WLBY AM 1290

A talk-format AM station licensed to Saline, Michigan, with operations centered in nearby Ann Arbor, serving Washtenaw County. The station is owned by Cumulus Media as part of a cluster of four Ann Arbor-area stations. The station first signed on January 5, 1958, under the call sign WOIA, founded by the Saline Broadcasting Company and initially operating at 500 watts as a daytimer from studios in Lodi Township. Early programming featured a full-service format combining news, educational interviews, popular music, and classical music, with German music programming on Sundays. In 1959, the station was sold to Lester Broadcasting Corporation. An FM simulcast on 102.9 was added in 1962, and the AM call sign changed to WOIB in 1963. Lester Broadcasting sold the station to Felty Broadcasting Corporation in 1967. By 1992 the call letters had become WNRS, and the station carried music formats for much of its early decades. In 1996, Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan leased the station for a Catholic programming format. From 1999 to 2001 it broadcast business news, followed by brief adult standards and oldies formats. The current call sign WLBY was adopted in 2004, when the station launched as a progressive talk outlet carrying the Air America Radio network. In 2009 it returned to business news, and by 2012 had transitioned to a more conventional talk format. Current programming includes a local morning show, hourly ABC News Radio updates, and nationally syndicated programs including The Dan Bongino Show, The Mark Levin Show, and Bloomberg Radio. The station also carries University of Michigan women's basketball and serves as a secondary Ann Arbor affiliate for the Detroit Lions Radio Network.