WCNL went on the air August 11, 1960, as a 250-watt
daytimer on 1010, before moving up the dial with 10,000 watts of daytime power on 1020 and changing call letters to WNTK. WNTK became a stand-alone AM station when the original WCNL AM 1010 and
WCNL-FM 101.7 were sold off to individual owners. WCNL-FM 101.7 became the original frequency for country formatted
WXXK (Kixx). WNTK was fairly successful as a stand-alone AM talk signal. WNTK would eventually add a couple FM simulcast partners, with the first FM simulcast being on 100.5 FM then known as
WNBX in
Lebanon under a lease arrangement. WNTK received another simulcast partner, this time under the same ownership when the
talk programming was broadcast over
WNTK-FM 99.7 in New London where the talk format remains today. WNTK was one of the early stations on board with
The Rush Limbaugh Show, and was a huge catalyst in drawing listeners to the station. In fact, the station took advantage of Rush's popularity and even had a lifesize cardboard cutout of Rush which was brought to station live broadcasts. The owner, himself, was known to take
Polaroid shots for listeners to keep while taking a picture with the Rush cutout. This cardboard cut of Rush was way before he 'slimmed down'. When
Clear Channel bought
WTSL in
Hanover, New Hampshire,
The Rush Limbaugh Show migrated to the much weaker 1400 signal, since
The Rush Limbaugh Show's parent company was owned by Clear Channel. This was amid strong protests from the WNTK owner citing being an early and loyal affiliate, plus WNTK's strong 10,000 watt signal against WTSL's weaker 1,000 watt signal. WNTK would then move back down the dial to 1010, this time remaining with 10,000 watts during daylight hours, and begin to broadcast with low night power. (1010 was a former Canadian clear channel frequency) When WNTK, now WCNL, operated on 1020 AM, the station had to cease operations at sunset to protect the 50,000 watt former clear channel signal of
KDKA in Pittsburgh which throws a very powerful nighttime signal over the northeastern United States and beyond. WCNL for a time carried an
Americana format, before evolving in 2007 to the current country music format. In September 2007, WNTK switched back to its original WCNL call sign. In September 2009, WCNL launched its FM translator on 94.7 MHz. In July 2010, WCNL became one of five radio stations in America to be nominated for the
National Association of Broadcasters' "Small Market Radio Station Of The Year"
Marconi Award. Other stations nominated were
KFGO in
Fargo, North Dakota;
KGMI in
Bellingham, Washington;
KOFM in
Enid, Oklahoma; and
WFRE in
Frederick, Maryland. WCNL has also been recognized locally as the "Radio Station Of The Year" in 2009, and "Radio Station Of The Year" Merit Award winner from the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters in 2009 and 2010 respectively. On February 3, 2017, WCNL was acquired by Sugar River Media, LLC. ==Current programming==