When WLNG owners, Bill Evans and Sandra Foschi, first purchased the station in 2018, Evans was sitting at the counter at Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor lamenting that there were only male DJ’s working at the station. So he asked Estia owner, Colin Ambrose, where he should look for some female radio talent. Colin directed him to his wife, Jessica, who had been a DJ for 20 years on the west coast right after graduating from Boston College.
In April of 2019 Evans hired Jessica. Colin sponsored her show delivering burritos to the station during the broadcast. Thus, the show, “Lunch on the Deck” was born airing every Saturday from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. and having a guest every week from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Ambrose wanted the show to be different from any other, so she asked her guests to pick the music for the show which turned out to be an intriguing format because it’s a great way to hear about someone’s life – through their music choices. The guests tend to tell stories on a more personal level, many of which people have never heard before.
60 Minutes’ Steve Croft told stories from his time in Vietnam; Julia Andrews spoke about being a child actress; former NYC police commissioner, Bill Braxton and lawyer Rikki Klieman discussed how they met and kept their relationship fresh.
Now known as “Lunch on the Deck with Bill Evans and Jessica Ambrose,” the show attracted the attention of Sirius Radio CEO, Scott Greenstein, who was intrigued by the format. On May 1st of this year, Sirius picked up the show. “Honestly, how lucky am I? I’m having the best time while playing music and getting to know amazing local people all in our community. And then on top of it, to be recognized by Sirius XM, well, it’s more than I could have wished for!” states Ambrose.
Other notable guests include Alec Baldwin, musician, Mike Reilly; actor Peter Hermann, author Bob Collacello, director Tom Bezucha, actor David Michael Burtka and actress and children’s author Emma Walton Hamilton.
