WIPS (1250 AM) was a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed in

Ticonderoga, New York Ticonderoga () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 5,042 at the 2010 census. The name comes from the Mohawk language, Mohawk ' ...

, United States, the station served mainly

Essex County, New York Essex County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 37,381. Its county seat is the hamlet of Elizabethtown (CDP), New York, Eliza ...

and

Addison County, Vermont Addison County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 37,363. Its shire town (county seat) is the town of Middlebury (town), Vermont, Middle ...

from a transmitter site on

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

near

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York. It was constructed between October 1755 and 1757 by French-Canadian ...

. The station was owned by Bisiblue, L.L.C.

History

WIPS started in July 1955 as an AM station located on Route 74 in Ticonderoga. The studio and its transmitter were both located on the shores of Lake Champlain. In 1981, a fire burned the original studios to the ground. Limestone Communications ran WIPS for a while, eventually adding an FM station on 103.9 MHz (WXTY, now WANC). While WIPS broadcast from sunrise to sunset originally, the station was later allowed to broadcast after sunset with 85 watts. After Bisiblue purchased the station, the WIPS studios were located in

Crown Point, New York Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, United States, located on the west shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 2,024 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, . The town is on ...

, 12 miles from the original site. WIPS broadcast the

Timeless Favorites Timeless was a 24-hour satellite music service of Cumulus Media Networks, Citadel Media (through Citadel Broadcasting). It has distributed a mix of soft oldies and adult standards to radio stations around the United States. It was a combination ...

format from ABC Radio. After losing thousands of dollars per month, WIPS went silent on February 29, 2008. According to reporter Scott Fybush, WIPS went back on the air shortly before its license was scheduled to be deleted in April 2009. WIPS was eventually deleted two years later, on August 4, 2011, as Bisiblue, LLC asked to cancel the license; in its request, Bisiblue noted that the station had been silent since October 30, 2009, and that under federal law the WIPS license had effectively expired on October 30, 2010. In January 2018, the WIPS name was reused by J. Walter Broadcasting (a company controlled by Robert Streeter) for a group of

Internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

stations, featuring six music formats and local news for Ticonderoga. However, the project failed six weeks after launch owing to financial mismanagement, and fraud. A criminal investigation into Robert Streeter and the WIPS operation was launched by the Ticonderoga Police Department.

References

External links

Facility details for Facility ID 468 (WIPS)
in the FCC Licensing and Management System
FCC History Cards for WIPS
(covering 1954-1981) IPS Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1955 1955 establishments in New York (state) Radio stations disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in New York (state) IPS {{NewYork-radio-station-stub