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WBNR
Simulcast of WGHQ Kingston
Beacon, New York;
Broadcast area	Hudson Valley
Frequency	1260 kHz
Branding	The Beacon
Programming
Format	Conservative talk
Network	ABC News Radio
Affiliations	Westwood One; Fox News Radio; Army Black Knights football; NY Rangers Radio Network; New York Knicks Radio Network
Ownership
Owner	Pamal Broadcasting; (6 Johnson Road Licenses, Inc.);
Sister stations	WBPM, WGHQ, WHUD, WLNA, WSPK, WXPK
History
First air date	December 17, 1959; 65 years ago
Call sign meaning	"Beacon Newburgh Radio"
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	19629
Class	B
Power	1,000 watts (day); 400 watts (night);
Transmitter coordinates	41°29′32.34″N 73°58′41.5″W / 41.4923167°N 73.978194°W
Translator(s)	96.5 W243EM (Beacon)
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;

WLNA (1260 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Beacon, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and calls itself "The Beacon." It simulcasts a conservative talk radio format with sister stations WLNA 1460 AM in Peekskill and WGHQ 920 AM in Kingston. The studios are on New York State Route 52 in Beacon.

WBNR is powered at 1,000 watts by day and 400 watts at night. It has a directional antenna using a two-tower array at 475 South Avenue in the city of Beacon.^[2] Programming is also hear on 100-watt FM translator W243EM at 96.5 MHz.^[3]

Programming

"The Beacon" (WBNR, WLNA and WGHQ) mostly carries nationally syndicated programs. Weekdays begin with the Westwood One news magazine America in the Morning. That's followed by Brian Kilmeade, Dan Bongino, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles, Joe Pags, Bill O'Reilly, America at Night with Rick Valdés and Red Eye Radio.

The Beacon carries live sports including New York Rangers hockey, New York Knicks basketball and Army Black Knights football from nearby West Point.

History

Early years

WBNR signed on the air on December 17, 1959; 65 years ago (1959-12-17). It was powered at 1,000 watts and was a daytimer station, required to go off the air at night. It was built, engineered, owned and operated by Robert Gessner and brothers Sy and Al Dresner.^[4] The original studio was near Denning's Point, a location on the Hudson River that has an archaeological record going back 5,000 years.^[5] Former staffers felt that this explained frequent reports of paranormal activity in the studio building.

It was not until 1987 that WBNR was licensed for 480 watts night time operation with a DA2 antenna pattern. For many years it was owned by brothers Robert and Alford Lessner, who were involved in the popular TV show "Candid Camera." The station served the community with a full service, middle of the road (MOR) music format, local news and sports. It was heavily involved with Beacon community events and was the flagship station for Army Black Knights football.

Changes in ownership

In 1970, Lance Broadcasting, then owners of WBNR, acquired WSPK 104.7 FM from Poughkeepsie–based Olympian Broadcasting.^[6] Olympian was also the owner of WKIP 1450 AM, along with the mountain top transmitter site on North Mount Beacon.

In the 1980s and 1990s, radio listeners increasingly tuned to FM stations for music. That hurt the ratings on WBNR. In 1994, WBNR and WSPK were sold to Enterprise Media of Binghamton, New York. Both stations were subsequently sold to Pamal Broadcasting in October 1997. The studios moved from their original 1959 location at 475 South Avenue in Beacon to the newly reconstructed "Broadcast Center" at 715 Fishkill Avenue (NY Route 52), in Fishkill, New York.

Classic Country, Classic Hits and Conservative Talk

On Monday, March 24, 2014, WBNR and WLNA switched to "Real Country," a national music format. The stations began playing classic country hits of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. On December 3, 2019, WBNR began simulcasting on translator station W243EM at 96.5 FM. That gave listeners in and around Beacon the option of tuning in WBNR on the FM dial.

On March 15, 2021, WBNR changed from classic country to a simulcast of co-owned classic hits station 92.9 WBPM in Suagerties.^[7]

On October 14, 2024, WBNR ended its simulcast of WBPM. It switched to a conservative talk format, simulcast with WGHQ 920 AM in Kingston and WLNA 1420 AM in Peekskill. The stations began airing talk hosts from Westwood One and were branded as "The Beacon".^[8] They became network affiliates of ABC News Radio.