1 9 7 6 , ▁when ▁W GE M - FM ▁broke ▁away ▁from ▁its ▁sim ul cast ▁and ▁became ▁a ▁country ▁music ▁station , ▁W GE M ▁had ▁a ▁middle - of - the - road ▁format ; ▁that ▁year , ▁the ▁station ▁became ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁first ▁AM ▁s tere o ▁stations . ▁ ▁It ▁shift ed ▁to ▁adult ▁contemporary ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 0 ; ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁the ▁station ▁again ▁changed ▁formats , ▁this ▁time ▁to ▁talk ▁radio . ▁During ▁the ▁Great ▁Flo od ▁of ▁ 1 9 9 3 , ▁W GE M ▁provided ▁compreh ensive ▁coverage , ▁tempor arily ▁susp ending ▁its ▁normal ▁programming ▁to ▁provide ▁updates ▁on ▁bridge ▁clos ures , ▁flo od ▁stages , ▁and ▁le vee ▁status . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 2 , ▁W GE M ▁began ▁to ▁shift ▁its ▁format : ▁its ▁news / t alk ▁programming ▁was ▁moved ▁to ▁W GE M - FM , ▁and ▁the ▁AM ▁station ▁adopted ▁its ▁current ▁sports ▁radio ▁format ; ▁it ▁had ▁carried ▁ESP N ▁Radio ▁at ▁night ▁under ▁the ▁previous ▁format . ▁ ▁However , ▁much ▁of ▁W GE M - FM ' s ▁primarily ▁news - orient ed ▁local ▁programming , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁Paul ▁Har vey ▁and ▁N BC ▁Night ly ▁News , ▁continued ▁to ▁be ▁sim ul cast ▁on ▁the ▁AM ▁station ▁for ▁several ▁years ▁there after ; ▁this ▁was ▁finally ▁largely ▁ph ased ▁out ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 5