Drew Hayes has been named operations director for news/talk WLS-AM (890). Most recently, Hayes served as operations director for all-news WBBM-AM (780) and sports talk WSCR-AM (670), both CBS Radio properties. Newly-named WLS-AM general manager Michael Damsky said Hayes has a sense of urgency, an ear for what people want to hear and a vision of what a radio station should sound like.

This marks Hayes' second stint at WLS-AM. He was previously at the station when it flipped from a music to a talk format back in 1989. But perhaps most tellingly, Hayes hired WLS-AM's current afternoon host Roe Conn during his first stint there. And Conn, needless to say, was quick to call Hayes "one of the great architects of modern talk radio" as his return to the station was announced late Tuesday. Conn's show, of late, has been a major trouble spot for WLS-AM. Conn apparently hopes Hayes will be able to solve whatever is hampering the afternoon drive show's success.