PRESS RELEASES

Ann Arbor's News Talk Station Returns to Local Ownership under WAAM General Manager Linda Hughes

ANN ARBOR, MI.- (March 11, 2011) Coolarity A2, LLC of Ann Arbor announced today that it has reached an agreement to purchase all the assets of conservative news talk powerhouse WAAM Talk 1600 from Ann Arbor First Ventures, LP of Dallas, Texas. Coolarity A2, LLC president Linda Hughes has worked at WAAM since 2004 and has been WAAM general manager since 2008. Her husband and long time business partner Thayrone is the host of WAAM's popular afternoon drive time talk show "On The Edge With Thayrone" which is broadcast from the WAAM studios live every weekday.

WAAM Talk 1600 has been the leading news talk station in Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan for almost 30 years. In recent years WAAM has changed the direction of programming to feature the majority of the nation's top ten nationally syndicated shows including Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage. Fox News airs every 30 minutes during the week along with several daily financial reports from Fox Business and Lou Dobbs and many extra features such as Bill O'Reilly, Jay Leno and Dr. Phil. WAAM's weekend lineup also includes Fox News and covers everything from politics and religion to home improvement, art and music. Almost a dozen unique and exclusive local shows air each weekend including several Sunday morning church services, Joe Gagnon's The Appliance Doctor, Joshua's Trail, Matt Clark's Clarkcast, Dr. Janda's Operation Freedom and Ed Hoffman's Speaking Of Art.

"Ownership of WAAM is an exciting next step for me personally and for the station," said Linda Hughes. "I am proud of the show lineup and features we've been able to bring to WAAM and I am thrilled about the future possibilities for WAAM to better serve our local communities and local advertisers." Regarding new programming, Linda commented, "I am looking forward to making new show partnerships with a local focus and helping hosts in developing their content as well as sponsorships." Regarding advertising, Linda stated, "Local advertisers will also benefit from local ownership with no corporate involvement which can sometimes restrict pricing and creative advertising promotions. WAAM Talk 1600 is a unique resource for our community and under my full control will be a smart, affordable way for hundreds of local businesses to talk directly with our ever growing audience over the air and on our popular streaming website."

The sale is subject to FCC approval, which is expected in approximately 90 days. For more information on new show development, becoming an advertising partner, or if you are an experienced radio account executive ready for a great career move, please contact Linda Hughes. For further information on WAAM Talk 1600, please visit waamannarbor.com

Contact:

Linda Hughes President, Coolarity A2, LLC 734-330-9540

Ronald Unkefer Chairman, Ann Arbor First Ventures, LP 214-273-6440

WAAM Talk 1600 Latest Ratings Increases Driven By Fox News, Top National & Local News Talk

Conservatives and Independents Rejoice!  Local Ann Arbor Area and Southeast Michigan listeners have driven WAAM Talk 1600 ratings to their highest levels in years: up another 33% in the latest ratings period and up 166% over the past year. The addition of Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs and Dennis Miller to regulars Laura Ingraham, Bill Bennett , Michael Savage and Ann Arbor’s own Thayrone  have driven weekday ratings to some of the highest listener levels in over a decade. More and more locals are switching their listening to WAAM from Detroit stations for great programming and to support their local community.  WAAM’s daily afternoon drive time talk show “On The Edge with Thayrone” has proven even more popular than several of the top national shows, and WAAM’s local news with Dan Martin combines with FOX NEWS every 30 minutes for the most relevant newscasts for the Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan Area.

LISTEN LOCAL, SHOP LOCAL, ADVERTISE LOCAL is the newest station campaign being embraced by local merchants and listeners alike. WAAM thanks both Conservatives and Independents for your support and asks that you tell all of your friends and family to join in and support local news talk on WAAM Talk 1600.

Bill Bennett & Live, Local News
weekdays 6AM-9AM

News. Sports. Politics. Media. If it’s making headlines, Bill Bennett’s MORNING IN AMERICA gives you the day’s first look at the latest scoop. Bill has a PhD in philosophy, a law degree from Harvard, and has been prominent in politics since the 1980’s including a stint as Secretary of Education. You’ll hear headline making guests and callers from Ann Arbor and the rest of the country. Fox News and Local News every 30 minutes. Hourly short features include Entertainment Tonight Reports, Neil Cavuto's Money Report and Jay Leno.

