avenue was put on the market and forced WLRI-LP to move. In April 2008 WLRI-LP was relocated to Pequea Avenue in downtown Gap. Then again in July, after 3 months on Pequea Avenue, the station's landlord was faced with financial troubles so WLRI-LP was forced to move again.
During its first 4 years WOMB-LP struggled to get notoriety so it covered a generous array of formats and call signs which included: WCGP-LP, "GAP Christiana Parkesburg", WLBX-LP "LanChester's BOX FM" "WOCT-LP - Octave Radio" "WLDW-LP - We're LanChester's Daily World", in 2005 Octorara Communications Association was formed "WOBS-LP - We're the Octorara Broadcasting Service", then reverted to its original concept of WOMB-LP. In 2007 WOMB-LP became WLAL-LP as a way of saying "We Love All of LanChester". Finally WLRI-LP was born, "We're LanChester Radio Independence". WLRI-LP is the first LPFM station to offer RDS radio text service, SCA audio, 5 webcast stations, tested HD Radio, and is the closest LPFM station to Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore.
In recent years the station was branded with slogans like, "You can rely on WLRI 93FM", "LanChester's Favorite", "LanChester's News Leader" and most recently "Music Radio" and "LanChester's Very Own". The station is governed by a board of directors composed of members of the general public. Every reporter, DJ, staff member, and anchor works at their own pace on their own time. The work done or live broadcasts are streamed into the station manager's home where they're broadcast via the internet to the transmitter site. The entire concept of the station is portability, mobility, and accessibility. In addition to local programming, news, weather and traffic, WLRI-LP also airs programs from across the United States from independent sources. In the Fall of 2007 WLRI launched WLRI93FM.com.[3] The station then rebranded the website because the station was facing major encroachment from WDSD in Smyrna, Delaware and WMGS in Scranton, Pennsylvania, So WLRI-LP put itself in a position of neutrality by just labeling and advertising WLRI-LP, no frequency. In 2007 FCC rulemakings changed the second and third protections which removed the encroachment worries placed upon WLRI-LP. In September 2008 WLRI-LP launched MYWLRI.com.
On September 1, 2009, WLRI-LP announced that the station would continue to operate non-broadcast services during the "silent" period. Operating off-air, WLRI-LP continued to offer internet-based programming and services. The station had announced it would resume operation on or before November 1, 2009 as an oldies music format community radio station.
On December 29, 2009, WLRI-LP launched "WLRI 93FM NewsRadio", the first and only LPFM station to offer a 24/7 "All-News" format. Also the only FM station in Lancaster County to host all-news. In March 2010, WLRI-LP moved the "Newsradio" side to HD2. WLRI-LP's current format is a combination of news/talk, classic Hits, adult contemporary with a "hot AC" lean, and adult hits.
In the fall of 2009 WLRI-LP began reading the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era city newspaper over the air as a public service to the visually impaired and those who suffer from illiteracy. In the summer of 2010 WLRI picked up the weekly reading of Sunday News, the Sunday newspaper from Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. The daily paper is a 30-60 minute read while the Sunday paper is a 2-3 hour read.
In January 2011, WLRI 93FM General Manager, Christian McLaughlin announced that WLRI 93FM would bring back the sound of what radio was in the '70s, '80s and early '90s. By adapting the music format from adult hits, news/talk and by replacing them with classic hits and just reporting news every hour (every half hour in the mornings and on weekends). By engaging with local media professionals who have played a large part in the Lancaster/Philadelphia marketplace(s) WLRI 93FM set out to bring some of the more successful practices performed at stations like WLAN in Lancaster and WCOJ in West Chester. Additionally, WFIL "Famous 56", "Hot Hits 98 WCAU FM", "Eagle 106, WEGX-FM", "94WYSP", "Y-100" WPLY-FM and WMGK "Magic 103" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The imaging and sound of WLRI 93FM's "classic hits" format derive from the legends themselves, such as: "77WABC" New York, "89WLS" Chicago,"84WHAS" Louisville, "Z-100" WHTZ-FM New York, "66WNBC" New York, "93KHJ" Los Angeles, "97WYNY" New York, "102.7 KIIS-FM" Los Angeles and "DC101" WWDC-FM Washington D.C..
WLRI 93FM currently streams live, 24 hours a day via UStream. When the stream is not operating live, previously broadcast will play in place of the downed stream. MyWLRI.com has also had a revision. WLRI 93FM also expanded social outreach by adding many of the internal departments to Facebook and Twitter.
WLRI 93FM is a full service, Low Powered FM station based in Gap, Pennsylvania and is currently licensed and silent. WLRI-LP management received a letter from the Federal Communications Commission dated 01/27/2011 which requires WLRI-LP to sign on by the end of November 2011. As of 01/29/2011 station management plans to resume operations (go back on the air) when financial support can be gained, and as soon as weather permits much needed work to the tower facilities to be completed. WLRI 93FM has acquired local disc jockeys to join in on the relaunch. WLRI 93FM has invested thousands in community outreach, promotion, marketing and production of the latest relaunch. As of December 2010, WLRI-LP's live web stream reached a record cume of 1,932,847 listeners. MyWLRI.com recorded over 2 Million unique hits.
On July 12, 2013 WLRI-LP switched format to "All News".
Network Affiliations
01/01/2010 Local Radio Information (LRI) signed on as the first, free LPFM and Micropower broadcast radio network for non-commercial use and low power use nationwide.
10/01/2010 WLRI 93FM officially became the first and only Pacifica Radio Network station in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
- ↑ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
- ↑ http://mywlri.com/history
External links
- WLRI-LP official website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WLRI-LP
- Radio-Locator information on WLRI-LP
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WLRI
- WLRI-LP on MySpace
- WLRI-LP service area per the FCC database
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Coordinates: 39°58′37″N 76°03′14″W / 39.977°N 76.054°W