University agrees to postpone WLIU sale

WLIU-FM 88.3 at Long Island University has secured a reprieve, if only for a two more months, reports The Southampton News. University officials recently announced that it would stop funding the station on its Stony Brook Southampton campus on Oct. 3, the day its lease expired, and put it up for sale. Wally Smith, station manager, said that a negotiated agreement will allow WLIU to continue broadcasting at least until Dec. 3. Smith is forming a nonprofit corporation to raise funds to purchase the station’s licenses and equipment; he also hopes to keep the same staff. LIU Chief Financial Officer Robert Altholz told Current: “As much as I and others love the station, it’s running a deficit”--more than $1 million for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31. “What we’re really doing is taking tuition revenue and subsidizing a radio station.”