Note: This webpage is not affiliated with the radio station itself. For more information on how to contact the radio station, read below. If you have questions, e-mail us.

This Page Last Updated: Friday 2 December 2011

The Essentials

Frequency: Formerly 1380am
Frequency: 97.3fm
City of License: Fort Wayne
Metro(s): Fort Wayne
Power: 26,000 watts @ 689 feet (Class B)
Format: Hot AC
Address: 2915 Maples Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46816-3199
Phone: 260.447.5511
FAX: 260.447.7546
Ownership: Pathfinder Communications Corp.
Network Affiliation(s): Envision Radio Networks ("Looking Up to Number One"), Westwood One ("Billy Bush")
Web Presence: http://www.wmee.com

Station Personnel

Current

GM: Mark DePrez (April 9, 2001 - Current; GSM: November 2000 - April 8, 2001)
Chief Engineer: Mogan David
GSM: Alison Delagrange (? - Current)
Production Director: Steve Brelsford
OM: Jimmy Knight (January 24, 2011 - Current) (From OM/Afternoons at WAZY)
Assistant FM OM: Dave Michaels (August 2006 - Current) (also assistant FM OM of sister WQHK-FM)
MD: Dave Michaels (December 2006 - Current) (also assistant FM OM of sister WQHK-FM)
Mornings: Zack Skyler (April 6, 2009 - Current) (Nights: March 1992 - September 1994; also MD/Mornings in that era.)
(Note: 9am - 10am is "The All Music Hour")
Middays: Nichole Roberts (10am - 3pm) (? - Current)
Afternoons: Sean Bratton ("Boomer") (3pm - 8pm) (Nights: January 15, 2007 - March 2008) (Nights: June 1998 - April 27, 2003; MD: Late 1998 - July 26, 2002. Nights: June 1998 - April 1999. Afternoons: April 1999 - April 2000; Nights: April 2000 - July 26, 2002) (From ND/MD/Nights at WZOQ in Lima, Ohio)
(Note: 5pm - 6pm is "The All Music Hour")
Nights: Billy Bush ("The Billy Bush Show") (8pm - 12am) (June 2008 - Current) (Syndicated via Westwood One)

Former

WMEE(AM)

(Airstaff are in alphabetical order)

Airstaff: Pat Barry
Airstaff: Chuck Brodie
Airstaff: Don Chevillet
Airstaff: Dan Collins
Airstaff: Bill Donovan (? - Summer 1973) (Went to WLYV, then to WLAV in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He's now Deceased.)
Airstaff: Rick Hughes (Retired)
Airstaff: Chris Kane
Airstaff: Bob Lee
Airstaff: Gary Lockwood
Airstaff: Jack Martin
Airstaff: Mark Rivers
Airstaff: "Fast" Jimi Roberts (Now afternoons at WLIF in Baltimore, Maryland)
Airstaff: Tom Roberts
Airstaff: Steve Shine (Now out of radio)
Airstaff: Michael St. John
Airstaff: Doug Steele
Airstaff: Tom Williams (Deceased 9 January 1998)

