W8XH and W8XA

The owner of AM station WBEN, WBEN, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Buffalo Evening News) as of October 13, 1931,^[3] had experimented with higher-frequency broadcasts for over a decade prior to launch of the station that would become WBKV. Beginning in 1932, just two years after the News had launched its AM station, it received a license for W8XH, which began as a portable remote broadcasting license in the upper shortwave and low-VHF bands.^[4][5][6] In 1934, W8XH was upgraded to provide regular scheduled broadcasts to the general public, the first station in its band to do so. Like the standard broadcast band stations of the time, W8XH transmitted using amplitude modulation (AM); it was the first Apex station to operate on a regular schedule.^[7] That station converted to facsimile broadcasting as W8XA in 1939^[8] before shutting down in December 1940.^[9]

WBEN-FM

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a construction permit to WBEN, Inc. for a new FM station on 43.3 MHz on the original 42-50 MHz FM Broadcast Band on August 10, 1944 with the WBEN-FM call sign. The FCC reassigned the station to 92.1 MHz in August 1946^[10] after it created the current FM Broadcast Band on June 27, 1945.^[11] The station made its FM broadcast debut on November 11, 1946.^[12]

The station was subsequently reassigned by the FCC to 106.5 MHz in 1947,^[10] and mostly simulcast its AM counterpart.^[13] The FCC granted the station its first license on January 7, 1953, followed by a reassignment to 102.5 MHz in July 1958.^[10] It ceased simulcasting WBEN a few years later, with the exception of the Clint Buehlman morning show, which it carried until 1973. WBEN-FM aired a mixture of live and automated music, mostly easy listening and block music programming, such as organ music.

As FM listening grew, the station became "Rock 102" on August 1, 1974,^[14] using the syndicated TM "Stereo Rock" automated format then described as mainstream rock (which WBEN-FM management described as contemporary hit radio without bubblegum pop or prog rock),^[14] and dropping the morning show simulcast with WBEN. This same TM format and its prerecorded announcer were heard on other stations in Upstate New York during this period, including WGFM (now WRVE) in Schenectady/Albany, WYUT (now WXUR) in Herkimer (Utica-Rome), WKFM (now WBBS) in Fulton/Syracuse, WNOZ (now WIII) in Cortland/Ithaca and WPXY in Rochester.

WBEN-AM-FM were sold to Algonquin Broadcasting effective March 1, 1978.^[3][10] Beginning in 1984, Rock 102's mornings were hosted live by Roger Christian, who had been with the station since 1976 and in Buffalo radio since 1964. (This Roger Christian, whose real name is Emerson Stevens, is not to be confused with the Buffalo-born disc jockey also known as Roger Christian, who was known as "Mike Melody" in Buffalo. Stevens may have chosen the name in honor of the real Roger Christian, who went on to a prolific career in radio and songwriting.) Christian remained with the station, lastly as midday host, until Entercom eliminated his position in September 2019.^[15] Rob Lucas joined the station in 1986 and remained there, most of that time as morning host, for the next 37 years until its 2023 sale and format change.^[16]

WMJQ

In 1987, the station shifted to a fully live format with the WMJQ call sign.^[17] As "Majic 102", the station competed heavily with 98.5 WKSE for Buffalo's Top 40 audience in the late 1980s and early 1990s before shifting to a Hot AC format in September 1991, branded at the time as "Q102."^[18]

WTSS

The station's logo as Star 102.5, used throughout its 23-year run with the brand

The "Star 102.5" moniker and WTSS call sign were adopted in 2000, shortly after Entercom (later Audacy, Inc.) purchased the station in 1999 from the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which was exiting radio to focus on its television holdings. It varied its presentation depending on the formats of other stations. For much of the mid-to-late 2000s, WTSS' playlist included music as early as the 1970s in an effort to serve listeners when Buffalo did not have an oldies station. It changed to Hot Adult Contemporary after longtime oldies/classic hits outlet WHTT-FM returned to the oldies format. In 2006, WTSS began streaming its programming on the Internet. WTSS was nominated for Hot AC Station of the Year by Radio & Records Magazine in 2006 and 2007. WTSS became Buffalo's only hot AC radio station following CFLZ-FM's flip from hot AC to adult hits in August 2011.

WBKV

Audacy filed to sell WTSS, along with WLFP in Germantown–Memphis, Tennessee, to the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) for $15.5 million in April 2023;^[23] the two stations, along with KQPS in Palm Desert, California, had been transferred into a subsidiary, Audacy Atlas, for assets designated for sale earlier in the year.^[24] In June 2023, EMF filed to move the WBKV call sign, which EMF had been using on the 89.9 frequency in Buffalo, to 102.5 with intent of also installing WBKV's affiliation with K-Love on the 102.5 signal, with 89.9 being repurposed as Air1 station WBWA.^[25] Ahead of the sale's completion, WTSS began airing promos directing "Star" listeners to sister station WKSE.^[25] EMF chose WTSS as the signal it wanted to purchase because of its strong coverage of Southern Ontario, effectively turning the station explicitly into a border blaster.^[26]

WTSS announced on June 8 that it would sign off the 'Star' format on June 9 at 10:00 a.m., with morning host Rob Lucas, who had declined an offer to stay with Audacy's cluster, performing the ceremonial farewell. Afternoon host Sue O'Neill shifted to sister station WKSE.^[27] The final song on "Star 102.5" was "Iris" by the Buffalo-native duo Goo Goo Dolls.^[26]

Following the format sign-off, WTSS began simulcasting WKSE temporarily until the completion of the sale to EMF. Meanwhile, Townsquare Media-owned rival WMSX immediately rebranded as "The New Star 96.1", purporting itself to be the successor of WTSS despite differing ownership. It changed its call sign to WTSS later that same month but dropped the Star brand in October.^[28] The Star 102.5 online feed resumed operating through the Audacy app and on WLKK-HD2, Audacy's rimshot signal in Wethersfield, New York, carrying an automated and unhosted playlist with all of the former WTSS bumpers on June 17.^[29] WKSE's decision to absorb most of the 'Star' playlist also prompted Cumulus Media to flip WBBF, at the time carrying a network-originated classic hip hop format, to top 40 to fill the format void in July.^[30]

On June 16, at 2 p.m., the sale of WTSS to EMF was officially completed, and the station went off the air to transition the station to EMF's control, returning several hours later with K-Love network programming. The station changed its call sign to WBKV the same day.