# WIRD

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{{for|the Australia roller derby league|Wollongong Illawarra Roller Derby}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = WIRD
| above = Former simulcast of [WNBZ](/source/WVSL_(AM))
| logo = 
| logo_size = 200px
| city = [Lake Placid, New York](/source/Lake_Placid%2C_New_York)
| country = US
| area = 
| branding = WNBZ
| frequency = 920 [kHz](/source/kHz)
| airdate = {{start date|1961|11|21}}
| last_airdate = {{end date|2017|5|24}} (date of license cancellation)
| format = [Adult standards](/source/Adult_standards)
| power = {{ubl|5,000 watts day|87 watts night}}
| erp = 
| haat = 
| class = D
| facility_id = 54652
| coordinates = {{coord|44|15|41.5|N|74|1|21.7|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning = 
| former_callsigns = 
| affiliations = {{ubl|[ABC Radio](/source/Citadel_Media)|[Cumulus Media Networks](/source/Cumulus_Media_Networks)}}
| owner = Radio Lake Placid, Inc.
| licensee = 
| sister_stations = {{hlist|[WLPW](/source/WLPW)|[WNBZ](/source/WVSL_(AM))|[WNBZ-FM](/source/WNBZ-FM)|[WRGR](/source/WRGR)}}
| webcast = 
| website = 
}}

'''WIRD''' (920 [AM](/source/AM_broadcasting)) was a radio station broadcasting an [adult standards](/source/adult_standards) format, simulcasting sister station [WNBZ](/source/WVSL_(AM)). Licensed to [Lake Placid, New York](/source/Lake_Placid%2C_New_York), United States, the station was owned by Radio Lake Placid, Inc. and featured programming from [ABC Radio](/source/Citadel_Media).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=DWIRD |title=WIRD Facility Record |work=United States [Federal Communications Commission](/source/Federal_Communications_Commission), audio division }}</ref> It went on the air in 1961, and lost its license in 2017.

==History==
A [construction permit](/source/Broadcasting_construction_permit) for a [daytime-only station](/source/Daytimer) on 920&nbsp;kHz in Lake Placid was issued to WIRY, Inc., in October 1961.<ref name="b-cpgranted">{{cite news |title=Hearing cases |work=[Broadcasting](/source/Broadcasting_%26_Cable) |date=October 23, 1961 |page=85}}</ref> Its principals were Charles B. Britt, Donald L. Pelkey, Jeanette B. Britt, Margaret R. Hall, and Ralph S. Hatcher.<ref name="b-wiryownership">{{cite news |title=Ownership changes |work=[Broadcasting](/source/Broadcasting_%26_Cable) |date=August 31, 1964 |page=81}}</ref> The new station, assigned the [call sign](/source/call_sign) WIRD,<ref name="b-wirdassigned">{{cite news |title=New am stations |work=[Broadcasting](/source/Broadcasting_%26_Cable) |date=November 6, 1961 |page=100}}</ref> went on the air November 21, 1961.<ref name="by1999">{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999|year=1999|page=D-303|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1999/D-Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1999..pdf|access-date=April 18, 2017}}</ref> WIRD was associated with existing [Plattsburgh](/source/Plattsburgh%2C_New_York) radio station [WIRY](/source/WIRY_(AM)).<ref name="nny360-wirdwiry">{{cite news |last1=Pepe |first1=Olivia |title=North County media legend remembered |url=https://www.nny360.com/news/north-county-media-legend-remembered/article_638573f1-295e-598d-8b8d-afacf07a634e.html |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=NNY360 |date=February 5, 2013 |language=en}}</ref>

WIRY, Inc., sold WIRD to Lincoln F. Dixon, engineering supervisor for [WPTZ](/source/WPTZ) in Plattsburgh; Donald A. Nardiello, WIRD's general manager; Carol
Dixon; and Kathryn Nardiello for $40,000 in 1965.<ref name="b-saletodixonnardiello">{{cite news |title=Ownership changes |work=[Broadcasting](/source/Broadcasting_%26_Cable) |date=March 8, 1965 |page=92}}</ref> By 1971, WIRD offered a [middle of the road](/source/middle_of_the_road_(music)) format.<ref name="by1971">{{cite book|title=1971 Broadcasting Yearbook|year=1971|page=B-140}}</ref> The Dixons sold their interest in the station to the Nardiellos in 1973.<ref name="fcc-historycards">{{cite web |title=WIRD history cards |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=60957 |access-date=March 17, 2025 |format=PDF}}</ref> An [FM](/source/FM_radio) simulcast, [WLPW](/source/WLPW) (105.5), was added in 1979; by October 1980, WIRD and WLPW were affiliated with the [CBS Radio Network](/source/CBS_Radio_Network).<ref name="by1981">{{cite book|title=Broadcasting Cable Yearbook 1981|year=1981|pages=C-158, D-35}}</ref>

