In June 1997, Baltimore’s Urban-formatted V103 came to an end as it flipped to a Mainstream CHR format branded as “102.7 XYV”. The format was dance-friendly, similar to Z104 (WWZZ) in Washington, D.C. and Z95.7 (KZQZ) in San Francisco. (All three were consulted by Dan Vallie.)
However, by about the same time next year, the station employed an approach that emphasized hip-hop and modern rock (positioned as “alternative”) with less of a focus on dance, R&B and mainstream pop. The overall concept was similar (but certainly not as “extreme”) to what KPTY in Phoenix and KXME in Honolulu were attempting at this time.
