After the call letter change to WBNQ in the 1960s, the station aired a home-grown easy listening/beautiful music automated format recorded at the old studio site above the Castle Theater in downtown Bloomington.

In the spring 1976 Arbitron, using Drake-Chenault's XT-40 format, WBNQ attained its highest ever 12+ share of 24.3%, making it one of the highest-rated FM stations in the U.S. at that time.

In 1976 Denny Adkins, the operations director of WBNQ, joined Drake-Chenault as a programming consultant working with their client stations on format presentation, promotion and community involvement.

In the early 1980s, WBNQ became a "live" operation with a contemporary hit radio station, a format that remains today.

Despite increased competition in 2005 from WRPW which was then operating as a Rhythmic, but has since changed to News/Talk, WBNQ has remained a top rated station with #1 or #2 12+ Arbitron rankings.