The station originally signed on as WHDL-FM in 1949. The FM station was launched to overcome the limited range of
WHDL's 1,000-watt local signal, and due to its early establishment, the station was able to lay stake to a much wider broadcast area. In its early years was affiliated, like most upstate New York FMs of the time, with
WQXR-FM in New York City; for its first 74 years of existence, the station carried the games of
St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball. The second generation of hosts remained in their positions for over a decade; from 1998 to 2006 and 2008 to 2009, the station's lineup featured the same lineup of disc jockeys. Mark Thompson, the program director and co-host of the morning show, is the last remaining on-air personality from this era; the other three hosts from this era (Casey Hill, Mike "Smitty" Smith and Jesse Garon, all three of whom have either retired from radio and/or left Western New York) went on to launch
WGWE shortly after leaving The Pig. Thompson remained in the morning host position until 2025, when he announced his retirement, an event that was marked by the return of this era's hosts to the WPIG studios, who noted very little had changed under subsequent owners' leadership. WPIG added the slogan "Today's Fun Country" in 2009, which rotates with the "Sizzlin' Country" format. Also added around this time was the Big Pig Jackpot, a contest in which the station announces the amount of money in a
progressive jackpot over the course of the day
cold-calls random people in the listening area to test if they listen to the station; a person who either knows the answer (or, by chance, guesses correctly) wins the jackpot. The jackpot was dropped in 2014. The station tweaked its image in 2013 with its sale to Community Broadcasters, adding 30-minute blocks of "continuous country," dropping national news, auto racing coverage and its Saturday night
classic country block, taking over the local chapter of the national
Country Showdown competition (which had previously rested with
WQRS), and changing its voiceover announcer for the first time since adopting the country format. The station began streaming its programming on the Internet for the first time in its history beginning in 2014. The station's image was once again tweaked in 2019 following the station's purchase by Seven Mountains Media. The on-air playlist (outside syndicated shows) came to resemble a country version of the
adult hits format, airing a
gold-based playlist centered around the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and some current music. For a brief period of time, a handful of country oldies dating as far back as the early 1950s were also included in the mix, although these subsequently have been phased out. Classic performers such as
Randy Travis,
Mark Chesnutt,
Joe Diffie,
Alabama, and
Clint Black have once again become core artists, mixed in regular rotation with current artists. The station is one of the few country stations in Seven Mountain Media's portfolio not to use the "Bigfoot Country" brand nor share its airstaff with other country stations in the Seven Mountains portfolio; WPIG continues to use the Pig logo, mascot and longstanding air staff out of acknowledgement of the brand's heritage and consistent high listenership in Olean. The station nonetheless saw advertising revenues declining during Seven Mountains ownership, which led to the station dropping its Bonnies affiliation for the first time in its history in 2023. The station has since reverted to a more mainstream country mix of hit singles from the 1990s through today. ==Programming==