WHLI
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| WHLI | |
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| City of license | Hempstead, New York |
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| Broadcast area | Long Island |
| Slogan | All Time Favorites |
| Frequency | 1100 KHz |
| First air date | July 22, 1947 |
| Format | Standards |
| ERP | 10,000 watts day/off at night |
| Class | D |
| Callsign meaning | We're Hempstead Long Island |
| Owner | Barnstable Broadcasting |
| Website | whli.com |
WHLI is a radio station located at 1100 AM broadcasting a standards format. Licensed to Hempstead, New York, the station has its studios in Farmingdale, New York and is owned by the Long Island Radio Group, itself a subsidiary of Barnstable Broadcasting.
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[edit] History
WHLI was first licensed in 1947 by Paul and Elias Godofsky, the owners of WLIB/New York from 1942 to 1944. WHLI began broadcasting local radio just as the nearby potato fields of Island Trees, Long Island were being replaced by houses in Levittown. Long Island was becoming one of America's most lucrative markets. It was one of the first AM/FM pairs. Its FM sister at 98.3FM actually first went on air a short while before WHLI as WHNY. (98.3FM would assume the WHLI-FM calls on January 1, 1948, later becoming WIOK and today is known as "K-JOY" WKJY).
WHLI began as a 250w non-directional AM station at 1100 and was given permission to raise its power to the current 10kw two-tower directional signal by the FCC in 1960. It is a "daytimer" and must either reduce power or sign-off at local sunset as it broadcasts on the same frequency as WTAM in Cleveland. The WHLI towers are located next to the Southern State Parkway in Hempstead near the Baldwin Road/Grand Avenue exit. They are a popular landmark as signage touting the WHLI call letters and dial position (1100) have been mounted on the main tower for decades for passing motorists to see.
According to the book The Airwaves Of New York, programming on WHLI in 1947 included dinner music from the syndicated program "Candlelight and Silver" and that the station "looked to the local audience for talent and encouraged amateurs and professionals to audition, welcoming everyone from classical musicians to pop singers and comedians."
From the first day, WHLI aimed to an upscale audience. As "The Voice Of Long Island", the station became the dominant local station in Nassau County with a decent signal into Suffolk and Queens counties. By the early 1950s, WHLI's "Commuter's Time" was the top-rated morning show. The rest of the broadcast day was filled with "familiar good music and local news". The station aired concerts from The Long Island Pops and hours of "Music From The Country Club".
In the 1970s, WHLI played popular music as a Top 40 station, but on Saturday January 21, 1979 it changed to Al Ham's then-new "Music Of Your Life(r)" format. WHLI continues as a local programmed, top-rated station today playing adult standards with news from CNN and their own news staff.
[edit] Studios
WHLI's first offices and studios were in a frame house at 245 Baldwin Road, Hempstead, NY. They stayed there until 1957 when they moved to 384 Clinton Street in Hempstead. (The small street on the north side of the station building was renamed WHLI Way and is still on the map today.) They moved to the third floor of 1055 Franklin Avenue in neighboring Garden City in 1991 and remained there until 2001, when Barnstable consolidated operations for WHLI, WKJY, WBZO & WMJC at 234 Airport Plaza, Farmingdale, NY.
[edit] Ownership
WHLI and its FM were run by the Godofskys until February 1979, when they were sold to Williams Broadcasting Corporation for 1.5 million. They were sold again in 1984 to Barnstable Broadcasting, this time for 5.0 million dollars.
[edit] Personalities
- Jerry Carr (original Program Director)
- Alan Stewart
- Eddy Brown (original Music Director, formerly of WQXR & WLIB)
- Ken Martin
- Mike Salvatorelli
- Doug McQuillan
- Kathy Cunningham
- Sal Giangrasso (now at The Wall Street Journal)
- Chuck Camlic (Mornings 1979-1994)
- Dean Anthony (Midday Host/PD from 1981 until his death on October 24, 2003 at the age of 68). He was the program director who was responsible for making WHLI the most successful daytimer in the United States. Dean Anthony was born in Brooklyn, and he had been one of New York's most listened to personalities since 1964 when he came "back home" after honing his skills in Virginia and Washington DC. Joining the WMCA "good guys", he quickly gathered a large audience where none existed…. in the middle of the night…playing the hits of The Beatles, The Stones and The Four Seasons and interacting with the audience" one on one" with his "Actors and Actresses" and "Group Therapy" When the "good guys" run ended in 1970, he switched to "Country Music on WJRZ", then "97/WWDJ Rock & Roll" until 1971 when he joined "beautiful music WTFM"…a nice job, but Dean says it was like being in semi-retirement. In 1977 WTFM switched formats to become New York's first "soft rock" station. Dean did the mid-day, then overnight show until 1981 when a labor dispute resulted in a strike. The 9-month strike was the proverbial blessing in disguise since that lead to a temporary job on WHLI Long Island, which lasted 22 years. His schools were Lafayette in Brooklyn and Brooklyn College. Sadly, Dean passed away in October, 2003, but WHLI listeners will never forget the man who was the "heart" of their favorite radio station. There is a scholarship at Hofstra University in his memory. There is a great picture of Dean when he was in Washington DC and the Beatles prominently displayed in the lobby of WHLI studios at Republic Plaza in Farmingdale, NY. (BR)
- Gil David (1987-Spring 1998 afternoons, mornings until Early 2006)
- John Williams (1995-1998)
- Jack Spector (1988-1994, Former king of the hops, WMCA Good Guy whom Dean Anthony hired in 1985. Spector died of a heart attack on March 8, 1994, while on the air at WHLI playing I'm in the Mood for Love by Louie Prima & Keely Smith) /his sign off "look out street, here I come" was given to him by Jackie Wilson! (BR)
- Margie Casale (May 1982-
- Paul Richards (current PD)
- Joe Satta
- Bill Houston
- Gil Fox
- Bob Perry (created the JACK-FM format in 2000, President of Big Sticks Broadcasting)
- Alan Boritz a/k/a Steve King
- Mike Charles (news)
- Don Beckwith (1997-1998)
- Joe Clines (News Director 1989)
- John Marino (news/DJ 1994-1996)
- Steve Warren (1994-July 1995)
- John Von Soosten (Summer 2002-January 2005, currently program manager of XM Radio's "On Broadway" channel)
- Bobby Ryan (1993-1995)
- Frank Brinka (current News Director)
- Tom Zwier (news ?-1989)
- James Faherty (1993-December 1996)
- Janell Crispyn (news)
[edit] Slogans
"The Voice Of Long Island"
"Music Of Your Life"
"Where It's Cool To Listen, Baby!"
"Standards Of Yesterday & Today"
"Home Of Your All-Time Favorites"
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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