The beginning This station began regular broadcasting in 1974 as
WAYD-FM with 3,000
watts of
effective radiated power on a frequency of 103.9
MHz and licensed to serve the community of
Ozark, Alabama. Station owner Wade B. Sullivan built it as an FM
sister station to his WAYD (1190 AM, later
WQLS (1220 AM)), also then licensed to serve Ozark. The station became
WORJ-FM in 1982 as "J-103", running a
Top 40 format. In February 1983, RJG Communications announced its intention to sell this station to MSB Communications, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 8, 1983. During the same year, the station flipped to
adult contemporary. In April 1985, Stephen G. McGowan made a deal to acquire full control of station licensee MSB Communications, Inc., from partners William James Samford, Jr., and William B. Blount. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 17, 1985, and the transfer of control was consummated on January 22, 1986. In October 1988, MSB Communications, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Wesley R. Morgan. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 10, 1988, and the transaction was consummated on December 29, 1988. The station was assigned the call letters
WNER by the
Federal Communications Commission on January 27,
1989. In March 1989, Wesley R. Morgan applied to the FCC to assign the license for this station to Morgan Broadcasting Limited Partnership. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 4, 1989, and the transaction was consummated on May 2, 1989.
The 1990s In April 1990, Morgan Broadcasting Limited Partnership completed a deal to sell WNER to Sunrise Broadcasting Corp. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 21, 1990. The station's call letters were changed to
WQLS on November 26, 1990. In June 1992, Sunrise Broadcasting Corp. made a deal to transfer control of Sunrise Broadcasting of Alabama, Inc., to CVC Capital Corp. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 27, 1992. When an AM sister station was assigned the WQLS call letters, this station's call letters were modified to
WQLS-FM on July 9, 1993.
The 2000s In May 2000, Woods Communications Group, Inc. (Charles Woods, chairman) agreed to sell this station to Jimmy Jarrell. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 17, 2000, and the transaction was consummated on July 25, 2000. Jarrell had the station assigned the
WJRL-FM call letters by the FCC on February 27,
2001. The deal gained FCC approval on June 24, 2002, and the deal was consummated on August 1, 2002. In November 2003, Styles Broadcasting of Dothan, Inc., applied to assign the license for WJRL-FM to Styles Media Group, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 10, 2004, and the transaction was consummated on April 13, 2004. In March 2005, Styles Media Group, LLC, applied to the FCC to assign the license for this station to Styles Alabama Licensing, LLC. The assignment was approved by the FCC on March 23, 2005, and the transaction was consummated on January 31, 2006.
Magic Broadcasting In 2006, Styles Broadcasting became the Magic Broadcasting Company. That same year, WJRL-FM dropped its "Thunder 103.9" branding and
classic rock music format for a "My 103.9" branding and an
adult hits format. In January 2009, the station applied to the FCC for authorization to change its
community of license to
Fort Rucker, Alabama. This authorization was granted on March 25, 2009. The two stations swapped call signs on January 29, 2013, with WJRL-FM taking on the WLDA call sign. On October 12, 2015, WLDA changed their call letters to WDBT. Effective October 13, 2015, Southeast Alabama Broadcasters consummated the sale of WDBT to Gulf South Communications, Inc. for $260,000. On October 14, WDBT returned to the air with a news/talk format. ==WDBT-HD2==