WPIG


WPIG is an FM radio station located in Olean, New York. Branded as “95.7 The Big Pig,” the station operates at 95.7 MHz on the FM dial and operates a mainstream country music format. It is owned by Seven Mountains Media.

History

The station originally signed on as WHDL-FM in 1949 and in its early years was affiliated, like most upstate New York FMs of the time, with WQXR-FM in New York City. James F. Hastings, later a U.S. Congressman, ran the station from 1952 to 1966. The call sign was changed from WHDL-FM to WEBF-FM in recognition of station owner E. Boyd Fitzpatrick. During the 1980s, the station aired what today's jockeys pejoratively referred to as an "elevator music" format. In September 1988, under new ownership, the station was known as WOLN with an adult contemporary format. A year later, on September 29, 1989, the call sign was changed to WPIG. Later, on November 6, mirroring the national trend, the station switched formats to the rapidly burgeoning country music format and became known as "The Big Pig 95.7, Today's Sizzlin' Country." It has held the same slogan, branding, and format ever since, for 30 years as of 2019; it thus has the longest uninterrupted and active run with the same format in the Southwestern New York region.
WPIG operates under the corporate entity Arrow Communications of New York. The company has variously been held by Sabre Communications, then Backyard Broadcasting, and Community Broadcasters, LLC, who purchased the station in 2013; in January 2019, Community Broadcasters sold its Southern Tier stations to Seven Mountains Media.
During the first several years of the country format, WPIG disc jockeys used pseudonyms with pig-based puns, such as: "Smokey' Joe Bacon," "Michael Hamm," "Peggy Banks," "Sue EE Cinamon Frank "Adam Ribbs," and "Christopher Neggs". This idea was dropped in the late 1990s as the second generation of disc jockeys would join the station, all of whom used more conventional names. Neggs remains with the station as a weekend personality and fill-in, now using his real name, Nick Purcio.
The second generation of hosts remained in their positions for over a decade; from 1998 to 2006 and 2008 to 2009, the station's lineup featured the same lineup of disc jockeys. Mark Thompson, the program director and co-host of the morning show, is the last remaining on-air personality from this era; the other three hosts from this era went on to launch WGWE shortly after leaving The Pig. This cleared the way for the third, and later fourth, generation of hosts that currently air on the station. WPIG added the slogan "Today's Fun Country" in 2009, which rotates with the "Sizzlin' Country" format. Also added around this time was the Big Pig Jackpot, a contest in which the station announces the amount of money in a progressive jackpot over the course of the day cold-calls random people in the listening area to test if they listen to the station; a person who either knows the answer wins the jackpot. The jackpot was dropped in 2014.
The station tweaked its image in 2013 with its sale to Community Broadcasters, adding 30-minute blocks of "continuous country," dropping national news, auto racing coverage and its Saturday night classic country block, taking over the local chapter of the national Country Showdown competition, and changing its voiceover announcer for the first time since adopting the country format. The station began streaming its programming on the Internet for the first time in its history beginning in 2014.

Programming

Two programs have been on WPIG ever since its launch: the Morning Pigpen, the station's morning show, and Text Your Tune at Noon, an all-request lunch hour; both have changed hosts since their inception. Katie McLean is currently the afternoon host. The syndicated Taste of Country Nights airs in the evenings; historically a local jock occupied evenings. Weekends include Country Countdown USA and the classic country shows The Original Country Gold with Rowdy Yates and Rick Jackson's Country Classics.
WPIG also has a local news bureau run by Gary Nease, with Nick Purcio reporting. National news is provided by CBS Radio News. Weather is provided by WSTM-TV chief meteorologist Wayne Mahar, with fellow Syracuse-based weatherman Phil Spevak as his designated fill-in.

Sports programming

Syndicated

WPIG's 92,000 watts of power allows the station to boom its signal through most of the western Southern Tier, stretching from Jamestown to Springville over most of Allegany County, and into much of McKean County, Pennsylvania.
The station regularly registers by far the top Arbitron ratings in the Olean market. Prior to 2009, the station ranked over a 20 share; the most recent ratings, from fall 2014, show the station having dropped to a 17 share due to increased competition.

Other uses