WISE-TV

WISE-TV, channel 33, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Fort Wayne, Indiana. Owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting, WISE-TV is operated under a shared services agreement with Quincy Newspapers (which owns ABC affiliate, WPTA (channel 21)). Both stations share studios and transmitter facilities located on Butler Road in Northwest Fort Wayne.

History

The station was founded on November 21, 1953 with the call letters WKJG-TV. It was the first television station in Fort Wayne and affiliated with NBC. The station was owned by William Kunkle, owner of The Journal Gazette newspaper (with both entities forming the call letters), WKJG radio (AM 1380 and FM 97.3), and other television stations. On September 30, 1971, the radio stations were sold. Their call letters became WMEE-AM and WMEF-FM respectively. Today, the FM station has the calls WMEE. The AM station went through a variety of call signs including WQHK, WHWD, and WONO. It went back to the original WKJG on November 3, 2003 and to this day, is Fort Wayne's ESPN Radio affiliate. However, both radio stations are owned by a different company and have no connection with the television station. The first person seen on television in Fort Wayne was Hilliard Gates, who doubled as a sportscaster for the station until his retirement in 1993. John Siemer, a newscaster and announcer at the station, was known at that time as "Engineer John" who introduced cartoons.