Thayrone is local and live n the afternoon drive
"On The Edge" weekdays 4PM-6PM

Finally, talk radio for the common man hosted by the common man, Thayrone. A staple of entertainment in Southeast Michigan for over 25 years, Thayrone mixes it up with the right, he mixes it up with the left - sacred cows run for your lives - this ain't your grandpa's talk radio! Fox News and Local News every 30 minutes, and hourly features including Neil Cavuto's Money Report.

WAAM Talk 1600 Announces Up To $10,000 In Cash and Prizes For Local Listeners

Ann Arbor - (November 8, 2009). WAAM Talk 1600, Ann Arbor’s official news talk station, announced a one month giveaway of up to $10,000 in cash and prizes exclusively for listeners in the greater Ann Arbor area. Beginning Thursday November 12th WAAM will announce randomly chosen winners in each major weekday talk show from 6AM until 7PM for a total of not less than 30 winners per week. To be eligible to win, listeners only need to register one time at www.waamannarbor.com, or mail full contact information to WAAM at 4230 Packard Road Ann Arbor, MI 48108. Complete contest rules are posted on the WAAM website.

WAAM Talk 1600 Ratings Up Another 33%. Glenn Beck’s Show Expanded; Jay Leno and Dr. Phil Features Added

ANN ARBOR - (October 1, 2009) - WAAM Talk 1600, Ann Arbor’s official news talk station, announced another 33% gain in average audience as measured by Arbitron, radio’s standard rating service. WAAM’s ratings increased to a 2.4 share of 12+ audience and a 2.9 share of Adults 35-64. Some of WAAM’s most popular weekday shows such as Laura Ingraham and Thayrone increased to 5 and 6 shares of Adults 35+. The WAAM Talk 1600 average listening audience is now as much as double Ann Arbor’s other two AM talk commercial stations combined.

Over the past year the Ann Arbor area has discovered and embraced  the new show lineup at WAAM,  driving up Arbitron ratings 166%. The current show lineup includes national star hosts Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage, plus Ann Arbor’s very own news talk show “On The Edge” with Thayrone. WAAM also features Fox News every 30 minutes 24/7, local news, local community reports and over a dozen daily short features including Lou Dobbs, Neil Cavuto, Dr. Laura and Bill O’Reilly.

Based on strong demand voiced in a recent WAAM listener survey, Ann Arbor area’s fast growing legion of fans can now hear all three hours of newsmaker Glenn Beck’s Show weekdays Noon-3PM. Lou Dobbs will continue to host a one hour live show weekdays  at 3PM before the start of Thayrone’s popular 4PM-6PM show. On weekends Monica Crowley adds the final hour of her show which broadcasts Noon -3PM every Sunday. Listeners also voted to add the new Jay Leno Show daily comedy feature, which can be heard in the 7AM hour of Bill Bennett’s Morning Show. Finally, Dr.Phil joins the WAAM staff of doctors that includes The Appliance  Doctor Joe Gagnon, Dr. Laura and the recently added features from  Dr. Dean Edell. The new “Ask Dr. Phil” feature can now be heard in the 4PM hour of Thayrone’s afternoon drive time show.

“We are pleased and excited to respond to our listeners requests by adding more Glenn Beck, more Monica Crowley, the new Jay Leno Show highlights and the brand new Dr. Phil feature to our programming.” said Linda Hughes, WAAM General Manager. “These shows are all exclusive to WAAM in the Ann Arbor region and further demonstrate our commitment to have WAAM super-serve our local community with an outstanding radio station. We urge everyone that lives here to listen locally, shop locally and advertise locally.”

You can listen to WAAM Talk 1600 at home, at work, in your car and now on the internet 24/7 at waamannarbor.com

Contact: General Manager Linda Hughes 734.971.1600 x12

 

WAAM Talk 1600 Ratings Double;  Lou Dobbs Added Afternoons,  All Shows Now On The Web 24/7

ANN ARBOR – (March 2, 2009) – WAAM Talk 1600, Ann Arbor’s official newstalk station, announced major gains in listenership as reported by Arbitron.  The most recent survey shows that WAAM Talk 1600 now reaches 15,500  people per week just in Washtenaw county alone, literally twice as many as the previous ratings period.  It is now estimated that WAAM’s top tier newstalk programming reaches over 40,000 people in the Greater Ann Arbor Area.

