Former KUSC/Los Angeles, WLIW-F/Long Island GM Wally Smith Dies At 87

Public Radio GM Passes Away

WALLY SMITH, the former GM of LONG ISLAND public radio station WLIU (later WPPB, now WLIW-F)/SOUTHAMPTON, NY and GM and President of UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Classical KUSC/LOS ANGELES, died OCTOBER 27th of congestive heart failure at 87.

As a graduate student at USC, SMITH became GM at KUSC, taking the station from a student-run outlet to a Classical format in 1973. After an abortive format refresh to a more eclectic sound, SMITH left and took over as GM at LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY's WLIU and formed PECONIC PUBLIC BROADCASTING to buy the station in 2009, renaming it WPPB. THE WNET GROUP bought WPPB in 2020 and changed the calls to WLIW-F; SMITH became GM Emeritus after the sale.

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