It had a daytime-only 1,000-watt signal[1] that reached as far west as Worcester, Massachusetts, giving it a coverage area of almost a half-million people.

[4] WDIS began as a construction permit applied for on January 16, 1976, as a 500-watt station by John M. Quinlan, a former Massachusetts state legislator.

Quinlan obtained a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast on 1170 kHz with the call sign WJMQ on March 7, 1978.

In September 1991, the news/talk station went silent;[8] the Internal Revenue Service had seized its equipment due to tax delinquencies, and the license was transferred to another Crohan-controlled company to satisfy a $25,000 debt.

[22] On August 5, 2015, a letter was sent by the FCC to WDIS's owner, Albert Grady seeking an update of the operational status of the station within 30 days, or the license would be automatically terminated for violation of section 312(g) of the Communications Act (failure to broadcast for 12 consecutive months).

[23] The FCC received a response on September 8, 2015, from William J. McGrath stating that the station's studio and transmitter building had been condemned as unsafe by the town of Norfolk after an inspection on June 2, 2014.