WENR has its origins in a 10-watt station started in late 1924 by E. N. Rauland, whose company manufactured the All-American brand of radios. On March 19, 1925, he received his license for WENR broadcasting 100 watts at 1130 kHz. By fall 1925, WENR was using a 1,000-watt transmitter designed by Rauland himself. The station shared time on the frequency with WBCN, owned at that time by the "Southtown Economist" newspaper. By 1927, the two stations had changed frequencies to 1040 kHz.