The station first signed on the air on July 1, 1983; 40 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.[2] 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.[3]
KGFT changed its call letters to KLIT-FM on April 1, 1988, and adopted a soft adult contemporary music format.[4] The call sign switched again on October 16, 1989 to KSBL.[5]
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.[6] Less than two years later, in March 1997, Criterion sold the station along with KQSB and KTYD to Jacor Communications for $13.5 million;[7] 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.[8][9]
On September 10, 2018, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted KSBL a construction permit, good for three years, to start transmitting from a facility atop Santa Cruz Island with a directional 1,650-watt signal, licensed to Isla Vista, California.[10]
