Plattsburgh Radio: New Owners Planning WNBZ Revival

Amanda Dagley, Bill Dickerson

Two longtime radio personalities are purchasing WNBZ 1240 AM / 106.3 FM and relocating the station.

According to The Press-Republican, former WIRY 1340 AM station manager and on-air personality Amanda Dagley and her business partner, Bill Dickerson, also a former WIRY on-air personality, are still tying up loose ends with former WNBZ owner Ted Morgan, but they hope to be broadcasting out of the new location at 26 City Hall Place by January.

“I want us to be your destination,” Dagley said. “I want you to be able to turn to us whether you need to be picked up and cheered up or you need to be informed.”

WNBZ-AM has been broadcasting for 90 years. Morgan bought the AM and FM stations, then located in Saranac Lake, in 1998.

He also purchased two other stations, WLPW-FM in Lake Placid and WRGR-FM in Tupper Lake, sometime later and began simulcasting the same signal on all four stations.

He moved the studios in 2015 to Plattsburgh and stopped simulcasting on the other stations.  WNBZ-FM has been broadcasting an automated playlist of music, advertisements and station IDs since last summer.

The revived station will feature a mix of music from the '60s, '70s and '80s, along with live local music from around the entire coverage area and more.  The station will also stream its content.

WNBZ 106.3 FM (1.4 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Overall programing is still under development, but the new owners expect to have have a deejay in the studio from at least 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and possibly beyond.

Dagley has been deejaying for about 20 years, and Dickerson started in 1967 when he helped found a campus radio station at SUNY Cortland.

He worked at several stations in New Jersey, California and Vermont before making his way to Plattsburgh.