The station played quarter-hour sweeps of mostly instrumental cover versions of popular songs, designed for relaxing or unobtrusive office listening.

In 1987, KZEW and KRQX were sold by Belo (which retained ownership of the Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV) to Atlanta-based Cox Radio.

On January 1, 1990, KZEW switched formats to soft adult contemporary, changing its call sign to KKWM and rebranded as "Warm 97.9".

[5] In 1993, the station was sold to CBS Radio, and on October 15, at 7 pm, KLRX flipped to a classic hits/classic rock format under the KRRW call letters, branded as "Arrow 97.9".

[8][9] KBFB flipped to Rhythmic 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.

In the beginning, the morning show on the station was hosted by Russ Parr (who started his radio career at 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").