As 1984 progressed, WAPP's ratings were on the upswing. However, the station's owners decided to abruptly change the station's format to CHR that October. They felt that if co-owned stations in Washington, D.C. and Minnesota could do well with the format, then this station could as well. This would not be the case, as the station could not compete with WPLJ or Z-100, and their ratings fell. The station quietly segued back in a rock direction with a rock-leaning CHR format in June 1985. The station leaned current based rock while playing a limited amount of rhythmic cuts. Even that would not be able to turn the station's ratings around as FM 92.3, the original WKTU, flipped to rock as K Rock.