KVEC first signed on in 1937[2] on the 1200 kHz frequency. The station originally was owned by Valley Electric Company (hence its call sign), headed by Christina M. Jacobson.[3] In March 1941, under the terms of the NARBA Havana Treaty, KVEC was relocated to 1230 kHz.[4] The station changed frequencies once more in 1946 to 920 kHz.[2][5]
In April 1956, Jacobson sold KVEC and its television sister station KVEC-TV (channel 6) to The Valley Enterprises Company for $450,000. The media company, headed by John C. Cohan, was the owner of KSBW-AM-TVinSalinas, California.[6] Cohan took sole ownership of KVEC and its TV counterpart, then known as KSBY-TV, the following year.[7] In November 1965, Cohen sold KVEC and its three-year-old FM sister station (now KZOZ) to West Coast Broadcasters Inc., majority owned by James L. Sephier, for $360,000.[8] On January 6, 1975, West Coast Broadcasters sold KVEC to Century Broadcasting Company for $500,000.[9]
The 1980s and 1990s saw KVEC face a series of financial troubles and ownership changes. In 1985, Five Cities Broadcasting Inc. purchased the station from the Century Broadcasting Company Liquidating Trust for $500,000 and paired it with KPGA (95.3 FM).[10] However, the following year, Five Cities defaulted on a loan, leading to the involuntary transfer of both stations' licenses to U.S. Media Company.[11] In August 1989, U.S. Media sold news/talk-formatted KVEC to Chorro Communications Inc. for $300,000;[12][13] KPGA was divested separately a month later. In September 1991, Richard Mason sold his 70% stake in Chorro Communications to partner Francis Sheahan for $353,900, granting the latter full control of KVEC. Portions of the proceeds were used to settle a debt owed to Mason and to pay taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service.[14]
In November 2000, Clear Channel Communications purchased KVEC from Chorro for $950,000 as part of a nationwide station buying spree.[15] In July 2007, the station was among 16 Clear Channel outlets in California and Arizona that were sold to El Dorado Broadcasters for $40 million.[16] In early 2016, El Dorado began selling off its Central Coast stations. These divestitures included KVEC, sold to Bakersfield, California-based American General Media for $450,000 that May.[17]
