It is co-owned with WKYS, WMMJ, WPRS, and WYCB and has studios located in Silver Spring, Maryland.

A Baltimore version of this station, WOLB, was created in the early 1990s and shares some of the same programming as WOL.

In March 1941, most stations assigned to this frequency, including WWDC, were reassigned to 1450 kHz, under the provisions of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement.

In 1965, the Sonderling Broadcasting Corporation bought WOL and changed the format from easy listening to rhythm and blues.

That year, WOL also became the first rhythm and blues station in Washington to have public affairs programming.