WEER (88.7 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Montauk, New York Montauk ( ) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in East Hampton, New York, East Hampton and Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 Un ...

, since 2006. Owned by The WNET Group, it

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

WLIW-FM WLIW-FM (88.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Southampton, New York, and serving eastern Long Island and coastal Connecticut. Owned by The WNET Group, it is a sister station to PBS member television station WLIW, and features programming ...

to Montauk and East Hampton, New York.

History

This station received its original

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

from the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

on March 21, 2002. The new station, originally owned by WPKN, Inc. was assigned the WPKM

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

by the FCC on November 26, 2004. WPKM received its license to cover from the FCC on August 30, 2006, and began

ing WPKN,

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

. In October 2010, license holder WPKN, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Hamptons Community Radio Corporation for $60,000. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 8, 2010, and the transaction was consummated on June 6, 2011. The station changed its call sign to WEER on June 16, 2011, with a call sign swap with the now-defunct WEEG.

Silence (2011–2013)

On October 1, 2011, WEER went silent for financial reasons and the licensee filed a request with the FCC for

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) st ...

to remain silent. The Commission granted this authority on January 2, 2012, with a scheduled expiration of July 2, 2012. Just days before that deadline, a new application was filed and silent authority was extended through October 2, 2012. Under the terms of the

Telecommunications Act of 1996 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of ...

, as a matter of law a radio station's

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which va ...

is subject to automatic forfeiture and cancellation if they fail to broadcast for one full year. The station reported that it returned to normal broadcast operations on September 27, 2012. However, power loss and damage from

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

knocked the station off the air again on October 29, 2012. On January 29, 2013, the station was granted a new authority to remain silent with an expiration date on July 28, 2013.

On the air (2013–present)

In October 2013 the station was returned to the air, and sold to Eastern Tower Corporation. The sale was consummated on January 22, 2014. In February 2019, WEER began broadcasting a Soft AC format with music from the 60s thru 80s. On January 16, 2023, it was announced that The WNET Group would acquire WEER for $100,000, making it a sister to Long Island NPR member station WLIW-FM. The deal closed on October 10, 2023. On October 13, 2023, WEER filed a request with the FCC for

to remain silent, while it processed the purchasing and installing of equipment, so that it could simulcast WLIW-FM.

References

External links

{{Long Island Radio 2006 establishments in New York (state) Community radio stations in the United States East Hampton (town), New York Mass media in Suffolk County, New York Radio stations established in 2006 EER