WDEE originally began as an AM station broadcasting on 1500 kHz, first going on the air in 1981, and under the ownership of David A. Carmine, a well-known country musicradio personality from Detroit known by his on-air name of Dave Carr. Carmine had moved his family to nearby Harrison, Michigan, just six years before to put his first station on the air. WDEE first broadcast with its own independent staff and programming originating from downtownReed City at 410 W. Upton Avenue. By the end of the decade, WDEE was reduced to a simulcast outlet of WKKM in Harrison before finally being silenced in October 1992. Prior to this version of WDEE, the WDEE call sign was used on a well known 50,000 watt AM station in Detroit, Michigan, on the same frequency of 1500 kHz. WDEE in Detroit was one of the first radio stations to program a country music format using top 40methods and was very popular. Like the original WDEE, Reed City's WDEE was a country station.
Sale to current owner
In January 1994, WDEE was sold to Steven V. Beilfuss. Beilfuss, known to northwestern Michigan listeners as Steve Masters and best known for his tenure at WKJF, put the station back on the air in 1994 with an Oldies format. Studios and offices were established at 207 1/2 W. Upton Avenue in Reed City, not far from the original location.
Birth of WDEE-FM
Originally a weak daytime-only AM signal of 250 watts, ownership then successfully applied for an FM license at frequency 97.3, which made its debut as WDEE-FM after three years as a full simulcast of its AM sister-station. At that time, the station was known as "Classic Hits 97.3." At around this same time, studios and offices were relocated to 101 S. Higbee Street in Reed City. Eventually, programming was separated between the two stations, with a classic country format on WDEE. After ownership chose not to renew WDEE's license, WDEE-FM was left as the only license owned by Beilfuss Broadcasting and continues to broadcast today. Shortly after the turn of the 21st Century, WDEE-FM re-located its studios from Reed City into downtown Big Rapids, at 211 Maple St.