WMEE-FM

VP/GM: Robert Elliott (1971-1990) (Deceased 2 February 2001)
GM: Tony Richards (1978 - Current; GM: September 1991 - June 30, 2001) (Now COO with WMEE parent Pathfinder Communications Corp.)
GM: Bert Sherwood
GM: Walt Steffan
Director of Sales: Mark Osborn (February 15, 2002 - ?) (From Sales Manager at WBYR)
GSM: Kevin Meek (? - November 1998) (Also was Local Sales Manager and Regional Sales Manager) (Now LSM at WKHK and WKLR in Richmond, Virginia)
GSM: Leann Starkey (December 2, 1998 - December 2001)
GSM: Amy Torres (Now co-GSM at the Cox stations in Louisville, Kentucky)
GSM: Joel Pyle (January 2, 2002 - ?) (Remains GSM for sister WQHK)
NSM: Doug Wagner (November 1997 - 2004) (Now out of radio)
Chief Engineer: Ed Didier (? - March 1997) (Now Chief Engineer at WBNI and WBOI)
OM: Dean McNeil (May 5, 1997 - July 2003) (Now mornings at WMMC in Marshall, Illinois)
OM/PD: John O'Rourke (OM: March 2000 - June 19, 2001; PD: June 2000 - June 19, 2001; APD: October 1999 - June 2000)
OM/PD: Tommy Allen (October 2001 - October 21, 2003) (Out of radio)
OM/PD: Mark Evans (November 20, 2003 - June 22, 2005) (Now weekends at WAJI)
OM/PD: Jeff Davis (Also formerly a DJ at WMEE (nights), before earning OM/PD duties (? - April 18, 1997))
OM: Rob Kelley (June 22, 2005 - January 23, 2011) (also OM of sister WQHK-FM) (From OM for the five station Triad Broadcasting cluster in Lincoln, Nebraska. Also was PD/middays for Triad's KFGE) (Remains OM with sister WQHK-FM.)
PD: Steve Christian
PD: Tony Richards (1984 - ?) (Now COO with WMEE parent Pathfinder Communications Corp.)
PD: "Captain" Chris Didier (August 1997 - June 2, 2000) (Now APD/afternoons at WLDE)
APD: Geno Burgess (November 2000 - February 2001; Weekends: March 2000 - November 2000) (From mornings at WYSR)
MD: Danny Baker ("Danny B.") (? - 1992)
MD: Zack Skyler
MD: "Captain" Chris Didier (December 1994 - June 2, 2000) (Now APD/afternoons at WLDE)
MD: Chris Cage (July 29, 2002 - ?) (Now afternoons at WAWC)
Production: Chris Tyler (? - November 1997) (Now APD/afternoons at WITL in Lansing, Michigan)
Promotions Director: Tony Malone (November 1997 - June 1998) (Now out of radio)
Promotions Director: Lynn Williams (August 20, 1998 - October 1999) (From Promotions Director with the former Kovas Communications stations in Fort Wayne).
Promotions Director: Natalee Kohls (1998 - December 13, 2001) (Now middays as "Sky Taylor" at WWMJ in Ellsworth/Bangor, Maine)
Promotions Director: Sean Bratton (July 29, 2002 - April 27, 2003) (From Nights) (Now afternoons at WMEE)
News Director: Robert Cohen (1977-1978) (Now out of radio)
News Director: Michael Waite
News Director: Dawn Andrews (? - 1992)
Mornings: Scott Tsuleff (News) (Now afternoons at WBCL)
Mornings: Douglas B. Pritchett (1980-1982)
Mornings: Chad Hunt (From Nights)
Mornings: Marti Wright (News)
Mornings: Charly Butcher & Tony Richards ("Those Two Guys") (? - 1991) (Butcher now mornings at sister WOWO. Richards now COO with WMEE parent Pathfinder Communications Corp.)
Mornings: Tom Kelly (? - February 1993)
Mornings: J.C. Baker (? - March 12, 1999) (Now mornings at WBOI)
Mornings: Toni Kayumi (? - August 17, 1996) (Now out of radio)
Mornings: Lana Conroy (5:30am - 10am) (April 1999 - June 16, 2000) (From mornings at WLJE) (Now out of radio)
Mornings: Rick Dees (Syndicated from KIIS in Los Angeles, California) (5am - 8am) (July 3, 2000 - January 9, 2002) (Geno Burgess was the local producer)
Mornings: John O'Rourke (5am - 10am) (January 10, 2002 - March 19, 2004) (Afternoons: April 2000 - June 2001)
Mornings: Mark Evans (March 22, 2004 - June 22, 2005; Afternoons: March 3, 2003 - March 19, 2004) (5am - 10am) (From Features reporter at WKJG-TV in Fort Wayne) (Now weekends at WAJI)
Mornings: Steve Kerrigan (5am - 10am) (October 5, 2005 - June 16, 2006) (From mornings at WTUE in Dayton, Ohio) (Deceased 14 March 2011)
Mornings: Erika Taylor (5am - 10am) (News) (Now out of radio)
Mornings: Craig Morrison (5am - 10am) (August 28, 2006 - November 30, 2007) (From mornings at KKCS in Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Mornings: Samantha Adams (5am - 10am) (August 28, 2006 - November 30, 2007) (From mornings at KKCS in Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Mornings: Brady Garrison (5am - 9am)
Mornings: Scott Woodman (5am - 9am) (? - March 2, 2009)
Mornings: Shelly K. (5am - 9am) (January 2008 - September 21, 2010) (From APD/mornings at WKFR in Kalamazoo, Michign)
Middays: Chris Tyler (Now APD/afternoons at WITL in Lansing, Michigan)
Middays: Phil Lindsey (1994 - March 17, 1997) (Deceased 25 November 2005)
Middays: "Captain" Chris Didier (10am - 2pm) (1984 - June 2, 2000) (Now APD/afternoons at WLDE)
Middays: Tommy Allen (10am - 2pm) (July 29, 2002 - October 21, 2003) (Now out of radio)
Early Afternoons: Natalee Kohls ("Skye Taylor") (1pm - 3pm) (August 27, 2001 - December 13, 2001) (Now middays "Sky Taylor" at WWMJ in Ellsworth/Bangor, Maine)
Middays: Trina Neeley (10am - 3pm) (September 27, 2005 - ?) (From nights at WQHK-FM)
Afternoons: Scott Dugan
Afternoons: Ric Owen (September 1994 - ?) (From mornings at WIMJ in Cincinnati, Ohio)
Afternoons: Ange Canessa (March 18, 1997 - July 16, 1999) (Afternoons: March 1997 - April 1999. Nights: April 1999 - July 16, 1999; Weekends: September 1996 - March 1997) (Now President of New Dimension Radio)
Afternoons: Charly Butcher (3pm - 7pm) (Mornings: January 1983 - November 1993; September 14, 1995 - June 30, 2000; Afternoons: July 3, 2000 - ?) (Now mornings at WOWO)
Afternoons: Dave Sharp (3pm - 8pm) (June 22, 2004 - December 6, 2005) (From News Assignment Editor/Investigate Producer at WKYC-TV in Cleveland, Ohio)
Afternoons: Don Walker (3pm - 7pm) (From afternoons at WXTW) (Now PD at WFNR in Blacksburg, Virginia)
Afternoons: Chris Cage (4pm - 8pm) (December 10, 2001 - ?; Middays: December 10, 2001 - ?) (Now afternoons at WAWC)
Afternoons: Shaun Szymborski
Nights: Douglas B. Pritchett (1976 - ?)
Nights: Danny Baker ("Danny B.") (? - 1992)
Nights: Laura Lee (September 1994 - ?) (From weekends at WXKR in Toledo, Ohio)
Nights: Mark Stevens (? - October 1996)
Nights: Kris Underwood ("Coyote") (? - May 15, 1998; Also did Overnights in the early 1990's) (Now middays at WAWC)
Nights: Aaron Robbins ("Robbin Banks") (July 1999 - April 2000) (Now out of radio)
Weekends: Keith Maddox ("Keith Hall")
Weekends: "Billy the Kid"
Weekends: "Tiny"
Weekends: Brock Andrews
Airstaff: Gregg Anderson (News)
Airstaff: Jennifer Carr (Now out of radio)
Airstaff: Steve "Magic" Christian
Airstaff: Scott Howard (Now out of radio)
Airstaff: Victor Locke (News)
Airstaff: Paul Poteet
Airstaff: Dan Potter (News)
Airstaff: Paul Resnik ("Paul Drew") (Now out of radio)
Airstaff: Diane Shannon
Airstaff: J.D. (John David) Spangler (Now owns WMMC)

