Owned by Mapa Broadcasting, the station serves the New Orleans metropolitan area, focusing on St. Tammany Parish.

The station signed on the air as WBGS on December 3, 1963, founded by George Mayoral, a New Orleans radio and television pioneer and member of the NAB Hall Of Fame, and owned by Bill Garrett, a Slidell Chevrolet dealer.

WSLA has been through various talk, music and sports formats, and remains one of the last independent stations in the New Orleans region, completely owned by New Orleans–based MAPA Broadcasting.

Tammany Parish area, and in recent years has been the New Orleans outlet for the Houston Astros Radio Network.

The station experienced flooding and some roof damage during Hurricane Katrina, taking several months to fully restore all facilities.