The station signed on the air in December 1967 as WQXM with a Beautiful Music format with owners John T. Rutledge and Joseph S. Field, with Jerry Reeves as music director and station manager until the sale of the station to Plough Broadcasting in 1975, switching to an AOR format under the name "98 Rock, Your Album Station" in 1977. In 1983, the station changed their call letters to WZNE and rebranded as "Z98, Tampa Bay's Hottest Hits". The station aired a hybrid album rock/Top 40 format until January 6, 1986, when it flipped to Classic rock as "Classic Rock 97.9 WKRL".