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| Simulcast of WGHQ Kingston | |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Hudson Valley |
| Frequency | 1260 kHz |
| Branding | The Beacon |
| Programming | |
| Format | Conservative talk |
| Network | ABC News Radio |
| Affiliations | Westwood One Fox News Radio Army Black Knights football NY Rangers Radio Network New York Knicks Radio Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WBPM, WGHQ, WHUD, WLNA, WSPK, WXPK | |
| History | |
First air date | December 17, 1959 |
Call sign meaning | "Beacon Newburgh Radio" |
| Technical information [1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 19629 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 41°29′32.34″N73°58′41.5″W / 41.4923167°N 73.978194°W |
| Translator(s) | 96.5 W243EM (Beacon) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
WLNA (1260 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Beacon, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and calls itself "The Beacon." It simulcasts a conservative talk radio format with sister stations WLNA 1460 AM in Peekskill and WGHQ 920 AM in Kingston. The studios are on New York State Route 52 in Beacon.
WBNR is powered at 1,000 watts by day and 400 watts at night. It has a directional antenna using a two-tower array at 475 South Avenue in the city of Beacon. [2] Programming is also hear on 100-watt FM translator W243EM at 96.5 MHz. [3]
"The Beacon" (WBNR, WLNA and WGHQ) mostly carries nationally syndicated programs. Weekdays begin with the Westwood One news magazine America in the Morning . That's followed by Brian Kilmeade, Dan Bongino, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, Joe Pags, Bill O'Reilly, America at Night with Rick Valdés and Red Eye Radio .
The Beacon carries live sports including New York Rangers hockey, New York Knicks basketball and Army Black Knights football from nearby West Point.
WBNR signed on the air on December 17, 1959. It was powered at 1,000 watts and was a daytimer station, required to go off the air at night. It was built, engineered, owned and operated by Robert Gessner and brothers Sy and Al Dresner. [4] The original studio was near Denning's Point, a location on the Hudson River that has an archaeological record going back 5,000 years. [5] Former staffers felt that this explained frequent reports of paranormal activity in the studio building.
It was not until 1987 that WBNR was licensed for 480 watts night time operation with a DA2 antenna pattern. For many years it was owned by brothers Robert and Alford Lessner, who were involved in the popular TV show "Candid Camera." The station served the community with a full service, middle of the road (MOR) music format, local news and sports. It was heavily involved with Beacon community events and was the flagship station for Army Black Knights football.
In 1970, Lance Broadcasting, then owners of WBNR, acquired WSPK 104.7 FM from Poughkeepsie–based Olympian Broadcasting. [6] Olympian was also the owner of WKIP 1450 AM, along with the mountain top transmitter site on North Mount Beacon.
In the 1980s and 1990s, radio listeners increasingly tuned to FM stations for music. That hurt the ratings on WBNR. In 1994, WBNR and WSPK were sold to Enterprise Media of Binghamton, New York. Both stations were subsequently sold to Pamal Broadcasting in October 1997. The studios moved from their original 1959 location at 475 South Avenue in Beacon to the newly reconstructed "Broadcast Center" at 715 Fishkill Avenue (NY Route 52), in Fishkill, New York.
On Monday, March 24, 2014, WBNR and WLNA switched to "Real Country," a national music format. The stations began playing classic country hits of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. On December 3, 2019, WBNR began simulcasting on translator station W243EM at 96.5 FM. That gave listeners in and around Beacon the option of tuning in WBNR on the FM dial.
On March 15, 2021, WBNR changed from classic country to a simulcast of co-owned classic hits station 92.9 WBPM in Suagerties. [7]
On October 14, 2024, WBNR ended its simulcast of WBPM. It switched to a conservative talk format, simulcast with WGHQ 920 AM in Kingston and WLNA 1420 AM in Peekskill. The stations began airing talk hosts from Westwood One and were branded as "The Beacon". [8] They became network affiliates of ABC News Radio.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W243EM | 96.5 FM | Beacon, New York | 202877 | 100 | D | 41°29′32″N73°58′38″W / 41.49222°N 73.97722°W | LMS |
WSPK is a Top 40 (CHR) station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York. Its studios are located on NY 52 Business in the town of Fishkill. It is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and transmits from a tower atop Beacon Mountain in Fishkill.
WROW – branded Magic 590-1410 AM and 96.5-100.5 FM – is a commercial radio station licensed to Albany, New York, and serving the Capital District, including Albany, Schenectady and Troy. WROW has a radio format featuring soft oldies with an occasional adult standard. It is owned by Pamal Broadcasting, with radio studios and offices in Latham. WROW serves as the local affiliate for CBS Radio News and is the Emergency Alert System (EAS) primary entry point for Northeastern New York state.
