WXRK when it debuted a couple of years later. In August 1983, at the same time WVNJ had been re-christened as WHTZ ("Z100"), WPLJ became known as "The Home of the Hits", and in October, added top 40-style jingles. In a way, it was "New York's Hit Music Station" just before WHTZ went on the air. The following spring, WPLJ identified itself very briefly as "The New Musicradio PLJ" before segueing to "Hitradio 95" just a short time later. In early 1985, the station became known on-air as "Power 95". Ratings went up after switching to CHR, though they were still just behind Z100 most of the time. On December 17, 1987, the station changed its call letters to WWPR (to complement its "Power 95" branding). (Rival WHTZ joked that the "PR" in the calls stood for "Puerto Rican" and that the station planned to flip to a Spanish-language format.) The WPLJ call-sign returned the following year, on December 21, 1988, when research indicated that listeners still identified the station as WPLJ. Berger departed in 1988, replaced immediately by his music director Jessica Ettinger, who was named acting program director. In 1989, general manager Dana Horner hired Gary Bryan from KUBE in Seattle as program director. Bryan also served as morning show host beginning that July, ousting 15-year WPLJ morning host veteran Jim Kerr, and creating an audience outcry. WPLJ continued to be successful until 1990, when ratings started to decline. With significant pop competition — WQHT ("Hot 97") playing dance and urban pop songs and WHTZ playing mainstream pop music — WPLJ dropped the "Power 95” branding and returned to identify by its call letters; musically, the station began leaning toward more pop-rock hits. In May, Bryan left the station to host rival WHTZ's morning zoo program beginning that August. ABC brass then replaced Horner with Mitch Dolan as general manager and president of programming, while Tom Cuddy was named vice president of programming, and Rocky Allen was named as the station's new morning host in August. WPLJ began to regain some momentum; however, in early 1991, Cuddy and Dolan hired Scott Shannon, who had just left his rock hits project, KQLZ ("Pirate Radio") in Los Angeles. Shannon, who was responsible for WHTZ's early success and served as that station's first morning zoo host, took over as WPLJ's program director and morning show host (replacing Rocky Allen) in April