[5] Among the station's most controversial figures was on-air personality Ben Henry Pooley, who was known for his caustic commentaries against county officials using epithets such as "Little Sir Echo", "The Bald Eagle from Pollard" and "Super Octane — The Gas-Guzzlin' Commissioner From Harold".

[6] In May 1959, a grand jury cleared Pooley of charges that he had been speeding in his vehicle and was found with moonshine whiskey in the car, which station owner Mapoles decried as intimidation attempts.

Mapoles noted that he had received three threats to blow up the station unless it ceased criticizing the Santa Rosa County sheriff, Bart D. Broxson, and removed Pooley from the air.

[8] Six officials, including Wilson, Broxson, two other Santa Rosa County commissioners and two state legislators, then appealed to the Federal Communications Commission for the revocation of WEBY's license and that of Mapoles's other radio station, WBLO in Evergreen, Alabama.

[16] The chief plaintiff was John C. Boles of Bagdad, who said the WEBY editorials attacked him while he was a candidate for the Florida State Senate, but the station did not give him equal time to respond.

[17] Alleging poor health, Mapoles reiterated at a 1969 hearing in Pensacola his desire to sell the station to Hankins; however, the commission contended he only attached partial records in support of his claim.

[18] FCC hearing examiner Herbert Sharfman, in an initial decision published at the end of June 1970, recommended a one-year short-term renewal for WEBY's license, stating that Mapoles's misrepresentations did not justify more severe action.

In May, the commission denied a renewal for WEBY, finding Sharfman's judgment "colored" and stating that he placed the burden of proof on the Broadcast Bureau and not on Mapoles, who displayed "an unpardonable lack of candor" in supplying a purported copy of the editorial that was milder than that which actually aired and in inconsistencies in the presented medical record.

Within a month of the station closing, the commission received two applications,[26] from Jimmie H. Howell, a Santa Rosa County commissioner and radio personality,[23] and Byrd Mapoles.

[33] In advance of the deal, WSWL dropped its talk format for urban contemporary as "The Wave"; this put it in competition with Pensacola's heritage station for black audiences, WBOP (980 AM).

[42] In 2004, it aired a series of local programs, including in morning and afternoon drive, supplemented by syndicated shows hosted by Neal Boortz, Clark Howard and Ken Hamblin.