102.9 WMGK’s Debbi Calton to retire after 36 years on the air in Philly
She'll officially vacate her position in December.
Longtime 102.9 WMGK midday host Debbi Calton will retire later this year after nearly four decades in Philadelphia radio.
Calton, who has hosted the 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. spot at classic-rock WMGK since 1993, will leave on Dec. 6, the Beasley Media Group-owned station announced Thursday. In November, WMGK will highlight her tenure with a look at classic interviews and event coverage.
“I have been so fortunate to work in Philadelphia with such amazing fans over the past 36 years,” Calton said. “I am also grateful for having the best shift ever at WMGK. As a result, I was able to drop my son off at school and pick him up afterwards. He’s now 27. This has been an amazing ride."
Calton has been at WGMK for the last 26 years. She got start in Philadelphia radio at then-rock station 94.1 WYSP, now sports radio WIP-FM, in 1983. Calton started in radio in the late 1970s at age 19 at WRPL, a daytime AM station in Charlotte, N.C., her home state.
That career could have been cut short early, thanks to a tussle over equal pay with management at her former station. As Calton said, she was “told at the time that I was just a little girl who, until they taught me, didn’t know anything, and that I would never work in radio again.”
“I am extremely grateful for what I learned there, but I also deserved equal pay,” Calton said. “I’m glad I held my ground at that time. Here I am all these years later, still working in radio … a profession that I love.”
WMGK has not named a replacement, and is accepting resumés at middays@wmgk.com.
With her days in Philly radio coming to a close, Calton, of Media, is looking for what’s next. While she isn’t yet sure what her next move is, Calton said, she may do community radio or follow her husband, Chip, a musician, on the road “without worry of using up vacation time.”
“I’m looking forward to not hitting the snooze button on the alarm. It’s a big transition,” Calton said. “I want to thank my WMGK co-workers and the Philadelphia radio audience for embracing me as they have all these years.”