On the air: Trine students meet Fort Wayne radio host

FORT WAYNE — Though in the thick of baseball season along with his many other duties, Sports Rush host Brett Rump took time to meet with five Trine University communications majors.

The students, all of whom are part of the university’s Trine Broadcasting Network, traveled with Andy Brown, assistant professor of communication, to Federated Media Group on April 20 to meet Rump, who, in addition to hosting the popular radio show, serves as play-by-play voice of the Fort Wayne TinCaps and Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons.

Students even got to sit in on the first segment of The Sports Rush, where Rump engaged them during the broadcast. Later in the show, he thanked the students for making the trip. 

Rump and his producer Caleb Hatch host The Sports Rush weekdays from 4-6 p.m. Rump works in sales for Federated stations in addition to his sports duties.

“I always prepare two hours for every hour of a game I will be broadcasting,” Rump told the group. “My job is to give our listeners something they wouldn’t know about otherwise.”

In addition to meeting Rump, the Trine students — Ben Wengerd, Matt Stillman, Kyler Bills, Nick Woolley and Brooklynn Gravel — were able to visit each of the busy studios with shows underway at the Federated complex, which includes News Talk 1190 WOWO, 98.9 The Bear, 97.3 WMEE, K105 FM, 1380 The Fan and Big 92.3. 

“It was a really cool opportunity to see a station up and running during live shows. We were able to meet staff from a few different stations and learn what it’s like to work in those positions,” said Gravel.

“I thought it was a good opportunity for us to get an inside look at radio,” said Woolley. “Everyone has heard the radio, but few get to go in and see the different aspects of it and what goes on behind the scenes. Overall, it was a really cool experience and I think we were able to learn a lot that we may have not known.”

Federated Media is building a new studio complex with larger studio spaces and state-of-the-art equipment. Brown said Trine Broadcasting Network students are looking forward to visiting again when the new facilities are completed. 

“It was a great trip,” Brown said. “I am grateful to Brett for giving our students an all-access look at a successful radio operation and especially for letting us sit in on his show. The trip gave our students some valuable insights into one of the many career paths for communication professionals.”