WYOU signed on January 30, 1961. It was the sister station to WSID1010 AM, initially using call letters that owner United Broadcasting had previously used at a station it had just sold in Virginia. On October 2, 1961, WYOU became WSID-FM, reflecting its affiliated AM outlet. During its first few years, WSID-FM simulcasted much of WSID's daytime-only Urban Contemporary programing in mono, and signed-off at midnight. By September 1968, WSID-FM would break-away from the AM programs for several hours each day for a separate Underground Rock format, which was gradually expanded to full-time by the end of the year.
WLPL
The call letters for the station under the new format became WLPL in the process. The WLPL call-sign was an acronym and meaning the "W"onderful "L"and of "P"leasant "L"istening. In 1969, WLPL expanded its operating hours to full-time, while shifting toward a mixture of Top-40 and Album Rock musical selections. By 1972, the station had made a transition to a full-time Top 40 format and began broadcasting in stereo. WLPL was a very popular Top 40 station in the Baltimore radio listening market while under the management of its founder, United Broadcasting Company of Bethesda, Maryland. In 1977, WLPL-FM Program Director Bill Parris was named "Major Market Top 40 Program Director of The Year" by the Billboard magazine, largely due to his work at WLPL. Notable personalities during this period were: Kris Earl Phillips, The "Smoker", Casey Jones, Hal Martin & Michael St. John. However, audience ratings deteriorated when WBSB launched in 1980 as "B104" with a similar Top 40 format. WLPL was forced to operate under reduced transmitter power during this period, due to a fire in the station's broadcast tower equipment.
WYST-FM
WLPL terminated its Top 40 format in the summer of 1981, becoming WYST on November 16. WYST was an Oldies-based Adult Contemporary format under the name "92 Star". Initially, ratings were very favorable for WYST, but began slipping shortly thereafter. In February 1991, WYST shifted its format to a Hot Adult Contemporary approach. The strategy failed, primary because Baltimore already had a popular station in the Hot AC format, WWMX. WYST's ratings, which had been struggling for several years, declined precipitously. By mid-1991, WYST was among Baltimore's lowest-rated radio stations.
WERQ-FM
The history of "92Q" began in August 1991. WYST's parent company, UBC, flipped the station to a CHUrban approach, under the nickname 92Q and the WERQ call-letters gained FCC approval one month later. The original concept for 92Q was formulated by UBC's Vice-President of Programming William Parris, who had an extensive background in the Top 40 radio format. The startup Program Director of 92Q was Jeffrey Ballentine. Steven Kingston and David Tate were the principal consultants on this risky new venture. Ironically, both Kingston and Tate were former employees of United Broadcasting Company during the 1970s and later, they were both competitors against UBC's WYST, while serving together at WBSB-FM, during the 1980s. After the introduction of 92Q, WERQ's audience ratings increased rapidly, at the expense of WBSB's Top 40 format and longtime Urban station WXYV. Initially, 92Q was more Dance music-oriented, with a handful of Pop records in its musical mixture, but the format would gradually shift toward "CHUrban" by the end of 1991. The programming strategists at United Broadcasting were systematically evolving 92Q to a pure Urban Contemporary sound. In the Fall of 1993, United Broadcasting Company began divesting its holdings in radio stations after the death of its founder Richard Eaton, and sold WERQ-FM to Radio One. By 1995, WERQ would be classified as a full-fledged Mainstream Urban format.
Current WERQ management
Since 1996, under the management of the Radio One company, WERQ has consistently been one of the highest-rated stations in the radio listening audience of the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area, according to the Arbitron ratings company.
