WSAI was first authorized, by telegram, on March 19, 1923, and was initially operated by the United States Playing Card Company.

[2] The single entertainment wavelength meant that stations within a given region had to make timesharing agreements to assign operating timeslots.

In May 1923 the Department of Commerce set aside a band of "Class B" frequencies reserved for stations that had quality equipment and programming, and the Cincinnati region was assigned exclusive use of 970 kHz.

[8] In late 1924 Western Electric began selling radio transmitters capable of operating at 5,000 watts,[9] but the Commerce Department, wary of the high-powered sets overwhelming local receivers, did not immediately allow stations to use the full power.

[11] The Commerce Department's cautious approach toward power increases was based on the assumption that station transmitters were located in heavily populated areas.

However, in May 1925 it recognized that WSAI's Mason, Ohio and WLW's Harrison transmitter sites were both far enough from population centers that they could immediately begin operating as the first two stations in the nation transmitting with the full 5,000 watts.

[12][13] A Cincinnati Post writer investigated the effect of WSAI and WLW's May 11 introduction of the use of 5,000 watts, and found that despite claims that their "superpower broadcasting" would eliminate static within 500 miles, it was only "a start in the right direction".

[20] The August 1941 adoption of the Federal Communications Commission's "duopoly" rule restricted licensees from operating more than one radio station in a given market.

WSAI featured Cincinnati's largest radio news staff headed by National Broadcasters Hall Of Fame inductee Rod Williams, who won numerous awards including a commendation from the Ohio General Assembly for combat reporting in Vietnam.

Charles Reynolds became the new owner of WSAI, but the station was leased out to Jacor Communications and the format was changed to adult standards.

The WAZU call letters were changed to WCKY, following the merger of Jacor with iHeartMedia (then known as Clear Channel Communications) that allowed WKRC to be restored on 550 AM.

However, WBOB — which simulcast the games with sister WUBE-FM — did not renew the Bengals' rights after the 1999 season, as its parent company AMFM merged with Clear Channel and both stations were split up.

WSAI relaunched that day as "1360thesource.com", still carrying a talk format but heavily programmed with advice and consumer awareness-driven shows such as Clark Howard and Dr. Laura Schlessinger.