Approximately 40% of the station's funding comes from listener support, while the rest is provided by the state and federal governments, along with the University of Minnesota.

However, the AM operation is licensed to broadcast only during daylight hours to avoid interfering with Class A WABC in New York City at night.

Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber also commonly cites the station's influence as having been an integral factor in his decision to start an online publication dedicated to the coverage of independent music.

Originally called "wireless telegraphy," radio experimentation at the University of Minnesota began in 1912, conducted by Professor Franklin Springer, using spark transmitters that could only send the dots-and-dashes of Morse code.

In addition to communicating with amateur and other university stations, 9XI, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, transmitted market and weather reports by radiotelegraph.

[17] The development of vacuum tube transmitters, capable of audio transmissions, would lead to further advances, and over time 9XI began including broadcasts for general audiences.

[20] These transmissions initially originated from the electrical engineering building on the Minneapolis campus, where a transmitter was installed on the roof.

However, effective December 1, 1921, the United States Department of Commerce, which supervised radio at this time, issued a regulation requiring that stations making broadcasts intended for the general public now had to operate under a "Limited Commercial" license.

In February 1922, when a heavy snowstorm knocked out newswire services in the region, the Minneapolis Tribune asked the station's operators to help retrieve the day's news through a roundabout series of amateur radio relays.

[28] On November 11, 1928, a major reassignment of station transmitting frequencies took place, under the provisions of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40.

WLB began operating on 1250 kHz, but a shortage of available assignments meant it had to share this frequency with three other stations: St. Olaf College's WCAL in Northfield, Minnesota; Carlton College's KFMX; and the Rosedale Hospital's WRHM, which in 1934 changed its callsign to WTCN (now WWTC).

[30] In 1941, as part of the frequency shifts resulting from implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, WLB and WCAL moved from 760 to 770 kHz.

[31] A polio epidemic in 1946 that resulted in temporary school closings and the cancellation of the Minnesota State Fair led the station to create programming for children who were homebound.

The station broadcast public affairs, arts, classical music, and a variety of other programming focusing especially on bringing the rich resources of the University to listeners.

Daily programs and special broadcasts hosted many famed authors, political figures, musicians, actors, and scientists.

Due to its very limited coverage, which was restricted to the campus and immediately adjoining areas, the station did not require a license from the Federal Communications Commission, or qualify for officially assigned call letters.

A number of live broadcasts were done from the Whole Music Club and the Great Hall and the station promoted other campus events such as the 'Campus Carny' held annually in the old field house.

The show, which first went on the air in the waning days of WMMR, searched through the station's considerable library of 1970s pop music, playing both the best and worst from that decade (with occasional forays into the recordings from the rest of the 20th century).

While southwest Minneapolis gets a fairly strong signal, this signal only provides fringe coverage in St. Paul at best (subject to occasional interference from a 197-watt translator of Christian contemporary outlet "The Refuge" in the southern suburb of Elko New Market), and cannot be heard at all in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs except under rare circumstances or with a sensitive receiver.