WICU (1310 AM; "Happi Radio") is 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

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

format. Licensed to

Warren, Pennsylvania Warren is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Allegheny River. The population was 9,404 at the 2020 census. It is home to the headquarters of the Allegheny National Forest and the Cornp ...

, United States, the station is a simulcast of Erie-based WICU-FM (92.7); its programming is also heard on

translator station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

W244DY (96.7 FM). WICU is owned by

Lilly Broadcasting Lilly Broadcasting, LLC is a privately owned American broadcasting company owned and operated by the Lilly Brothers. The company was formed in September 1999 with the purchase of WENY-TV (ABC) and WENY-FM & AM radio. In 2002, Kevin Lilly purc ...

History

The station signed on December 31, 1946, as WNAE. Northern Allegheny Broadcasting sold the station to Kinzua Broadcasting Company in 1974. The station was a long time local fixture, airing a contemporary music format, with a strong focus on local news and community information, as well as broadcasting local and national sports. It switched to a mostly

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

format in the late 2000s, and eventually began simulcasting on 96.7 (W244DY), known as "News/Talk 96.7". Kinzua Broadcasting sold WNAE, along with sister stations WRRN and WKNB, to Frank Iorio, who already owned the

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 ...

for a station on 102.7 FM in Clarendon, in 2005 for $1.25 million. In 2019, after a failed attempt to sell the stations to Laurel Media two years prior, Iorio (who owned the stations under the name Radio Partners LLC) sold WNAE, WKNB, and WRRN, to

, which operates

WICU-TV WICU-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by SJL Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Lilly Broadcasting, owner of CBS/ CW+ affiliate a ...

and

WSEE-TV WSEE-TV (channel 35) is a television station in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. It is the flagship television property of locally based Lilly Broadcasting, and is a sister station to NBC affiliate WIC ...

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

, for $900,000. The call sign was changed to WICU on March 4, 2020, matching WICU-TV and WICU-FM in Erie; the change was a prelude to the replacement of WNAE's former talk radio format with a simulcast of WICU-FM's

programming on April 1. The WNAE call sign was concurrently transferred to the former WKNB.

References

External links

* * ICU (AM) Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in Pennsylvania Lilly Broadcasting {{Pennsylvania-radio-station-stub