Jessica Ambrose and WLNG, Siriusly

Jessica Ambrose is, er, Sirius!

In early May, SiriusXM Radio announced that “Lunch on the Deck,” a weekly program hosted by Jessica Ambrose and Bill Evans of 92.1 FM WLNG in Sag Harbor, had begun airing on the Volume Channel 106 Sundays from noon to 2 p.m. The show is broadcast live on WLNG each Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., then aired on SiriusXM each Sunday.

When WLNG owners, former WABC-TV weatherman Bill Evans and his wife, 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 DJs working at the station.

So he asked Estia owner and well-known chef, 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), and “Lunch on the Deck” is now being served.

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—offering a deep and meaningful profile of people through their musical choices. The guests tend to tell stories on a more personal level, many of which people have never heard before.

Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes told stories from his time in Vietnam; Julie Andrews spoke about being a child actress in vaudeville; former NYC police commissioner Bill Bratton 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 1 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 SiriusXM, well, it’s more than I could have wished for,” states Ambrose.

Other notable guests on her show include Alec Baldwin, pro golfer Mike Reilly, actor Peter Hermann, author Bob Colacello, director Thomas Bezucha and actor David Burtka.

And the show goes on.