WUVA originated in the fall of 1947 as the University of Virginia's student-run carrier current station, transmitting at 640 kHz on the AM band.

[5] As the station became popular through the 1960s, management decided to abandon the antiquated network of carrier-current transmitters and pursue a full-market signal.

[10] WUVA was now officially assigned as the new station's call letters, and operations began on June 22, 1979, continuing the music programming (by then album-oriented rock) and news coverage.

[5][11] This independent model contrasts with that of the university's traditional college radio station, WTJU (91.1 FM), which it directly owns, funds, and manages.

[5] In the unusual position of being under public ownership but still running as a commercial operation, WUVA switched from rock to top-40 to adult contemporary in an attempt to improve ratings.

[12] In the face of still-inadequate revenue, local programming was ended on September 17, 2015, and was replaced by syndicated classic country from Nash Icon.

This change came as a competitor, WVAI-LP, was preparing to sign on in the same week; station management indicated they were aware of its launch, which made the decision to flip "easier".