The station was the last remaining full-power signal in the Cleveland market to feature a beautiful music format after WDOK had dropped it for soft adult contemporary in 1987; WQAL would briefly adopt a similar format in 1990, first branded as "Soft Hits 104.1," and later "Great Hits 104.1". Industry veteran Dave Ervin was hired as WQAL's program director in late 1990, and changed the station's format in February 1991 to hot adult contemporary, branded as "Cleveland's Q104". Larry Morrow and Jay Lynn were retained in their respective morning drive and overnight timeslots, and were joined with: Sally Spitz, as Morrow's co-host; Johnny Williams for middays; Dan Deely for afternoon drive; and Jon Russell on evenings. Weekend hosts would also include Rick Allen (now at WONE-FM), Bill Ryan, Kelly Cannon, and Chuck Costanzo; the station also later became the Cleveland affiliate for "American Top 20" and "Rick Dees Weekly Top 40".