The original construction permit for what became WRNQ was awarded in December 1985, several years after the FCC amended the table of allotments to allow for the 92.1 frequency to become active in Poughkeepsie. Around 1987, the frequency was awarded to WKIP owner Richard Novik, gained the WLMS calls and announced that the station would take on a format near-identical to that which hit the air. Due to potential ratings confusion with WLTW from New York Citythe call letters were replaced with WRNQ in 1989, a decision made by then-General Manager Don Verity. The difficulty obtaining a transmitter site in the market also was a problem and Novik eventually settled on a site in Lagrangeville, New York, east of Poughkeepsie, unlike most stations which broadcast on mountain peaks in Ulster County. WRNQ, better known as "Rockin' Easy, Q-92"' hit the air on June 30, 1989 and made a splash with former WKIP morning man Van Ritshie anchoring an otherwise satellite-fed format." With no real competition in the format, Q-92 reached top of the ratings its first year on the air. Eventually, the station added the hugely successful "Love Songs on Q" a locally hosted evening love songs program hosted by Pete Clark and later by Rick Buser, formerly of WPDH. In 1996, Novik sold WRNQ, WKIP, and new sister stationWNSX to Straus Media who in turn replaced the satellite-fed time periods with all-local programming, much of which came from Straus stations in Ellenville and Hudson. With this, the station picked up Delilah After Dark evenings. The pickup of Delilah, later picked up by rival WHUD, was allowed via a geographic loophole which also allowed the two rivals to have the same jingle package for several years. Eric Straus decided to leave radio ownership in 2000 to start two online ventures, selling the cluster to Clear Channel Communications. The next year, Van Ritshie retired from radio, and was replaced by Joe Daily in the morning slot. In 2002, WRNQ began airing Christmas music in the months before Christmas copying a programming move popular in other radio markets. At the end of Christmas music in 2003, the station relaunched under the "LiteFM" brand of popular sister WLTW in New York City in a move of "branding unity" which also was ironic considering the station's pre-signon change done to minimize confusion with WLTW. Outside of some music refocusing and the addition of a Saturday night dance programming, no major changes were made until October 2011, when WRNQ switched to Premium Choice and Premiere Networks for content outside of Joe Daily in Morning Drive. On September 8, 2014 WRNQ returned to its original "Q92" branding.
