WIRL (1290 AM) was a commercial radio station broadcasting a conservative talk format. Licensed to Peoria, Illinois, it was owned by Midwest Communications, Inc. Studios and offices were on Fulton Street in Peoria.
WIRL was powered at 5,000 watts. To protect other stations on 1290 AM from interference, it used a directional antenna with a two-tower array by day and four towers at night. The transmitter was on Zion Oaks Road in Marquette Heights, Illinois.<REF>Radio-Locator.com/WIRL</REF> Programming was also heard on FM translator W240DM at 95.9 MHz, and on the third HD Radio subchannel of sister station WPBG.
Most of WIRL's programming was nationally syndicated talk shows.
Weekends featured shows on money, health, and technology.
WIRL signed on the air on August 18, 1948. It has always broadcast on 1290 AM, powered at 5,000 watts. The owner was the Illinois Valley Broadcasting Company with studios in the Jefferson Building in Peoria.
WIRL was a successful Top 40 radio station from 1960 until the early 1980s. During its tenure, its only competition was daytime-only WPEO 1020 AM. Popular WIRL disc jockeys were Robyn Weaver, Lee Ranson, Jerry Barr, Jim French, Timmy "Old Weird" West, Bill McCluggage, Lee Malcolm, Wayne R. Miller, Howard Taylor, Pete Stewart, VLJ, Charlie O'Day, John Sebastian Bachman, Ann Holub, Dave Phillips, Steve Young, Scott Robbins, Ron Thorn, with Mark Wainwright and many more. For many years, WIRL broadcast Bradley Braves basketball games not aired on WMBD.
In the late 1970s, WKZW, known as "KZ93" (now WPBG), began playing Top 40 hits on the FM band, and siphoned away many listeners from WIRL thanks to its clearer sound and FM stereo. In 1984, WIRL began to evolve into a full-service adult contemporary station. Personalities included Lee Malcolm, Gene Konrad, Kurt Schaeffer, Denise Henley, Steve Larson, Marc Truelove, Steve Young and Darryl Parks. The AC format lasted until the early 1990s. At that point, the station tried oldies and adult standards.
In November 2000, the station flipped to a sports radio format as "Fox Sports 1290". The call sign changed to WWFS, with the "FS" standing for Fox Sports Radio. The station returned to the WIRL call sign when it adopted a classic country format in March 2005.
On March 15, 2013, WIRL returned to an oldies format, branded as "Good Time Oldies". It began simulcasting on FM translator W274BM 102.7 FM.
On February 4, 2019, Alpha Media announced that it would sell its Peoria cluster, including WIRL, to Midwest Communications. The price tag for the Peoria stations was $21.6 million. The sale closed on April 30, 2019.
On February 28, 2022, WIRL switched to a conservative talk radio format, branded as "Freedom 95.9". It is also heard on translator W240DM (95.9 FM) and WPBG-HD3. The oldies format is still available on translator W274BM (102.7 FM) and WPBG-HD2.
On March 31, 2026, citing a declining audience, the 1290 signal signed off for the last time. Programming continued on the translators, which are fed via a loophole with HD Radio that allows HD subchannels to appear on analog stations.