NorthEast Radio Watch 1/5/2026: Lilly Expands in Jamestown, NE Ohio

In this week’s issue… Lilly buys MediaOne – AM move, translator sale in CT – Cool goes older on Cape Cod – Remembering NY’s Mulrooney, Hartman, CT’s Davitt – NJ morning hosts exit

By SCOTT FYBUSH

*Welcome to a new year of NERW! 2026 marks the 33rd year of our service to the broadcasting community in the northeastern US, eastern Canada and beyond. The name of the column has changed over the years, as has the way we distribute it to you, but our basic mission has never changed – we’re here every week to connect broadcasters to each other and bring you as much information as we can about the ever-changing industry we all work in.

(And don’t forget Fybush Media is here for so many more of your needs these days, too. Whether it’s FCC filings, the possibility of a new FM translator window in 2026, helping you buy or sell stations, providing contract engineering services, we’re just an email away. And if you’re looking for top-quality broadcast automation and scheduling software at an economical price point, I’d be thrilled to tell you all about the Myriad suite of products I now represent for North American sales and support, too.)

*The new year’s news starts for us with a new owner at the western edge of New York state, where Jim Embrescia’s Media One is selling its cluster of stations in the Jamestown market to Erie-based Lilly Broadcasting, which flanks Jamestown with its TV stations in Erie (WICU/WSEE) and Elmira (WENY), as well as its cluster of radio stations just south of Jamestown in the Warren, Pennsylvania market.

Under the operating name of Glendora Radio Network, LLC, Lilly will pay $4 million for both the Jamestown stations and Embrescia’s other cluster of stations just west of Erie in the Ashtabula, Ohio market.

In Jamestown, the deal will give Lilly AC “SE93” WWSE (93.3 Jamestown), country “My Country” WHUG (101.9 Jamestown), “Rock 103” WQFX (103.1 Russell PA), “Kissin’ Oldies” WKZA (106.9 Lakewood), talk/AC WJTN (1240/101.3 Jamestown) and standards “Legends 1340” WKSN (1340 Jamestown), representing pretty much the entire commercial dial in Lucille Ball’s hometown.

Across the state line in Ohio, Lilly gets a near-monopoly in Ashtabula County as well, adding classic hits WREO (97.1), country “Bull” WYBL (98.3), oldies “Magic 102.5” WZOO, classic rock “Fox” WFXJ (107.5) and sports WFUN (970).

The deal will give Lilly a near-continuous swath of coverage from Ashtabula through Erie (where it also owns top-40 “Happi” WICU-FM 92.7) to Jamestown and Warren and on to Elmira, along with an unusual TV portfolio that includes stations as far-flung as the US Virgin Islands, Marquette, Michigan and Guam.