The roots of today's WUFO can actually be traced back to 1927, with the founding of WKEN in Kenmore, New York, a Buffalo suburb. General Order 40 proposed that WKEN share airtime with WKBW, which was moving to the 1470 frequency WKEN was using at the time. WKEN objected and proposed to move down the dial to 1040 and operate as a daytime-only station, then a novel concept. In 1930, WKEN became WMAK, taking on the intellectual property of a station that was displaced when "The Buffalo News" purchased its frequency (the other station became, and remains known as, WBEN). The second incarnation of WMAK ceased operations in 1932, amid the Great Depression and antitrust pressures on the Buffalo Broadcasting Company that owned WGR, WMAK and WKEN at the time. The FCC ordered the station off the air, ostensibly due to "an unsatisfactory showing of public interest."