Town and Country Radio, Inc., applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a construction permit to build a new daytime-only station in Rockford, the city's third, on March 23, 1956.
In April 1957, FCC examiner H. Gifford Irion recommended approving the application, but the next year, the commission granted the request of Chicago station WJJD (1160 AM) to reopen the record after it also challenged Livingston's financial qualifications.
[2][6] The station went on the air as WJRL (for Livingston's initials) on about June 18, 1960, from a transmitter site at Alpine and Harrison roads and studios in the Nu-Arcade Building.
[16] Coinciding with the closing of the sale, former WROK morning show host Chris Bowman, who had been fired from that station, joined WNTA's lineup just five days after being dismissed at its competitor.
The WNTA call letters and weekday talk programming moved to 1330 kHz, retaining the former standards format on nights and weekends.