WRJN dates back to the first decade of commercial radio broadcasting. It signed on the air in December 1926. The station was originally issued the call sign WLBG, but quickly changed to WRRS.[3] On April 28, 1928, the station became WRJN, which stood for its then-owner, the Racine Journal News, a daily newspaper. By the 1930s, it was broadcasting on 1370 kHz at 100 watts, a fraction of its current power, with studios in the Hotel Racine.[4] With the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) enacted in 1941, WRJN moved to its current dial position at 1400 AM.
By the 1980s, most listeners tuned into the FM dial for music. As an AM station, WRJN gradually added more talk shows and reduced its music programming. From the late 1980s until 2014, WRJN carried a talk radio format using a combination of local and syndicated talk programs. The station was the Milwaukee-area affiliate for shows hosted by Lionel, Bill O'Reilly and Mike Gallagher. It added programs from Alan Colmes, Ed Schultz, Leslie Marshall and carried Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell overnight. WRJN continued to be affiliated with ABC Radio and aired Paul Harvey's commentaries several times each weekday.
In its later years, it effectively serving as a "last resort" station for shows not picked up in the Milwaukee radio market by the dominant talk stations, WTMJ and WISN. For a period in the mid-1990s, WRJN would simulcast sister station 92.1 WEZY's easy listening format during the overnight hours.
Magnum Broadcasting
On June 25, 2014, Bliss Communications announced that it would sell WRJN and WEZY, along with sister stations WBKV and WBWI-FM in West Bend, to David Magnum's Magnum Communications, Inc. Bliss had owned WRJN and WEZY since 1997.[6] The sale, at a price of $2.25 million, was consummated on October 31, 2014.
On December 1, 2014, WRJN dropped all syndicated programming from the lineup and replaced it with a mixture of local talk, sports, and classic hits, oldies and adult contemporary music. It used the new positioner "Your Radio Friend". It was a similar format to sister station WPDR in Portage.[7] The music format shifted to 1960s and 1970s oldies after sister station WVTY adopted an adult hits format in May 2015.
In the fall of 2016, two FM translators were added: 99.9 W260CV in Racine, and 98.1 W251BU in Kenosha.
Progressive talk and full service oldies
Civic Media purchased WRJN from Magnum Media in 2023, as part of a $3.65 million deal that also included stations in La Crosse and Chippewa Falls; Magnum would retain WVTY.[8] On June 5, 2023, WRJN changed its format from classic hits, oldies and middle of the road music to progressive talk.[9] It featured a line up of hosts shared with co-owned 540 WAUK in Milwaukee. Most hours began with an update from CBS News Radio.
On May 14, 2024, WRJN returned to full service oldies programming. It plays hits from the 1960s and 1970s with local DJs and newscasters, along with national and world news from CBS. Civic Media's brand of progressive talk continues on WAUK.[10]