In afternoon changes to WAAM Talk 1600’s lineup, “Mr. Independent” Lou Dobbs brings the fastest growing talk show in the country live to WAAM weekdays from 2pm-4pm.  Lou’s financial reports will continue on WAAM 3 times each weekday.  Glenn Beck’s exciting talk show moves to Noon-2pm weekdays to replace “The Radio Factor” with Bill O’Reilly, who will continue his daily show feature which will now be heard on WAAM.  Unchanged is “On The Edge” with Thayrone, our outspoken hometown favorite, talking news and politics every weekday from 4pm-6pm.  It’s live, local and exclusively on WAAM Talk 1600.

Finally, listeners can take WAAM Talk 1600 wherever they go—in the home, in the office, on their iPhone or iPod—anywhere listeners go, WAAM goes!   WAAM Talk 1600 is now streaming  LIVE 24/7 at waamannarbor.com!
WAAM Talk 1600 is the local news, talk and information station of record for Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan.  The station is independently owned by Ann Arbor First Ventures, LP and is operated under an agreement with Mighty Media Group, LP.  The current lineup includes local news and talk, Fox News 24/7, and top national shows such as Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage and Dennis Miller.  More information is available on the website at waamannarbor.com.

Contact:  General Manager Linda Hughes 734.971.1600 x12

 

 

ANN ARBORITE LINDA HUGHES NAMED GENERAL MANAGER AT WAAM TALK 1600

ANN ARBOR - (October 23, 2008) - WAAM announced that  Linda Hughes, talk radio aficionado and lifelong resident of the Ann Arbor area, has been appointed General Manager of the station.  Linda joined WAAM in 2004 and has excelled at a variety of roles including account executive, producer, show host and program director.  Linda is married to "Thayrone," the host of WAAM's daily live and local talk show "On The Edge with Thayrone."

"The current program lineup, the dedication of the great team at WAAM and the support of our advertising partners all combine to make WAAM Talk 1600 the best local choice for news, talk and information," Linda commented.

"With the appointment of Linda as General Manager, WAAM Talk 1600 is now completely locally operated," said Ronald Unkefer, CEO of Mighty Media Group, LP.  "I've worked closely with Linda over the past year and she has demonstrated a passion for great radio and has a proven desire to super serve local listeners and advertisers."

WAAM Talk 1600 is the local news, talk and information station of record for Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan.  The station is independently owned by Ann Arbor First Ventures, LP and is operated under an agreement with Mighty Media Group, LP.  The current stations lineup includes local news and talk, Fox News 24/7, and top national shows such as Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Bill Bennett, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage.  More information is available on the website at waamannarbor.com.

Contact:  Linda Hughes 734.971.1600 X12



LISTENERS VOTE, NEW SHOWS DEBUT ON WAAM TALK 1600

Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs and Dennis Miller talk shows added weekdays, plus new features from Jay Leno and David Letterman

ANN ARBOR - (September 15, 2008) - WAAM Talk 1600, Ann Arbor's news, talk and information station serving Southeast Michigan, announced major additions to its line up on top-rated national talk shows.  Rising star Glenn Beck, already one of the top 3 most popular talk shows in the country, now can be heard on WAAM form 2PM to 4PM immediately following Bill O'Reilly.  Dennis Miller brings his unique blend of intelligence and humor to his commentary and interview show evenings from 9PM to 11PM following Michael Savage.  Finally, Lou Dobbs, "Mr. Independent" sets straight Democrats and Republicans alike from 11 PM to 1 AM nightly.

New features from Jay Leno and David Letterman have also been added to WAAM's popular morning and afternoon drive time shows.  Highlights from Jay Leno's latest monologue will air in the 7 AM hour of Bill Bennett's Morning Show.  David Letterman's daily "Top Ten" list can now be heard in the 5PM hour of WAAM's live and local call-in talk show "Thayrone On THE Edge".

WAAM Talk 1600 recently conducted an extensive survey of listeners and advertisers and all changes were heavily influenced by this feedback.

"Local listeners were very vocal about what programs they did and did not like and we are thrilled to be able to respond by bringing several of the country's biggest and best shows to our area", said Ronald Unkefer, CEO of Mighty Media Group, LP operator of WAAM Talk 1600.  "Listeners also told us they would like even more local features and community involvement, and that's exactly what we're committed to do over the course of the upcoming year.  Our goal is to super serve local listeners and local advertisers by becoming one of the best local market news talk stations in the country."

