A community group has won a bid to keep local control of Long Island’s only public radio station.

Michael Mackey, local newscaster for WLIU works in the news studio at the Stonybrook University radio station in Southampton, New York, on Monday, Sept. 21, 2009. Celebrities such as Alec Baldwin and Joy Behar are among dozens backing a community effort to buy WLIU-FM from Long Island University. The university sold its Southampton College campus three years ago and now says it can no longer afford to subsidize the station.(AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

Long Island University officials announced Friday they have an agreement to sell Southampton-based WLIU-FM to a group known as Peconic Public Broadcasting. University officials declined to divulge a purchase price.

Celebrities like Jann Wenner, Alec Baldwin and Joy Behar were among those who helped form the local broadcasting entity. Their goal was to maintain the station as an affiliate of National Public Radio.

The university, which sold its Southampton College campus three years ago, said it could no longer afford to subsidize the station.

The station is expected to move from the campus to a studio in nearby Wainscott later this year.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.