WELI

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WELI
CityNew Haven, Connecticut
Frequency960 kHz
BrandingWELI 960 AM and 96.9 FM
Programming
FormatNews/talk
Affiliations
Ownership
OwneriHeartMedia, Inc.
(iHM Licenses, LLC)
WAVZ, WKCI-FM
History
First air date
1935; 87 years ago (1935)
Call sign meaning
Yale University's popular nickname "The Eli", the station being in the university's home city.
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID11933
ClassB
Power5,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
41°22′14″N 72°56′15″W / 41.37056°N 72.93750°W / 41.37056; -72.93750Coordinates: 41°22′14″N 72°56′15″W / 41.37056°N 72.93750°W / 41.37056; -72.93750
Translator(s)96.9 W245DK (New Haven)
Repeater(s)101.3 WKCI-HD3 (Hamden)
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
WebcastListen live (via iHeartRadio)
Website960weli.iheart.com

WELI (960 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to New Haven, Connecticut, United States, it serves the New Haven and Bridgeport areas. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (as iHM Licenses).

Studios are in Radio Towers Park on Benham Street in Hamden. It shares facilities with sister stations WKCI-FM and WAVZ. Transmitting towers for WELI are also at this location.

The station's program schedule features local programming, including a morning show with Vinnie Penn and a sports show with George DeMaio, as well as nationally syndicated talk radio shows, including The Glenn Beck Program, The Sean Hannity Show, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, and The Joe Pags Show.[1]

History[edit]

In earlier years, WELI had some musical programs. WELI's weekly program Poetry and an Organ, broadcast in the late 1930s, starred organist Don Raphael.[2][3] Other musicians heard regularly on WELI in the 1930s and 1940s included organist Marion J. Reynolds, who was the station's musical director since its first day, pianist Margaret Shepard, the Esther String Trio, the Continental Trio directed by violinist Sy Byer, Ray Block's Swing Fourteen, and Charles Magnante's accordion quartet.[4] The Polish Eagles Radio Show, featuring Polish language and Polish instrumental music and hosted by Victor Zembruski, aired every Sunday on WELI during the 1950s.[5] The station's singers included Millicent Scott, Edith Jolson, and Louise DeMars. Dick Carlson hosted the record request and dedication show Danceland Ballroom.

WELI also had Italian language shows. George Mazzacane's 2-hour-long L'Ora Italiana, aired on WELI for seven years until his death in 1943, included Italian opera records and news about Italy and Italians relevant to the local Italian American community.[6][7] George Padovini and Luigi diFant presented news in Italian.[8]

Other local informational shows regularly heard on WELI in its early years included What Are You Reading with Elida Sterling, about novels, Stories of the Stars with Lewis Doolittle, about astronomy, and Theater News on the Air.

WELI also aired many local sports games and tournaments, including tennis, golf, basketball, and baseball. Meet the Eagles was hosted by Will Cude, the goalie of the local professional ice hockey team, the New Haven Eagles. In 1998, WELI again broadcast football games of the Yale Bulldogs.[9]

Jerry Kristafer was the host for The WELI Morning Show from 1998 until 2008 when he moved to WDRC-FM.[10] The show was replaced by Imus in the Morning.[11]

WELI used to broadcast The Rush Limbaugh Show in the time slot of weekdays from noon to 3 p.m., but when it discontinued in June 2021, the station replaced it with The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. As of 2020, the station broadcast The Buck Sexton Show on weeknights.

Other national shows formerly heard on WELI included The Mark Levin Show, The Savage Nation, The Laura Ingraham Show, Kim Komando Computer Show, Dr. Dean Edell, and Jim Cramer's Real Money Talk.[12][13][14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "960 WELI - New Haven's News, Weather & Traffic Station".
  2. ^ "New Haven" (PDF). Radio Daily. December 2, 1937. p. 6. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  3. ^ "New Haven" (PDF). Radio Daily. February 11, 1938. p. 3. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "WELI: New Haven's Own Station" (PDF). Retrieved February 24, 2022. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. ^ "Polish Eagles Show" (PDF). Broadcasting, Telecasting. March 29, 1954. p. 86. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Trotta, Liz (1994). Fighting for Air: In the Trenches with Television News. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780826209528.
  7. ^ "George Mazzacane" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 15, 1943. p. 45. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  8. ^ "WELI: New Haven's Own Station" (PDF). Retrieved February 24, 2022. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  9. ^ Rubin, Sam (2006). Yale Football. Arcadia Publishing. p. 120. ISBN 9780738545325.
  10. ^ Maryellen Fillo (December 22, 2007). "Change at the Morning Mike at WDRC-FM". Hartford Courant. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  11. ^ "WELI Adds Imus". All Access. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
  12. ^ "NEWS/TALK 960 WELI ON-AIR SCHEDULE". Archived from the original on 13 August 2002.
  13. ^ "NEWS/TALK 960 WELI ON-AIR SCHEDULE!". Archived from the original on 12 March 2005.
  14. ^ "960 WELI". Archived from the original on 13 February 2009.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WELI&oldid=1073856976"