The station signed on in 2013 as WBZS. From its sign-on, the station was leased by owner George S. Flinn, Jr., to Three Daughters Media, which simulcast the talk format of WIQO-FMLynchburg.[3]
On February 1, 2018, the AAA format moved exclusively to WBZS, which rebranded as "102.5 The Mountain".[6][7]
Upon the lease ending on December 1, 2019, the AAA programming moved back to WVMP.[8]
In April 2020, Flinn donated the station's signal to air a noncommercial news/talk format focusing specifically on coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the New River Valley. The station was led by WVMP's former general manager and a volunteer staff, with on-air hosts remote working from home studios.[9][10] Three months later, he sold the station and eight others to the Educational Media Foundation for $3.4 million.[11] Upon the sale being consummated on October 29, 2020, the call letters were changed to WARJ, as the station picked up EMF's Air1 network.
