This station was first constructed at WATM in Atmore, Alabama, broadcasting with 250 watts of power on 1580 kHz. The station, owned by the Southland Broadcasting Company, moved to 1590 kHz to accommodate a power increase to 1,000 watts in 1956. Southland Broadcasting was owned by local broadcaster Tom Miniard and his wife Ernestine. In 1959, the station upgraded to a 5,000-watt signal. This frequency, signal power, and ownership would be maintained unchanged for another two decades. The station was sold in the early 1980s and changed callsigns to WSKR on May 5, 1986. The "Kicker" changed callsigns again on December 7, 1987, this time to WIZD, and began simulcasting its FM sister station. Months later, the station was sold off to a religious group, the Maranatha Ministries Foundation, who had the FCC change the callsign to WGYJ on March 2, 1988. The new callsign was said to stand for "We Give You Jesus".
Expanded band
The Maranatha Ministries Foundation, licensee of WGYJ in Atmore, Alabama, applied for an expanded band frequency at 1620 kHz in June 1997 and this station received its original construction permit from the Federal Communications Commission on October 6, 1997. The new station, with Atmore, Alabama, as its community of license, was assigned the call lettersWPHG by the FCC on November 12, 1997. The callsign was said to stand for "We Proclaim His Glory". By February 1998, the station had begun broadcast operations while its license application was pending. With the expanded band station on the air, WGYJ handed in its broadcast license on September 11, 1998, and went off the air forever. In September 2000, Maranatha Ministries Foundation, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to ADX Communications of Escambia. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 16, 2000, and the transaction was consummated on March 5, 2001.
Move to Florida
In October 2000, with the sale pending, the permit holder petitioned the FCC to change the station's community of license to Gulf Breeze, Florida, so that it could better serve the more lucrative Pensacola, Florida, area. The FCC finally granted a construction permit for this move on July 10, 2002. With the move approved, the station applied to the FCC for new call letters and on August 19, 2002, was assigned WPNS to reflect the new Pensacola orientation. On March 21, 2003, the station switched callsigns to WBUB then again on July 27, 2004, to the current WNRP. After a move across state lines, an ownership change, several formats and callsign changes, and more than eight years, WNRP finally received its license to cover from the FCC on August 3, 2005. In late 2005, Dave and Mary Hoxeng debuted "Classic Country AM1620" with live personalities including Pensacola native and Nashville legend Larry Butler.
