KBFB

KZEW's Zoo Freak logo.

The station traces its history back to a October 5, 1946 sign-on, owned by the Belo Corporation.[1] It was the first FM radio station to go on the air in Texas. It was called KERA-FM but with no relation to the current KERA (FM) at 90.1 MHz, or KERA-TV Channel 13.

Even before KERA-FM's first day on the air, there was an experimental FM station "W5X1C" that began tests on October 15, 1945, and another trial dating back to 1939. By 1947, KERA-FM had moved from its original home at 94.3 FM to 97.9 FM under the WFAA-FM callsign, initially simulcasting its AM sister station WFAA 570 AM. With FM broadcasting in its infancy, Belo decided that the FM simulcast was not worthwhile and took WFAA-FM off the air on September 1, 1950.

The frequency remained dormant until Belo decided in 1958 to revive WFAA-FM, receiving a construction permit and putting WFAA-FM back on the air on January 6, 1961. After simulcasting WFAA(AM) for a few years, a Beautiful Music format was established in 1965. The station played quarter-hour sweeps of mostly instrumental cover versions of popular songs, designed for relaxing or unobtrusive office listening.

On September 16, 1973, WFAA-FM flipped to album-oriented rock (AOR) as KZEW-FM, known to listeners as "The Zoo".[2] It featured disc jockeys such as John LaBella and John Rody ("LaBella and Rody"), George Gimarc, Charley Jones, Dave Lee Austin, John B. Wells, Nancy Johnson, John Dew, John Dillon, Doc Morgan and Tempie Lindsey. The station's concept and programming were initially under the direction of Ira Lipson. The FM station shared studios with WFAA 570 on the second floor of the facility. The FM station was so popular that in several years, WFAA switched to a classic rock sound as KRQX.

In 1987, KZEW and KRQX were sold by Belo, which retained ownership of the Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV Channel 8. KZEW and KRQX were acquired by Atlanta-based Cox Radio. On December 11, 1989, KZEW dropped the rock format and began stunting with Christmas music. On January 1, 1990, KZEW switched formats to soft adult contemporary, changing its call sign to KKWM ("Warm 97.9").[3] A year later, the station changed its call sign again, this time to KLRX as "Lite 97.9".[4]

Arrow 97.9 logo used 1993-1997.

In 1993, the station was sold by Cox to Infinity/CBS Radio, and on October 15, at 7 p.m., KLRX flipped to a classic hits - classic rock format, branded as KRRW ("Arrow 97.9").[5][6] The Arrow format lasted four years.

On April 3, 1997, the station switched back to adult contemporary music and was renamed to the current call letters KBFB. The slogan became B-97.9.[7][8] Programming during the AC format included the syndicated call in and request show, "Delilah." After several years, Delilah's show shifted to then-sister station KVIL 103.7.

Lite 97.9 FM logo used from 1990 to 1993.

KBFB flipped to Urban Contemporary as "97.9 The Beat" on September 26, 2000, after the station was sold to Radio One, a forerunner to today's Urban One.[9] Since launch, the station has been in direct competition against longtime heritage urban station 104.5 KKDA-FM. KBFB and KKDA-FM also had a competitor with former Rhythmic Contemporary rival 106.7 KZZA until the station flipped to Spanish Oldies in 2008.

In the beginning, the morning show on the station was hosted by Russ Parr (who started his radio career at 100.3 KJMZ in the Metroplex). In 2003, it was home to the Steve Harvey Morning Show through a syndicated simulcast from its sister station in Los Angeles, KKBT (also nicknamed "The Beat"). Eventually, Radio One switched KBFB's early slot to the Rickey Smiley Morning Show in 2005. Smiley was dropped in the fall of 2017. The latest morning show is The Morning Hustle.