After Clear Channel Communications purchased Straus' stations in 2000, the format remained unchanged until 2002 due to contractual obligations to the firm that programmed the "Quality Rock" format. On June 26, 2002, at 10 AM, the station entered a 26-hour-long stunt of Eminem's "Without Me." The next day at Noon, WRKW relaunched as active rock "92.9 Rock." Unlike its predecessor, the station launched with DJ's taken from sister stations and a heavy promotion blitz and quickly became a middle-of-the pack radio station.