94.3 fm was previously wdif, and had served marion since 1975 with an adult-oriented format. originally owned by scantland communications, who also owned wqel-fm (92.7 bucyrus, ohio), featured an eclectic format of soft jazz and adult contemporary hits as well as newscasts produced by a 3-person news department. the call letters reflected the station's slogan, "wdif makes a difference." in the late 1970s, the radio trade publication radio and records named wdif "best small market station in america." by 1982, wdif was named "best small market station" in the country by billboard magazine. scantland would sell wdif-fm to burbach broadcasting in 1994 who owned wmrn-am and wmrn-fm 106.9 in marion, ohio, wbuk-fm (106.3, ottawa, ohio) and wpfx-fm (107.7, north baltimore, ohio). burbach broadcasting owned several other radio stations in clarksburg, west virginia, parkersburg, west virginia and state college, pennsylvania.