WNOE, which shifted to in 1950 to operate at its daytime 50,000 watts of power, was a favorite at the Gulf Coast beaches in Mississippi, Alabama, and even as far east as Pensacola Beach, Florida. With its big daytime signal, WNOE was even sometimes receivable in areas like Tampa if you were near the Gulf Of Mexico. WNOE abandoned its Top 40 format gradually in the early 1970s and evolved into one of the few Album Rock stations on AM dial in the U.S. In a sense, rival WTIX had the market to itself during that time, though some FM stations flirted with formats musically close to Top 40. However, with the slogan Real Rock (a slam at WTIX, who without competition, had softened its top 40 sound considerably) WNOE returned to AOR leaning top 40 format in 1973, and competed vigorously with WTIX into the early 1980s. By 1977, WNOE was a pop leaning AOR station somewhat softer than its FM sister station.