By September 1968, WSID-FM broke away from the AM programs for several hours each day for a separate underground rock format, which was gradually expanded to full-time by the end of the year.
In 1969, WLPL expanded its operating hours to full-time, while shifting toward a mixture of Top 40 and album rock musical selections.
WLPL was a popular Top 40 station under the management of its founder, United Broadcasting Company (UBC) of Bethesda, Maryland.
WLPL was forced to operate under reduced transmitter power during this period, due to a fire in the station's broadcast tower equipment.
The original concept for 92Q was formulated by UBC's vice-president of Programming William Parris, who had an extensive background in the Top 40 radio format.
Steve Kingston (Program Director of Z100 in New York) and David Tate (of Rantel Research, Inc., of Laurel, Maryland) were the principal consultants on this new venture.
Both Kingston and Tate were former employees of United Broadcasting Company during the 1970s, and later, they were both competitors against UBC's WYST, while serving together at WBSB-FM, during the 1980s.
Initially, 92Q was more Dance music-oriented, with a handful of pop records in its musical mixture, but the format would gradually shift toward "CHUrban" (a hybrid of Top 40 and urban contemporary) by the end of 1991.