The station broadcasts 24 hours a day at 5,600 watts ERP from a non-directional antenna in North Greenbush, New York located near U.S. Route 4.

The station, owned by iHeartMedia, serves the New York's Capital District and surrounding areas, including the portions of the Mid-Hudson and upper Hudson Valley.

The easy listening format lasted in some form or another for much of the next two decades, evolving to a soft adult contemporary approach in 1987.

Radio & Records reported on WHRL's "net gains" success on August 25, 1995, noting "WHRL/Albany climbed from about a half share to over two in the same demo for a 214% increase.

Brant Curtiss, the Operations Manager at the time said that "listener reaction, via phones and e-mail, has been extremely positive.

WHRL went from two or three daily complaints (some urging them to convert more quickly) to a over dozen listeners each day asking for title and album information of the new music they had begun playing.

Today's Jazz used clips from Spyro Gyra's "Morning Dance" and Rick Braun's "Club Harlem" featuring Peter White as bumpers.

[15] That year, Congress had enacted new ownership rules raising the limit in the market size of the Capital Region from four stations to seven.

At the time of Dame Media's purchase, WHRL had a 1.7 percent share of listeners aged 12 and up putting it in 12th place in the area.

[18] The track list included songs by Spyro Gyra, Diana Krall, George Benson, and Lee Ritenour.

[19] After Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) purchased Dame Media in 1999, WHRL's future became cloudy and rumors of a format change circulated.

[22] However, by 2005, smooth jazz had permanently been taken off the air; in January 2005, 104.9 FM was still playing Christmas music,[23] until it switched to a simulcast of "Froggy Country 107.1" in Glens Falls.

In 2009, WHRL adopted Clear Channel's Premium Choice active rock format, becoming musically identical outside of morning drive to sister stations KBRU in Oklahoma City and KIOC in Beaumont.

for playing many alternative, punk, goth, emo, and metal bands and artists from about 1990 to the present, including Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, Korn, Linkin Park, Slipknot, and Atreyu.

The station also held concerts known as the Channel 103-1 Big Day Out every summer until 2010, featuring modern and active rock artists.