Early years WYRE has always been a
daytimer, required to sign off at sunset. It broadcasts with 250 watts on a
tower near Spa Creek in downtown Annapolis. The location next to the
Chesapeake Bay affords it a far larger coverage area than a typical 250-watt station, as AM broadcasts travel farther over water. However,
WGY in
Schenectady is the
clear-channel station on
810 AM and is located too close to allow WYRE any nighttime operation. The station
signed on in 1947 as WASL. In 1957, it switched its
call sign to WIPA. It exchanged morning and afternoon programs with
WIP in
Philadelphia during this time, though the stations were not co-owned and it is unknown if the call sign resemblance was intentional. Under Jacob Einstein's management, the station switched its call letters to WABW in 1958, signifying its coverage of three cities, Annapolis, Baltimore and Washington. The station was sold several times during this period. It was sold again in early 1963, prompting complaints to the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from Annapolis Broadcasting Corp., owner of
WANN (1190 AM) and
WXTC (107.9 FM). They claimed the six sales in just over six years constituted "trafficking in licenses" and was essentially a
loophole that prevented a proper license renewal hearing from taking place. The commission granted the sale, and on September 8 the station assumed its present call sign and flipped to
top-40.
Jazz and R&B In 1993, WYRE was purchased by Sequel Broadcasting, owner of
full service WNAV (1430 AM) and
active rock WXZL (103.1 FM). By then, its music format had aged with its audience to
adult contemporary; in September 1994, it flipped to
jazz and
rhythm and blues music with news and sports coverage. Jacob Einstein became famous in Washington-area radio as the longtime general manager and later owner of
WHFS (both on 102.3 FM and
99.1 FM). He would later briefly own WYRE, WNAV, and WXZL beginning in 1995. Einstein retired in 1997; WYRE was planned to be sold to News Communications of Michigan, who was to flip it to
talk radio. This sale fell through, and Einstein retained WYRE and WNAV. In 1999, WYRE was sold to Bay Broadcasting Corporation and flipped to
classic country.
Spanish Pop and Top 40 By 2003, WYRE was recorded as playing "eclectic music"; that March, it was sold again and began playing Spanish-language pop as "Latino 810". In March 2004, WYRE applied to move to a tower shared with
WBMD and
WFSI in
Essex, an inner suburb of Baltimore. This never occurred, and the
construction permit was cancelled in 2006. On March 15, 2010, the station rejoined KHZTV, now originating from a new
WKHZ in
Easton.
Landlord dispute On September 20, 2017, WYRE left the air due to a dispute with its landlord. The station filed for
remain silent authority on January 11, 2018, which allows for up to six additional months of silence at the FCC's discretion. Pursuant to the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, WYRE's license was subject to being deleted if it did not broadcast again by September 19, 2018.
Cortona Media In late 2023 and early 2024, Cortona Media, a group including former WRNR-FM owner Steve Kingston as a minority partner, bought WYRE from Bay Broadcasting Corporation. In a separate transaction, it bought Annapolis-licensed FM translator W260BM from Hope Christian Church of
Marlton, which had an agreement to rebroadcast WNAV. This led to speculation that the former WRNR-FM's programming would return to FM radio. However, the translator continued rebroadcasting WNAV. After the sales closed in April 2024, Cortona petitioned the FCC to allow the translator to go silent for a maximum of 180 days "in order to make technical preparations that are necessary to change the primary station" (i.e., begin rebroadcasting WYRE). Cortona also applied to move it to WYRE's tower, change frequencies to 93.5 FM, and increase power. Instead, the translator returned to the air under its previous technical parameters in September, continuing to rebroadcast WNAV. Concurrently with this, WYRE began broadcasting an automated feed of classic rock along with overflow sports programming from WNAV. The former WRNR-FM programming continued as an online stream. In January 2025, Annapolis City Council approved a lease allowing Cortona to construct the translator at 93.5 FM on WYRE's city-owned tower. WYRE flipped back to the WRNR-FM online stream, and Cortona stated to the
Baltimore Sun that it was possible the adult album alternative music would return to FM. The translator was taken silent on March 25 to begin constructions. On May 9, Cortona confirmed to local media website
DCRTV that WRNR-FM programming was going to be heard on the translator, with a planned launch over
Memorial Day weekend. However, rainy weather delayed construction by a week and the translator filed for its license on June 9. After several weeks of testing, the station relaunched under the branding "WRNR 93.5 FM" with a redesigned website on
July 4. Despite the branding, the station is unable to reclaim the WRNR callsign as it is in use on
an AM station in
Martinsburg, West Virginia. On February 24, 2026, Cortona and
Hubbard Broadcasting announced a deal to simulcast WYRE on the HD4 subchannel of
WTOP-FM (103.5 FM) beginning March 1, enabling it to reach the entire
Washington, D.C. market. Cortona will also lease Hubbard's translator W228DI, licensed to
Silver Spring and also on 93.5 FM, to cover Washington proper and its Maryland suburbs in analog.
Programming WYRE began adding local airstaff in November 2025. Weekdays see former WRNR-FM DJs Dave Zierner in mornings and Carrie Evans in the midday "RNR Cafe", while former WHFS DJ Neci Williams is in afternoons. On Saturdays, former WRNR-FM DJ Bob Waugh hosts the eclectic "Off The Record". Former WRNR-FM and
WIYY DJ Rich Fisher hosts Saturday afternoons, followed by a freeform hour hosted by
Jimi Haha and a classic
alternative rock hour hosted by
Mark Bryan. ==Translator==