Downriver Broadcasting signed on the station on November 2, 1962, with the call letters WLIN. Bill Hennes hosted the first broadcast from studios on Fort Street at LaBlanc Avenue in Lincoln Park. The studios were built and transmitter installed by chief engineer Art Lebermann. WLIN's original aim was to program a full-service variety format for the downriver Detroit area. The original schedule consisted of morning host Bill Hennes, a two-hour talk show, afternoon drive with Dave Kelly, and evening DJs Ron Rose and Don Haney. In 1963, the station relocated its studios to the Lafayette Pavilion Apartments complex in downtown Detroit, and the format became all jazz music.