The station signed on the air on August 1, 1980; 44 years ago (1980-08-01). It began using the same tower as Channel 16 WJWJ-TV and same call sign as the television station, named after James M. Waddell, Jr., a former state legislator.[4]
At first, WJWJ-FM offered a format of NPR information shows and classical music. In 2001, WJWJ-FM was the first SCPR station to switch to an all-spoken word format as part its "News and Talk Network." At the time, both 91.1 WSVH in Savannah (owned by Georgia Public Radio) and 89.3 WSCI in Charleston (owned by SCPR) provided the WJWJ-FM listening area with fine arts programming while WJWJ-FM could go all news and information, ending all music shows except for a few on weekends.
WJWJ-FM occasionally broke from the network to air local shows from SCETV's studios in Beaufort. However, with the change in formats, all local programming ended. WJWJ-FM's entire schedule is now fed from Columbia. It is the only full-time NPR news/talk station in the area, as WSVH and WSCI still have blocks of classical and other music.