On August 3, 1962, WXRIsigned on the air on 104.5 MHz, licensed to Norfolk. It was owned by the Christian Broadcasting Network, headed by Pat Robertson, and carried a Christian radio format for 27 years, but it started with an antiquated 3,000 watt transmitter located in an abandoned garage. A year after signing on, it was approved to move to its present 105.3 MHz and increased its transmitter power to 50,000 watts. CBN, then headquartered in Portsmouth, also owned WYAH-TV, and the two stations shared studio facilities on Spratley Street in Portsmouth. In 1981, the format was modified to what was described as a "sanitized secular format" in preparation for planned syndication throughout the U.S. by CBN's Continental Radio division. The format mixed Christian contemporary songs with adult contemporary music and avoided any messages of heavy preaching.
Oldies WZCL and smooth jazz WJCD
The 1989 sale of WXRI to Win Communications severed CBN's ties to the station and prompted the station's call sign to change to WZCL. The Christian format initially moved to 96.1 WKSV, which received CBN's music library, hired most of its former DJs and even considered changing its call letters to WXRI. WZCL went through a period of stunting with everything from album rock to beautiful music. On May 19, the new WZCL became "Cool 105" with an oldies format. On September 3, 1990, after briefly stunting with country music, WZCL became adult contemporary-formatted WMXN, "Mix 105". In 1995, ML Media Opportunity Partners sold WMXN to US Radio L.P., which owned AM 1350WSVY and 102.9 WOWI. The following year, WMXN and co-owned WOWI were acquired by Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner to current owner iHeartMedia, Inc. Clear Channel switched the format to Smooth Jazz as WJCD on March 17, 1995. On June 25, 2001, WJCD and sister WSVY-FM swapped formats and call letters, with smooth jazz WJCD moving to 107.7 FM, while WSVY's Urban AC format moved to 105.3, and rebranded as "Vibe 105.3". On March 19, 2004, WSVY rebranded as "105.3 Kiss FM", and on March 29th, the station became WKUS.
Urban AC WKUS and classic hits WVMA
On October 11, 2010, WKUS' Urban AC format moved from 105.3 to the 92.1 and 107.7 signals to make room for the launch of WVMA, an AC-leaning Classic Hits format as "Magic 105.3". The move meant the end of the Oldies format on 92.1 and the Smooth Jazz format on 107.7. On April 5, 2012, WVMA changed format to Top 40, branded as "The New 105.3".
On January 25, 2013, WVMA rebranded as "Now 105.3". Ten days later, WVMA shortened the branding to "Now 105". On March 11, 2013, the station changed its call sign to the current WNOH. WNOH primarily competed with WNVZ and WVHT. On October 31, 2017, at Midnight, after playing "Let Me Love You" by DJ Snake, WNOH began stunting with a loop of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. At 2 p.m. that day, WNOH flipped to alternative, branded as "Alt 105.3." The syndicated programs moved to WVHT. The first song on "Alt" was "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man. The station primarily competed against Sinclair Communications-owned WROX-FM, as well as Saga Communications' active rock-formatted WNOR.
BIN: Black Information Network
On June 29, 2020, fifteen iHeart stations in markets with large African American populations, including WNOH, began stunting with African American speeches, interspersed with messages such as "Our Voices Will Be Heard" and "Our side of the story is about to be told," with a new format slated to launch on June 30. That day, WNOH, along with the other fourteen stations, became the launch stations for the Black Information Network, an African American-oriented all-news network.