WAAM Talk 1600 is the local news, talk and information station of record for Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan.  The station is independently owned by Ann Arbor First Ventures, LP and is operated under an agreement with Mighty Media Group, LP.  The current stations lineup includes local news and talk, Fox News 24/7, and top national shows such as Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Bill Bennett and Michael Savage.  More information is available on the website at waamannarbor.com.

Contact:  Linda Hughes 734.971.1600 X12



TWO NEW WEEKDAY CALL-IN SHOWS TO DEBUT ON WAAM TALK 1600

National Political Veteran Bill Bennett Pairs with Ann Arbor’s Dan Martin Mornings; Area Favorite Thayrone is Back Live and Local Afternoons.

ANN ARBOR – (January 18, 2007) – Ann Arbor First Ventures LP, the new owner of WAAM Talk 1600, announced two new listener interactive shows in the important morning and afternoon drive times as the first step of several planned improvements to the popular station.

Weekday mornings from 6 am to 9 am “Bill Bennett’s Morning In America” gives listeners the day’s first look at the latest scoop and then opens the phone lines so listeners can go one-on-one with headline- making guests.  This national show will be carried live and will be paired up with WAAM News and Community Affairs Director Dan Martin covering local news, sports, traffic and weather.  Dr. Bennett holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Texas and a law degree from Harvard.  He was Secretary of Education under President Reagan (1985-1988), was President Bush’s ‘drug czar’ (1989-1990), and has written New York Times best sellers.  In addition to hosting his radio show, Dr. Bennett also writes for leading newspapers and magazines and makes frequent appearances on CNN.

Weekday afternoons from 4 pm to 6 pm, WAAM is pleased to announce the return of local favorite Thayrone with his popular and controversial live and local talk show “On The Edge”.  This program with Thayrone is rant, rave, opinion, listener call-in compelling radio at its best.  “On The Edge” offers a strong conservative message in a hip and indisputably interesting way only Thayrone can deliver.

Thayrone was born in Detroit and has lived in the Ann Arbor area since 1966.  He has hosted shows on public and commercial radio since 1984 and his band The Witch Doctors regularly performs throughout the region.  Thayrone’s “Bone Conduction Music Show” appears exclusively on WAAM Sundays 7 pm - 11 pm and he also nationally syndicates a similar show on the radio and streams it on the web.

“The new energy at WAAM is converging with the economic and political turmoil in the country to make it an exciting time to be WAAM listeners and advertisers,” said David Drolshagen, General Manager of the station.  “Ratings for WAAM have surged 66% over the last 6 months, as reported recently by Arbitron, in large part due to our world class line-up of talk show hosts.  These two new live shows can only add to this momentum.”

Ronald Unkefer, the CEO of Ann Arbor First Ventures LP, also announced today that new marketing, a new website and more program improvements for the station will be rolled out over the next 90 days.  “Our goal is for WAAM to be recognized as one of the best middle market radio stations in America.  As part of this plan, we intend to increase local features and double the number of local weekend shows such as Joe Gagnon’s popular Saturday morning ‘Appliance Doctor’ show,” Unkefer commented.  “As the news, talk and information station for Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan, we can offer local businesses and experts from our community the opportunity to partner with us to produce weekend shows that highlight their trade or passion in an informative and entertaining way,” Unkefer continued.  “Listeners are invited to check out the new shows and other changes and then let us know how we can further improve the station to benefit our community.”  Unkefer promised that the new website www.waamannarbor.com will be open for business and listener feedback in a few weeks.

WAAM Talk 1600 is licensed to Ann Arbor and has been on the air since 1948.  The current lineup includes Fox News 24/7, local news and talk, and top national shows such as Bill O’Reilly, Laura Ingram, Dr. Laura and Michael Savage.  Ann Arbor First Ventures LP was formed to purchase WAAM and operates it under an agreement with Mighty Media Group LP.  Ronald Unkefer is CEO of both companies and has owned and operated over two dozen radio stations over the past 16 years.  His first station was the now legendary KSFO in San Francisco which he converted to a talk format in 1993.

Contact:    Linda Hughes 734.971.1600 X12