In August 2021, Family Life Ministries executed a sale agreement with Montrose Broadcasting Corp. that saw the latter entity pay $50,000 for what is today WPGO-AM 820 in Horseheads, N.Y. — owned in recent years by Jim Leven and Bruce Mittman’s Community Broadcasters and later spun by Seven Mountains Media.
Now, Montrose is picking up an FM signal to go along with formidable AM serving the Twin Tiers of New York and Pennsylvania.
The seller is Bible Lighthouse Inc., and is earning $25,000 from the sale of the FM translator.
With the acquisition of WPGO still awaiting its closing, Montrose has moved ahead with the purchase of W219CE at 91.7 MHz, a 55-watt FM translator that puts a signal over Elmira, West Elmira and Elmira Heights.
Given the hilly terrain, and geography, that’s just fine for Montrose as it seeks to make “Your Station for Information and Inspiration” better-known across a region that includes Corning, Montour Falls, Watkins Glen and Big Flats.
What will W219CE adopt, programming-wise? As WPGO-AM 800 airs a Southern Gospel format and flagship WPEL-FM 96.5 is a Christian Talk and Teaching station, it’s a safe bet W219CE will rebroadcast WPGO; WPEL-FM is one of the region’s most powerful FM facilities.
