WCSO was a typical college radio station; it did not begin broadcasting overnights until 1985, when it started airing a tape loop of nature sounds at night. The off-hours programming developed a cult following with listeners, including a prison inmate who wrote to the station to say that the programming had helped him not go crazy.[4] The call letters were changed from WCSO to WAWL-FM on December 18, 1987, which marked the shift from a soft adult contemporary format to an alternative rock base; the station was known as "the WAWL".[5]
In March 2008, Chattanooga State announced it was selling the WAWL-FM license, with the school's programming moving online-only. In September 2008, the buyer was identified as Family Life Radio, paying $1.5 million.[6] On December 10, 2008, WAWL-FM ended operations. The station was then silent until Family Life Radio reactivated the facility as WJBP with its national programming on January 2, 2009.