The station signed on January 20, 1999,[3] as KRLK, broadcasting a classic country format branded as "The Lake".[4] Cumulus Media bought the station from Galen Gilbert for $850,000 in 2004.[5] The call letters changed to KRWP on February 2, 2005.[6] The station initially relied on programming from Jones Radio Networks;[4] in later years, KRWP was a full service station, with classic country music being supplemented with a tradio program and high school sports coverage.[7]
Cumulus' acquisition of the station was part of its plan to move KMAJ-FM, a Topeka, Kansas, radio station it owned on the same frequency, to the Kansas City market, which would have required KRWP to reduce its power. The KMAJ-FM move was called off in 2006, after Cumulus' purchase of Susquehanna Radio Corporation, as the move would have given it too many FM radio stations in Kansas City.[7]
On January 17, 2018, KRWP went off the air without any notice from Cumulus.[8] Cumulus had earlier indicated that, following the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of rules requiring a local main studio, KRWP would close its local facilities and transfer its operations to Cumulus' Kansas City studios.[7] VCY America agreed to buy the station for $100,000 on September 19, 2018; upon the completion of the sale, the station would convert to noncommercial operation and broadcast VCY's Christian radio programming.[9] The sale was consummated on January 10, 2019, at which point VCY America changed the station's call sign to KIRS.
