On December 17, 1960, the station first signed on as WLRJ.[6] It was owned by Lee Hartman & Sons, a company headquartered in Roanoke that still provides audio and video services, although it no longer owns a radio station.[7] WLRJ ran at only 2,800 watts, a fraction of its current power.
The station specialized in what it called "fine music" including middle of the road artists. WLRJ was an affiliate of the ABC-FM Network.[8] It was a rare "stand alone" FM station, with no AM counterpart.
In 1972, the station was bought by CEBE Investments.[9] CEBE switched the format to beautiful music. With the new call letters WLRG, the station called itself "Large Radio - Always Beautiful."
Contemporary hit radio "K92" debuted January 1, 1980. Future WVTF general manager Glenn Gleixner, then a DJ at the station, came up with the branding and callsign – picking K because he believed it was the most memorable letter, and including an X in homage to WIXL in Newton, New Jersey, where he previously worked.[10]
Throughout the 1980s, WXLK is an affiliate of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 (since January 1981), the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, and Dan Ingram's Top 40 Satellite Survey.
In 1997, the station was acquired by its current owner, Mel Wheeler, Inc. The price tag was $7.5 million for both WXLK and 100.1 WLYK in Lynchburg, which at the time simulcast WXLK.[11] (WLYK is now WVBE-FM, which airs an urban adult contemporary format.)
Over the years, K92 launched many of its high profile on-air personalities into major market radio, including Eddie Haskell, David Lee Michaels, Cat Thomas, Sonny Joe Stevens, Ellis B Feaster, Blair Carter & Jeffrey T. Mason.
