In 1941, when few people had an FM receiver, the 98.1 spot on the Baton Rouge dial was occupied by an FM station owned by AM 1150WJBO. It had the call signWBGL.[3] It later moved to 101.5 as WJBO-FM. It finally switched to 102.5 MHz and is today WFMF-FM.
On October 1, 1968, a new FM station signed on at 98.1 MHz as WAFB-FM.[4] Then, as now, it was owned by Guaranty Broadcasting, which already owned a TV station in Baton Rouge, Channel 9 WAFB-TV. WAFB-FM was affiliated with the ABC Contemporary Radio Network and during that time the station aired a contemporary hits format. In the mid-1990s, it affiliated with Unistar Radio. Some formats over the years included easy listening, soft rock and disco music. In 1985, it returned to Top 40 as WGGZ, calling itself "Z98," then oldies as "Oldies 98.1".
In 1995, WGGZ flipped to classic hits as "Eagle 98.1, Rock and Roll Classics." A few months later, WGGZ shifted to a classic rock format. In 1997, it switched to the call letters WDGL to go with its Eagle branding.