WPDH is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. Its studios and offices are on Pendell Road in Poughkeepsie.
WKXP is a commercial radio station licensed to Kingston, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and it broadcasts a soft adult contemporary radio format from its radio studios in Poughkeepsie, New York. Weekday evenings, WKXP carries the nationally syndicated show "Intelligence for Your Life" with John Tesh.
WHUD is an adult contemporary music radio station licensed to Peekskill, New York, United States. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts at 50,000 watts ERP. Its transmitter facility is located in Philipstown, New York. WHUD's studios are located on Route 52 in Beacon, New York, along with other Hudson Valley Pamal stations. WHUD is responsible for the activation of the Hudson Valley area Emergency Alert System.
WBPM is a classic hits radio station licensed to Saugerties, New York, serving the Mid-Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts at 6,000 watts ERP from a tower in the Town of Kingston, New York, while its studios are in Beacon.
WTAR is a commercial radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads radio market. WTAR is owned and operated by Sinclair Telecable, Inc. It broadcasts an talk radio format as "TalkRadio 96.5 & 850 WTAR". WTAR's studios and offices are on Waterside Drive in Norfolk.
WGHQ is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Kingston, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley. WGHQ is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and airs a conservative talk format known as "The Beacon".
WQSH is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Cobleskill, New York, and serving the Mohawk Valley and the western Capital District of New York. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a classic rock radio format, simulcasting WQBK-FM (105.7). The radio studios and offices are on Kings Road in Schenectady.
WCTW is a hot adult contemporary music formatted radio station licensed to Catskill, New York, and serving Columbia and Greene counties as well as the upper Hudson Valley, the southern Capital District, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts at 4.7 kW ERP from the center tower of the three-tower array used by former sister station WCKL, on Route 9G in Greenport, New York. WCTW's signal can be received as far north as Albany and as far south as Poughkeepsie; however, the station begins to mix with co-channel WCKM-FM and WTRY-FM north of Albany.
WLNA is a commercial radio station licensed to Peekskill, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and calls itself "The Beacon." It simulcasts a conservative talk radio format with sister stations WBNR 1260 AM in Beacon and WGHQ 920 AM in Kingston. The studios are on New York State Route 52 in Beacon.
WDVH-FM is an FM radio station licensed to Trenton, Florida and broadcasting to the Gainesville-Ocala, Florida radio market on 101.7 MHz. It is owned by the Radio Training Network and airs a Contemporary Christian radio format known as The Joy FM. The Radio Training Network owns about a dozen FM stations and translators in Florida as part of "The Joy FM" network originating from WJIS in Bradenton. While WDVH-FM is a licensed as a commercial station, The Joy FM Network operates as a non-commercial organization, asking for donations during on-air fundraisers.
WDVH is a radio station in Gainesville, Florida. Owned by MARC Radio, it broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary format.
WJKR is a commercial radio station licensed to Worthington, Ohio, and serving the Columbus metro area. It carries a country radio format known as "Country 103.9". Owned by the North American Broadcasting Company, Inc., its studios and offices are on Dublin Road in Columbus.
KFH is a commercial AM radio station in Wichita, Kansas. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. It airs a sports radio format. The station's studios and offices are located on East Douglas Avenue.
WIZR is a radio station that broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format. Licensed to Johnstown, New York, United States, the station serves the Mohawk Valley area. The station is owned by the Cranesville Radio Network and features hit songs from the past five decades including songs from the 1970s until today. WIZR also plays a variety mix of pop music, R&B, rock, soft ac, classic hits and more.
WHUC is a radio station broadcasting the country music format of WRWD-FM (107.3). Licensed to Hudson, New York, the station serves the Upper Hudson Valley. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. WHUC's radio studios are in Arlington, New York, and its transmitter is in Lorenz Park, New York.
WCSS is a commercial radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Amsterdam, New York, the station serves the Mohawk Valley, with radio studios in the Riverfront Center Mall in that city's downtown.
WGNY is a commercial radio station broadcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Newburgh, New York, the station serves Orange, Dutchess and Putnam Counties. Most of the playlist is hits from the 1960s with some 50s and 70s titles. It is owned by the Sunrise Broadcasting Corporation with studios in New Windsor.
WINU is a commercial radio station licensed to Altamont and serving New York's Capital District. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and airs a classic country radio format.