Donald and Kitty Nardiello sold WIRD and WLPW to Adirondack Network Systems (ANS) for $1 million in 1988. The new company's principals were Dennis M. Ryan, Robert P. Ambrosini, Richard M. Feldman, Frederick J. Graber, Philip Saunders, Martin Stone, and Serge Lussi.<ref name="b-saletoans">{{cite news |title=Ownership Changes |work=[Broadcasting](/source/Broadcasting_%26_Cable) |date=January 16, 1989 |page=119}}</ref> By this point, the stations' format had evolved to [adult contemporary](/source/adult_contemporary), and the simulcast had been reduced to 80-percent.<ref name="by1990">{{cite book|title=The Broadcasting Yearbook 1990|year=1990|page=B-213}}</ref> By 1993, ANS was in [chapter 7 bankruptcy](/source/chapter_7_bankruptcy);<ref name="lpn-ansbankrupt">{{cite news |last1=Lamothe |first1=Katherine |title=Take it to court: Nardiello, Ryan tangle over radio station |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=tlp19930818-01.1.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------- |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=[The Lake Placid News](/source/The_Lake_Placid_News) |date=August 18, 1993 |pages=1, 6}}</ref> control of the stations would be returned to the Nardiellos.<ref name="mst-returntonardiello">{{cite news |title=Proposed Station Transfers |work=The M Street Journal |date=October 20, 1993 |page=6}}</ref>

By 1997, when [Jones Satellite Networks](/source/Jones_Radio_Networks)' adult contemporary programming was added to the simulcast of WIRD, WLPW, and [WRGR](/source/WRGR) in [Tupper Lake](/source/Tupper_Lake%2C_New_York), some [talk](/source/Talk_radio) programming was airing on WIRD only.<ref name="mst-wirdtalkandjsn">{{cite news |title=Format Changes & Updates |work=The M Street Journal |date=July 2, 1997 |page=2}}</ref> In 1998, the three stations moved to an [adult album alternative](/source/adult_album_alternative) format;<ref name="nerw-wirdwlpwaaa">{{cite news |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=WBPS is Sold (Really!) |url=https://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-980703.html |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=North East RadioWatch |date=June 3, 1998}}</ref> the following year, [WIPS](/source/WIPS_(AM)) in [Ticonderoga](/source/Ticonderoga%2C_New_York) joined the "Radio Lake Placid" network.<ref name="nerw-wlpwonwips">{{cite news |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=TV Duopoly Arrives in N.Y. |url=https://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-991119.html |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=North East RadioWatch |date=November 19, 1999}}</ref> In February 2001, WIRD, which had broken away to carry [sports](/source/Sports_radio) and talk programming, became an [ESPN Radio](/source/ESPN_Radio) affiliate.<ref name="mst-wirdespn">{{cite news |title=Format Changes & Updates |work=The M Street Journal |date=February 28, 2001 |page=2}}</ref>

Ted Morgan, owner of [WNBZ](/source/WVSL_(AM)) and [WYZY](/source/WNBZ-FM) in [Saranac Lake](/source/Saranac_Lake%2C_New_York), bought WIRD, WLPW, and WRGR from the Nardiellos for $700,000 in 2004.<ref name="ade-wirdoff"/> On November 26, 2008, WIRD dropped ESPN Radio for a simulcast of WNBZ; both stations, as well as WLPW and WRGR, already shared a morning show.<ref name="nerw-wnbzonwird">{{cite news |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=O&A Out Again in Boston |url=https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2008/081208/nerw.html |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=NorthEast Radio Watch |date=December 8, 2008}}</ref>

WIRD's license was canceled on May 24, 2017, for failure to pay debt it owed to the [Federal Communications Commission](/source/Federal_Communications_Commission) (FCC), which prevented the station's license from being renewed.<ref name="fcc-wirddeleted">{{cite web|last1=Bradshaw|first1=James D.|title=Re: WIRD(AM), Lake Placid, NY|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=75831|website=CDBS Public Access|publisher=[Federal Communications Commission](/source/Federal_Communications_Commission)|access-date=May 24, 2017|format=PDF|date=May 24, 2017}}</ref> Shortly after the cancellation, on June 21, 2017, the ''[Adirondack Daily Enterprise](/source/Adirondack_Daily_Enterprise)'' reported that WIRD had been off the air for at least two years.<ref name="ade-wirdoff">{{cite news|last1=Knight|first1=Chris|title=The death of local radio?|url=http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/06/the-death-of-local-radio/|accessdate=June 22, 2017|work=[Adirondack Daily Enterprise](/source/Adirondack_Daily_Enterprise)|date=June 21, 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicFacilityDetails.html?facilityId=54652 Facility details for Facility ID 54652 (WIRD)] in the FCC Licensing and Management System
*{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=60957 |title= History Cards for WIRD|publisher=[Federal Communications Commission](/source/Federal_Communications_Commission)}} (Guide to reading History Cards)<!--Converted from {{FCC letter}}--> (covering 1959-1981)

IRD
Category:Radio stations established in 1961
Category:1961 establishments in New York (state)
Category:Radio stations disestablished in 2017
Category:2017 disestablishments in New York (state)
Category:Defunct radio stations in the United States
IRD
Category:Lake Placid, New York

{{NewYork-radio-station-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [WIRD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIRD) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIRD?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.