America’s Best Small Airport Has a Radio Station Right in the Terminal
By John Caracciolo
JVC Broadcasting
President and CEO
Most radio stations broadcast from office buildings, broadcast centers or studios tucked away from the public. JVC Broadcasting decided to do something different.
It put a live radio studio inside an airport. And not just any airport.
Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP), home to JVC’s LI News Radio 103.9 FM broadcast studio, has just been named the No. 1 Best Small Airport in America in USA TODAY’s 2026 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
For JVC Broadcasting, the recognition is especially meaningful. The independent radio company has maintained a live broadcast presence inside the airport since launching LI News Radio in 2013, creating one of the industry’s more unusual and visible broadcasting environments.
Located directly in the airport’s baggage claim area, the glass-fronted LI News Radio studio brings live radio into the daily flow of airport activity. Travelers can see broadcasters at work while newsmakers, elected officials, business leaders and community personalities come through the studio for interviews and programming.
It’s local radio in the middle of the community it serves
Most broadcasters spend a fortune trying to get their stations in front of people. We decided years ago to put our radio station where the people already are. Every day, travelers walk right past our studio. They see live radio happening in front of them. That’s the kind of connection local radio should have with its community.
More Than a Studio – A Unique Media Partnership
JVC’s relationship with MacArthur Airport extends well beyond broadcasting.
Since 2019, JVC has also served as the airport’s advertising concession partner, developing and managing advertising opportunities throughout the terminal.
The combination of live radio, digital advertising, airport displays, social media and JVC’s Long Island radio properties creates a distinctive marketing platform connecting local businesses with travelers and the wider Long Island community.
When MacArthur Airport was nominated for the USA TODAY 10Best award, JVC put that platform to work.
The company supported the airport’s campaign across its radio stations, encouraging listeners to vote and using its media reach to build awareness of the competition.
The effort reflected the power of locally owned broadcasting: bringing a community together behind something that matters to the region.
From No. 2 to No. 1
MacArthur Airport finished second nationally in 2025 before capturing the top position in 2026. The recognition represents a major achievement for the Town of Islip, airport leadership, employees, airline partners and the Long Island community.
For JVC, the victory reinforces the value of partnerships between independent media companies and the communities they serve.
We’re proud to have played a role in helping get the word out. This is a great airport, and we wanted the rest of the country to know it. We’re not some national media company looking at Long Island on a spreadsheet. We live here, we work here, and when something great happens for Long Island, we’re going to get behind it.
A Different Approach to Local Broadcasting
At a time when much of the radio industry is focused on consolidation, automation and reducing its physical footprint, JVC continues to invest in local visibility and community connections.
The airport studio demonstrates a simple philosophy: radio works best when it is part of people’s everyday lives.
From live news and talk programming to interviews with community leaders and visiting personalities, the studio serves as a highly visible reminder that local broadcasting remains relevant, accessible and connected.
And with MacArthur Airport now holding the nation’s top small-airport honor, JVC has another reason to celebrate the partnership.
People sometimes ask me about the future of local radio. My answer is pretty simple. Get out of the building. Get involved in your community. Do things differently. We’ve had a radio studio inside an airport for more than a decade, and now that airport is number one in America. That’s a pretty good story.
What’s Next for JVC at MacArthur Airport?
For JVC Broadcasting, the airport’s national recognition is not the finish line. It’s another opportunity to build on a partnership that has already demonstrated how broadcasting, advertising and community engagement can work together in unexpected places.
We’ve always believed that local radio needs to do things differently. Putting a live radio studio inside an airport was a pretty unconventional idea when we did it, and it’s turned into something special. But we’re not done. We’ve got some exciting ideas for the next chapter of our relationship with MacArthur Airport, and I think people are going to be pretty surprised by what comes next.
For now, we’re just proud to celebrate this incredible achievement with our friends and partners at ISP. But stay tuned. We’ve got a lot more planned.
John Caracciolo is president and CEO of JVC Broadcasting, an independently owned radio and media company operating radio stations and multimedia advertising platforms in New York and Florida. He can be emailed at johnc@jvcbroadcasting.com.