City Hampton Bays, New York Branding Hope Radio Translator(s) See § Translators | Broadcast area Long Island Frequency 107.1 MHz First air date 1980 (as WWHB) | |
WLIR-FM (107.1 FM, "Hope Radio") is a contemporary Christian music radio station. Licensed to Hampton Bays, New York, WLIR-FM serves the Long Island area. Its transmitter is currently located near East Quogue, New York.
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Early 1980s-2002
107.1 FM began as WWHB ("HB-107") in the early 1980s, with an adult contemporary format. In 1984, Eddie Simon along with his brother, Paul Simon, purchased the station. Its format then shifted to Top 40. In 1991, it began simulcasting rock station WNEW-FM from New York City. On December 7, 1996, the station became part of the Big City Radio trimulcast (and eventual quadcast) with other 107.1 stations in Briarcliff Manor, New York and northern New Jersey and later, the Allentown/Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania area. WWHB and the other two multicast stations switched formats to country as Y-107. The call sign was changed to WWVY on May 16, 1997, then to WWXY on March 22, 1999 (after 107.1 FM in Briarcliff Manor, New York changed from WWXY to WYNY). On May 9, 2002, after a day of stunting with construction noises, the quadcast adopted a Tropical music format branded Rumba 107. The format was ill-suited to the quadcast suburban signals, and at the end of the year, Big City Radio filed for bankruptcy and sold the quadcast to Nassau Broadcasting, who broke up the quadcast and sold the individual stations.
2003–2013
Jarad Broadcasting picked up WWXY in April 2003. 107.1 FM initially simulcasted WLIR (92.7 FM) from Garden City, New York, but in January 2004, 92.7 FM was purchased by Univision and flipped to Spanish language "Latino Mix" WZAA, simulcasting WCAA. 107.1 FM then became a fully transplanted WLIR, taking on a modern rock format and the WLIR-FM call sign, turning into "THE BOX." This format lasted until September 2005, when a smooth jazz/chill music format called "NeoBreeze" was adopted. This format was a failure, and the modern rock format returned in December 2005. In January 2008, the music ended and WLIR began simulcasting WEPN (ESPN Radio, then on 1050 AM, now on 98.7 FM) in a local marketing agreement. WLIR was sold to Livingstone in 2011 and flipped to a Christian format branded as "Hope Radio."
On August 5, 2013, Livingstone Broadcasting shifted the "Hope Radio" Christian format to WBLI-HD2 along with translators W235BB 94.9FM Hauppauge, New York; W243BF 96.5FM Shirley, New York; W268AN 101.5FM Plainview, New York and W283BA 104.5FM Selden, New York. WLIR-FM dropped the Christian format and became "Champions Radio" touted as Long Island's First & Only Sports Radio Station. WLIR-FM was broadcast on both the 107.1 and 96.9 frequencies in Suffolk County, New York. The format was short lived due Mr. Anderson's refusal to air familiar ESPN programming in exchange for local unknown programming which was likely brokered. In addition, Mr. Anderson suffered severe backlash from his congregation for airing sports on some of his platforms, due to the fact that he consistently and aggressively asked his congregation to bankroll the stations in an effort to spread Christian messages.
2014
On February 24, 2014, WLIR-FM dropped all sports programming and reverted to Christian formatted "Hope Radio."
Lease to Pillar of Fire
On August 1, 2014 Pillar of Fire began a lease of WLIR-FM. WAWZ-FM, Zarephath, New Jersey (STAR 99.1) was broadcast on WLIR-FM as well as its translators as STAR 107.1. The lease ended in April 2015 and WLIR-FM reverted to Christian formatted "Hope Radio.".