Adam Dunaway (far right) with his Alice 107.7 morning co-host Heather Brown (left) and KTHV Channel 11 weatherman Tom Brannon at a recent remote appearance.
The popular hosts of Little Rock’s overall top-rated morning radio show like to get personal with their listeners.
Heather Brown and Adam “Poolboy” Dunaway, hosts of the “Heather & Poolboy Show” on KLAL-FM, Alice 107.7, don’t even blink when it comes to sharing the details of their personal lives on the air, and listeners love to delight in their exploits. From Dunaway’s “30 dates in 30 days” bit to the prostate exam he received on air to promote Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the show gets up close and personal with its listeners.
And, prostate exam notwithstanding, it doesn’t get much more personal than Poolboy’s recent transition to fatherhood. Over the course of his almost 11 years at the station, listeners came to know the 36-year-old Catholic High and University of Arkansas grad as not being a “kid” person. That changed when Dunaway met the woman who became his wife, Jenny.
“For the most part of 10 years, I had taken the stance of ‘I’m never having kids.’ I was not their biggest fan,” Dunaway told Outtakes. “Then I met my wife and things changed. Let’s say I warmed up to the idea.”
The Dunaways recently welcomed son Henry to the world, and Poolboy was happy to share news and details of the pregnancy, birth and aftermath on air.
“I treat our show like reality TV; it’s reality radio,” he said. “What I’m sharing may be the same thing that our listeners are going through. And we as a show invite them to share what’s going on in their lives too. I feel like we are talking to family and friends every morning. I’m open and honest with them, and we invite them to be open and honest with us and it makes for a fun show.”
Dunaway said he feels a genuine, close bond with Alice listeners and truly doesn’t mind sharing the details of his life with them.
“The listeners have always been so great to me and to the show and Alice as a whole,” he said. “I feel I owe it to them to share all the details in my life. I have ups and downs like anyone else, and I think the listeners can relate. And who knows? Maybe by me sharing, my story can help someone — at the very least make them laugh.”
Dunaway and Brown do plenty of that. “Poolboy” was voted best radio personality in 2015 by Arkansas Times readers. Dunaway noted that Alice listeners have responded to his life-changing last few months in a variety of ways.
“The feedback has been a mixture of well wishes, tips, advice and excitement of me eating crow,” he said.
Dunaway said the show’s success is due in large part to women turning their husbands on to it. The “Heather & Poolboy Show” is No. 2 in the market among men ages 18 to 54.
“The show is just that relatable,” he said. “Our topics range from relationships to sports to current events — same stuff you would talk about with your friends and family. We do stunts and play games on the air. We do interviews with celebrities and local organizations and people with interesting stories.”
Dunaway was back on the air soon after Henry’s birth but plans to take some time off soon.
“We are extremely lucky to have my mother-in-law in town for two weeks,” he said. “A bonus is she was a labor-and-delivery nurse. Heather and I always take the last two weeks off in December to travel and spend time with family, so it works out perfect. So, mom-in-law here for two weeks then I’ll be off the next two weeks. Super lucky.”
Dunaway joined KLAL as a producer and says he “fell backwards” into the morning show gig. The rapport he and Brown share with their listeners is icing on a big radio cake for Poolboy, who was so dubbed at the station because one of his first jobs there was serving as Brown’s “errand boy.” Plus, he did actually clean pools in high school and college.
“I’m extremely lucky and blessed, and I treat this job as though it could be ripped away at any second, so I’m really just enjoying the ride,” he said. “I never could be where I am without Heather, who has been a mentor, a sister and a friend to me for the past 11 years. She even let me put her in a man suit and be a groomsman at my wedding, except we called her a ‘gralady.’”
But, then again, regular listeners already knew that. And the son of Poolboy? Surely “Henry” alone won’t suffice. Dunaway tells us that “Baby Pool” and “Kiddie Pool” are at the top of the list.
Captain’s Log, Supplemental
- Winnie Wright is the newest reporter at KTHV, Channel 11, the CBS affiliate in Little Rock. Wright comes to Little Rock from WCTV, the CBS affiliate in Tallahassee, Florida, where she worked mostly out of the station’s Valdosta, Georgia, bureau.
- Ben Wagner, morning news anchor for KHBS/KHOG, Channels 40/29, the ABC affiliate in northwest Arkansas, is headed to Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate, WISN, to anchor its morning show.
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