WELM

WELM

City	Elmira, New York
Broadcast area	Elmira, New York
Branding	NBC Sports Radio 1410
Slogan	The Sports Giant, All Sports, all the time
Frequency	1410 kHz
First air date	1947
Format	Sports
Power	5,000 watts (daytime) 1,000 watts (nighttime)
Class	B
Facility ID	52120
Transmitter coordinates	42°07′11″N 76°48′37″W / 42.11972°N 76.81028°W / 42.11972; -76.81028
Callsign meaning	W ELMira
Affiliations	NBC Sports Radio
Owner	Tower Broadcasting, LLC webcast =
Website	welm1410.com

WELM signed on in 1947 as Chemung County's second radio station and the Elmira-Corning, New York market's third. It broadcasts on 1410 kHz. The station uses a three-tower array, broadcasting at 5,000 watts from a single tower until sundown, when the power is lowered to 1,000 watts and the pattern becomes directional from all three towers.

In its early years, it produced several local programs, including the 6:00 News, with newscaster Gordon M. Ridenour, from 1947-1948. In the sixties, the station was home to a popular morning program "Stan and Russ on the Bus" hosted by Stan Douglas and Bill Russell. After that program left the air, Douglas continued to be involved with the station by hosting a well-received Sunday morning polka music program. For a time in the sixties and early seventies there was also a Saturday evening jazz program, "Twentieth Century Jazz" hosted by John "Cappy" Caparulo. For most of its history the station was affiliated with CBS Radio, and ran many network based shows including News on the Hour, CBS Mystery Theatre and Music and the Spoken Word.

It was the market's dominant Top 40 station in the early 1970s, but in 1975 the station was purchased by New England broadcaster Robert Condit, who controversially changed the format to easy listening and middle-of-the-road standards, angering listeners and driving away the station's on-air staff. The move was a failure, and the format gradually shifted to adult contemporary in the later part of the decade. By 1990, it had become an oldies station. Later the station would switch to an all sports format.

WELM is owned by Tower Broadcasting, LLC

Jeff Whitaker and Pat Salois

Jeff Whitaker and Pat Salois were popular personalities on the station, voicing several original characters on Salois' evening show in the early 1980s and later hosting the morning drive and afternoon drive shows.

One of their characters—the Lake Welmer Swamp Monster—developed a following throughout the community. The mythic creature allegedly lived in "Lake Welmer," their nickname (which has stuck) for a swampy area between Lake Street and Grand Central Avenue near the station's three towers. They referred to the creature often in bits, and sometimes produced "news reports" in which an intrepid reporter would try to interview the monster. The responses typically were clips of lyrics from popular songs (clearly influenced by Buchanan and Goodman's "Flying Saucer")

Whitaker and Salois later hosted the morning show until late 1995, when they were released and the station format was changed to sports. Both were in poor health at the time—about which they often joked on the air—and died within a few years. At Whitaker's viewing, Salois came in—oxygen tank in tow—and said, "I win," in reference to a bet over who would die first.

Current Programming

WELM is currently affiliated with NBC Sports Radio.

Bob Michaels, a well-known sports broadcaster in the market, was a personality on the station from the switch to sports until he started his own sports broadcasting company in 2010.

Alumni

Ken Chiampou of the "John & Ken Show"
Howard Simon WGR/Buffalo

References

Sies, Luther F. Encyclopedia of American Radio 1920-1960. Jefferson, NC:McFarland, 2000. ISBN 0-7864-0452-3

External links

Query the FCC's AM station database for WELM

Radio-Locator Information on WELM

Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WELM

Radio stations in the Elmira–Corning, New York market

Note: This market also includes areas around Sayre, Towanda, Mansfield, and Wellsboro in Pennsylvania.

By AM frequency	820 960 1000 1230 1310 1350 1380 1410 1450 1480 1490 (NY) 1490 (PA) 1600

By FM frequency	88.1 88.5 88.7 88.9 90.3 90.7 91.1 92.1 92.7 94.3 94.7 96.1 96.9 97.3 97.7 98.7 99.5 100.3 100.9 102.1 103.7 104.5 104.9 105.3 106.1 107.7

by callsign	W205BR WABH WAVR WCBA WCIH WCII-FM WCKR WECW WEHH WENI WENY WENY-FM WGMM WHGL WKPQ WLEA WLNL WLVY WMTQ WMTT WNBT WNBT-FM WNGZ WNKI WOKN WPGI WPHD WQNY WRCE WSKG-FM WSQX-FM WTZN WYXL WZKN

Defunct stations	WHHO/1320 WWHG/1320/95.3 (call letters now used by a completely different station, in Wisconsin)

New York radio markets Albany–Schenectady–Troy Binghamton Buffalo–Niagara Falls Elmira–Corning Hudson Valley Nassau–Suffolk (Long Island) New York City Olean Plattsburgh Poughkeepsie Rochester Syracuse Utica–Rome Watertown Other New York radio regions Ithaca Jamestown–Dunkirk North Country Saratoga Pennsylvania radio markets Allentown–Bethlehem Altoona Bradford–Coudersport Chambersburg–Waynesboro Erie Harrisburg–Lebanon–Carlisle Lancaster Montrose New Castle Philadelphia Pittsburgh Reading Sayre–Towanda–Mansfield–Wellsboro Wilkes-Barre–Scranton Williamsport York Other Pennsylvania radio regions Bedford Indiana Johnstown Lewistown–Mifflintown Meadville–Franklin Punxsutawney–DuBois St. Marys–Emporium–Kane State College Stroudsburg Sunbury–Selinsgrove–Lewisburg Warren See also List of radio stations in New York List of radio stations in Pennsylvania

Sports Radio Stations in the state of New York

Stations:	WCBA - Corning WCPV - Essex WEAV - Plattsburgh WELM - Elmira WENE - Endicott WENU - South Glen Falls WEPN - New York WEPN-FM - New York WFAN - New York WFAN-FM - New York WGGO - Salamanca WGNY - Newburgh WGR - Buffalo WHLD - Buffalo WHTK - Rochester WINU - Altamont WIXT - Little Falls WMML - Glens Falls WNER - Watertown WOFX - Troy WOKR - Brockport WOLF - Syracuse WPIE - Trumansburg WPTR - Schenectady WRNY - Rome WROC - Rochester WRSB - Canandaigua WSGO - Oswego WSKO - Syracuse WTLA - North Syracuse WTLB - Utica WTMM-FM - Mechanicville WWKB - Buffalo WYOS - Binghamton

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in New York See also ESPN Radio ESPN Deportes Radio Fox Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio Yahoo! Sports Radio Sports Byline USA

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