Product Code Database
KQBT (93.7 FM broadcasting) is an urban contemporary radio station in Houston. It is owned by iHeartMedia. The station's studios are located along the West Loop Freeway in the city's Uptown Houston district, and the transmitter site is near Missouri City, Texas.
KQBT carries Pride Radio on the HD Radio sub-channel.
In February 1970, KBNO adopted the "Hit Parade '70" contemporary format. The station was noted in the movie Brewster McCloud, which featured a station advertisement on the side of a passing bus that same year.
In August 1971, the station changed call letters to KRLY and maintained a top 40 format, but took on various format shifts and identities throughout the latter half of the decade, such as album oriented rock "Y-94" in 1977, "Disco 94" in 1979, 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.
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.
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 (currently at KGLK/KHPT).
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.
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.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Archived at Ghostarchive and the
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Wayback Machine: 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. 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. "93.7 THE BEAT HOUSTON LAUNCHES" from Radio Insight (December 31, 2013) 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.
On February 18, 2019, the analog simulcast of Kiss FM ended after iHeartMedia's lease of the translator expired. The station continued to operate on KQBT as Kiss 93.7 HD2. On June 26, 2019, KQBT-HD2 flipped to iHeart's "Pride Radio" format of Top 40/Dance music targeting the LGBTQ community. This marks the second such format to air in Houston, the other being Entercom's "Channel Q" network airing on KKHH. iHeartMedia Expands Pride Radio to 12 Additional Markets
|
|
