KQBT

Beginnings as KBNO

KQBT originally signed on in mid-December 1963 as KBNO, featuring "popular music and show tunes". Studios were located on the 34th floor of the Gulf Building in downtown Houston. In 1970, the station was noted in the movie Brewster McCloud, which featured a station advertisement on the side of a passing bus.

Top 40/Disco/Urban as KRLY

In the Fall of 1971, the station flipped to top 40 as KRLY, but took on various format shifts and identities throughout the decade, such as album oriented rock "Y-94", "Disco 94", then "KRLY 94", a top 40/urban hybrid. By mid-1981, the station had rebranded as "Love 94." During its time as “Disco 94,” radio/television personality turned 2018 congressional political candidate Dayna Steele was among its air staffers.

Lite Rock/K-Lite 93.7

In March 1984, the station switched to adult contemporary as "Lite Rock 93.7" and changed calls to KLTR (adopted on March 20, 1984). The station rebranded to "K-Lite 93.7" in the late 1980s.

The Arrow

On November 25, 1993, at 2 p.m., the station flipped to Classic Hits, branded as "Arrow 93.7", and launched with Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll".^[2] The KKRW call letters were adopted on December 20, 1993.

Over the next decade, the station evolved to straightforward classic rock. In the early 2000s, KKRW was home of the "Dean & Rog" morning show until they left in early 2009 (they're now at KGLK).

In early 2009, the station began airing (in syndication) former KLOL morning hosts "Walton & Johnson", who host a politically oriented morning show that leans right. The show was dropped from KKRW in December 2012 (they're now at sister station KPRC). Afternoon personality Steve Fixx filled in with a music-heavy show for several months called the "Morning Classic Rock Fixx" until the arrival of veteran St. Louis personality JC Corcoran with "JC and the Morning Showgram" in March 2013.

KKRW enjoyed ratings success for a number of years, both in Arbitron's diary and Portable People Meter ratings measurement systems. KKRW took an initial ratings hit when Dean and Rog left for KGLK, but rebounded to beat the new challenger for roughly a year and a half because of the addition of longtime Houston-based radio shock jocks Walton & Johnson, who helped make KKRW their flagship station.

The Beat

Ratings remained strong until KGLK, which played a slightly lighter classic rock format (identifying as classic hits), began simulcasting on 106.9 and 107.5 in June 2011. In its last full book with classic rock, KKRW was ranked #17 with a 2.4 share of the market according to Arbitron's Houston market ratings.

On December 31, 2013, at 10 a.m., after playing Thin Lizzy's "The Boys are Back in Town", the station began stunting with music from many genres.^[3][4] At Noon, after playing Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," KKRW flipped to Urban Contemporary, branded as "93.7 The Beat." The first song on "The Beat" was "Drunk in Love" by Houston native Beyoncé.^[5] The move gives Houston a straight-ahead, core-based R&B/Hip-Hop outlet and new competition for KBXX, whose direction focuses on hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop material, as well as KBXX's sister Urban AC KMJQ, both of which are owned by Radio One, and are usually the two dominant stations in the market.^[6] It was the first time in 14 years iHeartMedia (then known as Clear Channel Communications) attempted an urban outlet in Houston, as it once owned KBXX and KMJQ from 1994 to 2000, when both were spun off to Radio One.

On January 15, 2014, KKRW changed call letters to KQBT to match the "Beat" moniker.^[7]

104.5 Kiss FM

On September 7, 2017, translator 104.5 K283CH dropped the Regional Mexican-formatted "La Mejor" programming, while in the process also moving its primary feed from KTBZ-FM's HD2 to KQBT's HD2 sub-channel. With the move to KQBT-HD2, 104.5 flipped to Urban AC as "104.5 Kiss FM". This complements KQBT's main programming, and also gives some direct competition to long-dominant KMJQ.