[4] In May 1940, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM radio band operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz.

Later that month, on August 22, the station modified into a full-time smooth jazz radio format, with the new call letters WQCD and the new branding, "CD 101.9".

The re-launch of 101.9 was accompanied by a new television advertising campaign which featured Al Jarreau, Miles Davis, Kenny G, Bobby McFerrin and Herb Alpert[21]–all artists whose music formed the core of the new smooth jazz format, which proved successful and long-lasting for a station that had not been used to stability in its programming.

The playlist continued to feature large amounts of instrumental jazz, with some new age, and several urban adult contemporary songs.

When the Daily News changed ownership in 1991, WQCD and WPIX were retained by the newspaper's former corporate parent, the Tribune Company.

In 1998, Emmis moved WQCD out of the Daily News Building, and along with WQHT and WRKS into a newly constructed common facility at 395 Hudson Street.

WQCD's on-air staff remained unusually stable in the generally volatile radio climate, led by morning host Dennis Quinn.

Afternoon drive host Paul Cavalconte was a veteran of New York jazz, classical, and rock stations, adult standards WNEW.

Other notable long-term airstaff members include Ray White, Pat Prescott, Russ Davis, Steve Harris, Ian Karr, Maria Von Dickersohn, Meryl Kubrick and John Vidaver.

With the exception of Paul Cavalconte, the entire WQCD air staff was released including Dennis Quinn, who had survived every other format change at 101.9 since joining the station in 1971.

The weekend air staff included Dave Greek, Greg Russ and Jennifer Kajzer, as well as Cavalconte, the only personality retained from the WQCD smooth jazz format.

On June 21, 2011, it was announced that majority ownership of WRXP was acquired by Merlin Media LLC, a new entity headed by veteran radio executive Randy Michaels.

[25] The sale, which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved in September 2011, included two other Emmis-owned stations in Chicago, WLUP-FM and WKQX.

WRXP's website (MyRXP.com) continued operation after the station left the airwaves, offering its music format via streaming online audio and later a Spotify playlist (with occasional new songs added) until Merlin acquired the domain name.

After a brief period of dead air, WRXP (whose call sign was changed to WEMP on July 21) switched to a stunt of adult contemporary music branded as "101.9 FM New", which served as a transition to the station's new format.

[30] The on-air presentation was generally looser and conversational in tone, while an emphasis was placed on lifestyle, health, and entertainment features.

"[36] (After WINS owner CBS Radio sent a cease-and-desist letter to Merlin Media, WEMP dropped the slogan, and replaced it by "non-stop news".)

The controversial approach led to a number of on-air gaffes, including wrong time checks and news stories misplaced.

For example, in the period ending January 4, 2012, Arbitron rated WEMP at a 0.5, far behind both of the CBS Radio-owned all-news stations in New York, category leader WINS at 3.2 and WCBS at 2.8 in that month.

)[39] In July 2012, there was speculation that Merlin Media would convert WEMP to a news/talk hybrid, similar to its sister stations in Philadelphia, WWIQ, and Chicago, WIQI, which was also struggling in ratings with all-news and had added some talk programming.

[41] While the meeting took place, a pre-recorded newscast from earlier in the day on "FM News 101.9" was abruptly cut off and replaced by the reporting of one final story – an announcement that the all-news format was ending immediately.

)[43][44] In a press release, Merlin CEO Randy Michaels called dropping all-news from both WEMP and WIQI "a difficult decision to make" but one that had to be made in light of "minimal audience engagement".

[42] To coincide with the format change back to rock, Merlin Media made two noteworthy moves: It filed a request with the FCC on July 18 to revert the station's call sign from WEMP to WRXP.

[48][non-primary source needed] "New Rock 101.9" ran with limited on-air talent, including former WRXP host Brian Phillips on middays, with the possibility that other former 'RXP staffers would be invited to rejoin the station.

[52][53] The LMA officially relieved Merlin Media of its only New York radio property and allowed it to concentrate on its stations in the Chicago and Philadelphia markets.

[54] The purchase of 101.9 by CBS put WFAN back on equal footing with ESPN Radio affiliate WEPN, which made its own AM-to-FM move in April 2012 (to the former WRKS).

It also improved daytime coverage for WFAN; for years, radio frequency interference had rendered it all but unlistenable in parts of Manhattan.