L-I Radio: Local Resident To Acquire WLNG Sag Harbor

WLNG 92.1 FM, the Sag Harbor radio station that became famous for its reverb sound and oldies music, its stubborn defiance of consultants’ bleak view of its unique format, and for surviving a battering from Hurricane Sandy to keep airing live reports, seems poised to hurdle yet another challenge.

According to the East Hampton Star, the family trust that has overseen WLNG and its parent company, Main Street Broadcasting, since the 2009 death of the owner Robert King has agreed to sell the station to Sandra Foschi, a Sag Harbor resident and owner of Health SOS, a chain of physical therapy businesses in New York, Long Island, and Connecticut.

But loyal listeners concerned about the fate of the 55-year-old station need not worry. No sweeping changes are planned to WLNG’s mix of hyperlocal content, music playlists, and longtime on-air personalities like Gary Sapiane, Brian (the Cannon) Bannon, and the overnight host Big Tom Lawler. It’s an idiosyncratic combination that prompted Edison Research to call WLNG “one of the oddest success stories around” when 22 stations in the local market were first measured in 2005 and WLNG impressively finished number three.

WLNG 92.1 FM (5.3 Kw) Red=60dBu Coverage Area

The $3.9 million purchase of WLNG will be made by Ms. Foschi under her limited liability company Bark Out Loud Dogs Media. The sale includes $3.2 million for the station’s waterfront site on Redwood Road in Sag Harbor, $525,000 for WLNG’s license and assets, and $125,000 for the station’s Millstone Road tower.

In addition to hometown touches like community news, birthday shout-outs, and airing local residents’ funeral arrangements, WLNG is also famous for playing hits from the 1950s to the ’70s and its library of jingles, another throwback favored by Mr. Sidney that continues today, along with the reverb (or echo chamber) sound.