WOIA, WOIB and WNRS (1958–1992) Founded by the Saline Broadcasting Company, the station first broadcast at 3 p.m. on January 5, 1958. WOIA broadcast with 500 watts of power as a
daytimer. The studios were in
Lodi Township. It had a
full service format featuring news, educational interviews, and both popular and classical music. Sundays had an hour of
German music. In 1959, the Lester Broadcasting Corporation purchased WOIA from Saline Broadcasting. Beginning in 1962, WOIA gained an FM
simulcast on 102.9,
WOIA-FM. The AM call sign changed to WOIB on December 12, 1963. In 1967, Lester Broadcasting sold WOIA/WOIB to the Felty Broadcasting Corporation for $180,000. On February 14, 1970, both stations were re-branded as "The Winners", with the 1290 calls changed to WNRS and 102.9 to WNRZ. Initially the "Winners" retained the WOIA/WOIB Top 40 format but later switched to
country; WNRZ-FM also played progressive rock for a time while the AM side continued with the country format. In 1975, WNRZ-FM brought the "Winners" simulcast to an end when it changed to
album oriented rock as WIQB. WNRS returned to its former country format in September 1978. In August 1979, station owner Radio-Ann Arbor Inc. announced the sale of WNRS and WIQB to Lake America Communications for a combined $1.24 million.
As WIQB, WAMX, WDEO, and WYBN (1992–2001) WNRS became WIQB on February 21, 1992 and changed from oldies to
new-age music as its former oldies format moved to new sister FM station
WQKL. In September 1994, American Media Management bought WAMX and
WIQB-FM from Mediabase Research Corporation for $3.6 million. On October 18, 1996, WAMX became WDEO. At the time,
Domino's Pizza founder
Tom Monaghan reached a
local marketing agreement to change WDEO to a Catholic format branded Ave Maria Radio, sponsored by his Ave Maria Foundation. However, due to WDEO having a weak signal that did not reach the city of Detroit, Monaghan bought
Ypsilanti, Michigan station
WWCM, whose 9,200 watt daytime signal was more audible in Detroit, for $2.5 million in June that year. The WDEO call sign and programming would move to WWCM. On October 1, 1999, WDEO changed its call sign to WYBN and format from religion to the Business Talk Radio Network. The "YBN" stood for "Your Business News". On June 28, 2002, WCAS changed an all-oldies format dubbed "Honey Radio", playing 1950s to 1970s oldies, a homage to the "Honey Radio" format on the old
WHND in
Monroe, Michigan. A week later on July 5, WCAS changed its call sign to WHNE. General manager Bob Bolak considered Air America a potentially successful format considering what he called "the liberal mood of Ann Arbor" in addition to a goal to attract younger listeners. Although WLBY attracted a 2.2 ratings share in the fall 2004
Arbitron ratings, the share declined to 0.9 in spring 2005, a decline that a Clear Channel station manager attributed to interest in political talk declining after the
2004 United States presidential election. Beginning in the 2004–05 season, WLBY broadcast select
University of Michigan women's basketball games. WLBY improved to a 1.2 share in spring 2006. In mid-November 2006, nearly a week after
statewide elections, WLBY temporarily dropped Air America to
stunt with content related to
University of Michigan sports, namely a loop of Michigan's fight song "
The Victors", highlights of classic football games, and sports updates. In December 2006, Cumulus reacquired Clear Channel's Ann Arbor stations, including WLBY, as part of a multi-station swap. By fall 2007, WLBY's ratings declined to 0.6. Beginning in
2008, WLBY became the Ann Arbor affiliate of the
Michigan State Spartans football radio network. WLBY added
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball games in the
2009–10 season. WLBY had a programming overhaul in 2009.
WAAM host Lucy Ann Lance moved her daily talk show on WLBY on January 24, 2009, a year after being laid off from WAAM. Then on March 16, WLBY switched to a business talk format, featuring Lance's morning show and nationally syndicated programs including financial advice
The Dave Ramsey Show, consumer advice
The Clark Howard Show, and programming from the Business Talk Radio Network. WLBY previously broadcast the Business Talk Radio Network in 1999 as WYBN. By 2010, WLBY's regular programming was limited to Lance, Ramsey, Howard, and the
Bloomberg Radio network. By spring 2012, WLBY added news and sports talk to its regular schedule, including
The Mike Huckabee Show and
The Huge Show. WLBY changed its slogan to "Ann Arbor's Talk Station" around July 2012. In
2015, WLBY joined the
Detroit Lions Radio Network. WLBY phased out Michigan State sports broadcasts in the 2020s; the final season with Michigan State men's basketball was in
2019–20. Following the
2023 season, WLBY dropped Michigan State football games after 16 seasons. ==Programming==