Beginning next month, a new sound will be hitting the airwaves
across the Southern Tier and local radio personality Mike “Smitty”
Smith will be leading the charge.
After months of preparation, mountains of paperwork and hours of
construction and setup, WGWE 105.9FM is in its final stages of
preparation and is scheduled to begin broadcasting in a couple
weeks.
“Right now, our launch date is firmly written in sand as Monday,
Feb. 1 at 6 a.m.,” said Smitty. In mid-December, Smitty left
Olean’s country station, 95.7 WPIG, and has been busy getting WGWE,
based in Salamanca, fully operational and ready to begin
broadcasting.
The new radio station, which is a Seneca Broadcasting Station,
will follow a classic hits format that will also feature local
news, school closings and community happenings.
The idea to bring WGWE to Salamanca began last spring when the
Seneca Nation acquired an FCC license to broadcast over an FM
frequency. A location was chosen over the summer – the old Uni-Mart
building at 215 Broad Street – and the process of turning an old
convenience store into a radio station began.
“In October, when I first got here, it was pretty far along but
there was a lot more work to do,” said David Kimelberg, CEO of
Seneca Holdings, the parent company of Seneca Broadcasting. “(We
started) getting equipment and a transmitter and figuring out where
the signal is going to be, figuring out the programming and
figuring out how this is going to make money and how we are going
to be able to hire a staff.”
Kimelberg said the past four months have been “full court
press,” and that Smitty has been “invaluable” since he came to the
radio station about a month and a half ago.
Although Smitty has been a DJ on WPIG for years, the early time
slot will be a new adventure for him. He will be hosting a weekday
morning show, which is scheduled to run from 6 to 9 a.m. He will
also host a lunchtime request show from noon to 1 p.m., similar to
the request hour he had on WPIG.
“The noon show promises to be an adventure,” said Smitty. “You
request it, we’ll play it. You may hear some country there, but you
may also hear some non-playlist material.”
When Smitty isn’t hosting a show, the music played on WGWE will
be fed by Citadel Media, which streams music via satellite to many
radio stations across the country.
Smitty said the tunes heard on the station will be “music from
the Beatles to Bon Jovi.”
Other than providing the surrounding area with classic hits from
the 60s, 70s and early 80s – with some newer artists mixed in as
well for the younger generation – WGWE is also committed to
providing a community element to the region. There will be national
news at the top of every hour, plus local news twice an hour during
Smitty’s morning show. The station will be the hub for information
concerning local emergencies, school closings and highway and
weather advisories throughout the day.
WGWE will also play a role in the world of local sports,
broadcasting Buffalo Bandits games as well as local high school
games. Right now, the station plans on broadcasting a couple high
school sporting events each week, including a “game of the week”
feature.
“It’s going to be a conduit for local information,” said
Kimelberg. “I think that is a huge benefit for the community, and I
think it’s going to have a Seneca component to it as well. We are
going to have some programming with Seneca ideas … so it serves the
nation, it serves the community and it serves everyone in this area
– from an economic development perspective to an information and
entertainment perspective as well.”
The coverage map for the radio station extends all across the
Southern Tier, past Bradford and Jamestown and nearly reaching
Erie, Pa. To the north, the signal will be able to be picked up in
Hamburg and to the Lake Erie coastline, according to Smitty.
“Picture a classic hits beach party at Sunset Bay, because I am
already in this freezing cold building,” he said.
Outside of music and news, both Smitty and Kimelburg believe the
station will be beneficial to the community from an economic
perspective as well.
“This is a real business, adding jobs and revenue to the local
economy, so we are really excited about that,” said Kimelburg.
“It’s ultimately owned by the nation (through Seneca Holdings), but
it’s a little different in the sense that it is a stand alone
identity. We are responsible for the bottom line, because it’s not
nation-funded.”
To kickoff WGWE, Smitty will be hosting two pre-launch parties
this weekend from remote locations. He will be taking a mobile DJ
booth to the Allegany Indian Reservation Fire Hall at 8184 East
Loop Road on Friday and to the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation Fire
Hall at 1520 Route 438 in Irving on Saturday. Both events are free,
open to the public and run from 8 to 10 p.m.