At first the station operated with a full-service adult contemporary format reminiscent of the final years of Gannett ownership, competing directly with clear-channel WHAM. But the station's more limited AM signal proved to be a greater liability at a time when suburbanization was spreading out the market's population geographically beyond the station's reliable nighttime pattern, and FM competition was growing. So the days of secular contemporary-format programming came to an end early in the 1980s.
Initially, the station aired a comprehensive adult contemporary format similar to Gannett's final years of operation, directly competing with prominent WHAM. However, its limited AM signal proved detrimental at a time when suburbanization dispersed the market's population geographically beyond the station's dependable nighttime pattern, and FM competition was intensifying.