The station first signed on the air on July 1, 1983; 41 years ago (1983-07-01). The call sign was KGFT. It was owned by religious broadcaster Edward G. Atsinger III and featuring Christian talk and teaching shows.[3] In January 1988, Atsinger, then owner of half of newly-formed Salem Communications Corporation, sold KGFT to Great Electric Communications II Inc. for $1.45 million.[4]
KGFT changed its call letters to KLIT-FM on April 1, 1988, and adopted a soft adult contemporary music format.[5] The call sign switched again on October 16, 1989 to KSBL.[6]
In July 1995, Great Electric Communications II Inc. sold KSBL to Criterion Media Group Inc. for $1.33 million, thus bringing the station under common ownership with KQSB and KTYD.[7] Less than two years later, in March 1997, Criterion sold the station along with KQSB and KTYD to Jacor Communications for $13.5 million;[8] Jacor was subsequently purchased by Clear Channel Communications.
In January 2007, Clear Channel sold its six Santa Barbara stations, including KSBL, to Rincon Broadcasting LLC for $17.3 million. Rincon, a subsidiary of Ventura-based Point Broadcasting, officially took control of the cluster on January 16.[9][10]