Station History

WMEE-AM

1380am signed on November 15, 1947. Previous Call Letters: WKJG. WMEE(AM) signed on October 1, 1971 as "The Big 1380." (with sister station WMEF-FM). After a few call letter changes, 1380AM is once again WKJG.

WMEE-FM

97.3fm signed on February 5, 1965. Formerly WMEF-FM (beautiful music.) In February 1993, morning host Tom Kelly violated his contract by pursuing a job search. Kelly was subsequently dismissed. On September 2, 1994, WMEE changed formats from CHR to Hot AC, as "Mix 97.3." August 1996 saw the station celebrate its 25th anniversary. They brought back former DJ's for a reunion. On June 27, 1998 at 4:38pm, WMEE debuted from its new studio (in the same building on Maples Road).

For Further Reading...

Kilbane, Kevin. "Airwaves abuzz." Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. 5 November 1990. Page 1F.
Kilbane, Kevin. "Radio stations take the airwaves out of their employees' sails." Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. 26 February 1992. Page 1F.
Kilbane, Kevin. "New WDJB jocks square off with WMEE over top musical spot." Fort Wayne News-Sentinel 6 May 1992. Page 1F, 6F.
"Guy in the morning to depart WMEE." Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. 25 February 1993. Page 8A.
Kilbane, Kevin. "Will new mix be right move for WMEE?" Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. 7 September 1994. Page F1.
"WMEE Cancels Toni and Tyler." Fort Wayne News-Sentinel 19 August 1995. Page 10A.
"WOWO, WMEE get new hosts." Fort Wayne News-Sentinel 31 August 1995. Page 2A.
Robinson, Dean. "Broadcaster Williams retiring." Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette 30 April 1997. Page 2D.
Shepherd, Michelle L. "Veteran broadcaster Tom Williams dies." Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. 11 January 1998. Page 14A.
Vela, Susan. "Former broadcaster in city dies of heart attack at 60." Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. 12 January 1998. Page 10A.
Feder, Robert. "New morning host will be his own boss at US-99.5." Chicago Sun-Times. 12 March 2003. Page 71.
Feder, Robert. "Colleagues celebrate Kalber's priceless legacy." Chicago Sun-Times. 20 May 2004. Page 65.
Feder, Robert. "Competitors to buzz in for spelling bee on WGN." Chicago Sun-Times. 2 March 2006. Page 55.

RadioWatch Mentions

24 September 1995
22 February 1996
26 October 1996
20 March 1997
17 June 1997
10 November 1997
10 March 1998
27 May 1998
10 June 1998
27 June 1998
19 August 1998
7 November 1998
24 Feburary 1999
7 April 1999
21 April 1999
14 July 1999
16 October 1999
5 February 2000
11 March 2000
11 April 2000
22 April 2000
17 June 2000
1 July 2000
29 July 2000
2 December 2000
10 February 2001
24 March 2001
31 March 2001
23 June 2001
28 July 2001
6 October 2001
29 December 2001
16 February 2002
5 January 2002
26 February 2005
4 August 2005
20 September 2005
10 October 2005
20 June 2006
23 September 2006
24 February 2007
1 December 2007
27 February 2008
4 June 2008
3 December 2008
6 March 2009

Back to the Stations Index
All pages Copyright Blaine Thompson. Articles, photos, corrections, and other contributions should be e-mailed to the editors.