Licensed to Hornell, New York, United States, the station serves the Canisteo Valley area, and is a part of the Elmira Corning Radio Market The station is currently owned by Dawn Ichikawa through licensee GRI Telecom,[2] and operated by Robert Savage as a simulcast of WYSL in Avon, New York as part of a local marketing agreement.

[3] An FM translator is used to widen the coverage area of WLEA, especially at night when the AM broadcasting signal reduces power to only 19 watts.

WLEA signed on in 1948 on 1320 kHz; two years later, the 1320 slot was bought out by WWHG, later the now-defunct WHHO, necessitating the station to move to a new frequency.

Actor Bob Crane was one of the station's earliest employees, beginning as a janitor and later hosting "The 1480 Club.

The Doran estate had been under substantial financial distress since January 2020, forcing them to briefly take WCKR to an all-talk format to reduce the cost of music royalties.