Local News of Local Interest: Dan Duprey, Longtime WLNG Announcer and Producer, Retires

If you have ever tuned into WLNG any time over the past 20 years to hear a summary of the latest news, you’re probably familiar with the voice of Dan Duprey.

The longtime announcer, who does about 20 newscasts a week and has been producing most of the commercials and public service announcements that are played on the station, turned off his microphone for the last time on Friday, January 20.

Duprey, 66, who joined WLNG on January 8, 1990, said it was simply time to retire so he can enjoy more time with his wife, Ann, three grown children, and the four granddaughters he described as “the absolute joy of my life.”

In fact, he and his wife, a registered nurse who works at Peconic Landing in Greenport, took off last weekend for a short trip to see two of their children and those grandchildren, who live in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Duprey, who grew up in Bergen County in New Jersey, said he was always interested in radio. “My mom told me I had a big radio with a battery that used to drag around with me when I was 2 years old,” he said.

Duprey studied broadcasting at Bergen Community College and got his start at WBSB, an AM college station in Paramus, and WFDU, an FM college station in Teaneck. After earning an associate degree, he landed a job at WRKL, an AM station in Pomona, New York, in 1979.

While there, Duprey announced New York Islanders games and met Barry Grant of WRCN in Riverhead, who hired him to join WRHD, an AM station the company was starting.

Duprey moved to Riverhead, where he and his wife still live, in 1984. He stayed with WRHD, as its morning drive announcer, until the station was shut down in late 1989.

Duprey then called Paul Sidney, who ran WLNG at time. With a good recommendation from Bob Aldrich, with whom he had worked in Riverhead, Duprey landed the job and hasn’t look back.

After joining WLNG as its midday announcer, Duprey transitioned to news and producing. Over the years, he said he has seen some major advances. “When I first got here, we were still playing 45s,” he said. Soon after, the station moved to CDs and, finally, computerized files. Duprey estimated the station has 6,000 songs on file.

“Now we get commercials by email,” he added. “The UPS driver used to arrive with a box of reel-to-reel tape.”