In the early 1980s, five applications were received to start a new TV station for Laredo, the city's third, on UHF channel 27. In December 1982, the Federal Communications Commission designated four of them for hearing, from K-RIO Broadcasting Company; Carlos Ortiz; Tierra del Sol Broadcasting Company, owner of KVEO-TVinBrownsville; and Panorama Broadcasting Company.[2] Ortiz, a pastor proposing to operate channel 27 as a Christian station, later dropped his proposal because of the multiple competing applications from secular groups; Oro Broadcasting Company was disqualified because its principal owner was not a United States citizen.[3]
As a result of a downturn in the regional economy, Tierra del Sol withdrew; Panorama then reimbursed K-RIO for its expenses in a settlement that paved the way for it to be granted the permit in April 1983.[4] A tower was erected in the parking lot of Laredo's Riverdrive Mall, where studios were set up.[5] Having been known as KJTB during construction, KLDO-TV signed on December 17, 1984, as an ABC affiliate; the affiliation had belonged to KGNS-TV. Laredo thus became among the last markets with three-network service. In addition to ABC programming, KLDO-TV produced local news under the title Laredo Eyewitness News.[6] In January 1987, KLDO became a secondary affiliate of Fox.[7]
The station switched to Telemundo in October 1988, retaining select ABC programs including sports, Good Morning America,[8] and Nightline. The move coincided with Panorama signing a management agreement with Francisco Javier Sánchez Campuzano, the president of Mexico City-based Grupo Siete, which at the time owned several radio stations in Nuevo Laredo.[9][10] The switch to primarily Spanish-language programming led to an upturn in ratings, moving from dead last to first place in the February 1989 Nielsen survey.[8]
In 1996, KLDO changed affiliations from Telemundo to Univision; by this time, in total-day audience ratings, it was the market's number-one station.[11] Entravision acquired KLDO-TV in 1997,[12] and the station moved out of the Riverdrive Mall and into a new facility on Loop 20 in 2000.[13] KLDO-TV continued to be the most-watched station in the market, but KGNS-TV brought in twice as much revenue.[14]
Until February 28, 2018, the station produced Spanish-language newscasts, branded as Noticias Univision 27; the KLDO news operation was discontinued in favor of a regional newscast produced out of McAllen sister station KNVO.[15]
