Owned by Salem Media Group, studios and transmitter facilities are shared with co-owned WNTP (990 AM) in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.

Daytime coverage includes metropolitan Philadelphia and portions of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, plus parts of New Jersey and Delaware.

[6] On March 18, 1922 Strawbridge & Clothier was issued a license, with the randomly assigned call letters WFI, for a new station operating on the 360 meter "entertainment" wavelength.

Because at this time 360 meters was the only designated broadcasting wavelength, WFI had to operate within the restrictions of a timesharing arrangement with the other local stations.

)[8] In the race to be the first department store on the air, WFI's formal debut broadcasts were made on March 18, starting with a 10:16 a.m. speech by John F. Braun, president of the Art Alliance and the Music League.

[9] Under the local timesharing agreement, WFI's August 17, 1922 schedule on 360 meters consisted of "Late news Items" at 1:16 p.m., a musical program from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., and baseball scores from 5:30 to 6 p.m. On 485 meters, the station broadcast produce market and live stock reports at 10 a.m. and at 2 p.m.[10] In late September 1922, the Department of Commerce set aside a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz) for "Class B" stations that had quality equipment and programming,[11] and WFI was assigned use of this more exclusive wavelength,[12] joining WOO,[13] and later joined by WDAR[14] and WIP.

[19] On November 11, 1928, as part of the implementation of a major nationwide reallocation under the provisions of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, WFI and WLIT were reassigned to a "regional" frequency, 560 kHz.

WFI's call sign was changed to WFIL, a combination of the two previous ones, which also resulted in a phonetic spelling of the first syllable of "Philadelphia".

Westinghouse's KYW had replaced WFI-WLIT as the NBC primary for Philadelphia when it moved in from Chicago, Illinois, a few years before.

He continued hosting the TV program for 31 years, the last 30 as a national show carried by the ABC Television Network.

The WFIL studio at 4548 Market Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 for its significance as one of the first buildings constructed specifically for television broadcasting, as well as being the site for American Bandstand.

The original line up of air personalities, or "Boss Jocks" had the following schedules: 6-10 am: Chuck Browning; 10am-2pm: Jay Cook; 2-6pm: Jim Nettleton ("Diamond Jim" Nettleton); 6-10pm: George Michael ("King George" Michael); 10pm-2am: Long John Wade; 2-6am: Dave Parks ("Dave the Rave" Parks).

During its top 40 years, WFIL also consistently showed strongly in the ratings books in nearby Wilmington, Delaware, where it has an excellent signal.

Hill, "Big" Ron O'Brien, Kris Chandler, Geoff Richards, Joel Denver, Brother Lee Love (Alan Smith), and Banana Joe Montione.

This format lasted until April 8, 1987, when new owner WEAZ Inc. discontinued locally originated music programming in favor of Transtar's "Oldies Channel", a satellite-delivered service.

The end of live programming was marked by a production piece consisting of a portion of the song American City Suite by Terry Cashman and Tommy West interspersed with old WFIL airchecks.