It was the sister station to WNOR (1230 AM) and presented a mix of easy listening "semiclassical music" and show tunes.

[5] The new owners then sued the sellers, claiming among other things that WNOR-FM used equipment that did not meet Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements.

[8] Eventually, the rock music proved more popular than easy listening, with WNOR-FM abandoning the "split-format" approach in 1974.

WNOR gained notoriety in 1992 when, as an April Fool's Day prank, it claimed that the Mount Trashmore landfill in Virginia Beach was about to explode; callers jammed the 9-1-1 telephone system in the area, and the station apologized at the behest of local police.

[16] While WAFX shifted to classic hits,[17] WNOR-FM evolved into a current-based, harder-edged direction, bringing it into the active rock format; the changeover in music mix was completed in February 1996.