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 |
| Callsign meaning | W ELMira |
| Affiliations | NBC Sports Radio |
| Owner | Tower Broadcasting, LLC |
| Website | www |
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
James Robert Meachem sold the station to Corning Leader Inc. for $110,000 plus a five year employment contract.
Jeff Whittaker 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")
...
Wikipedia