The beginning

This station began broadcasting in 1950 as a daytime-only facility with 250 watts of power on a frequency of 1050 kHz as KVAS.^[4] The station's original license holder, Clatsop Video Broadcasters, was owned in partnership by Leroy E. "Ed" Parsons, E.W. Littlehales, and J.W. Spencer.^[4] A year earlier, Parsons had created the first cable television system in the United States and he is acknowledged as the "father of community antenna television".^[5][6]

KVAS moved to the current 1230 kHz frequency in February 1952 and the shift permitted them to begin 24-hour operation at the 250 watt power level.^[7] The partners had the broadcast license transferred to a new company, KVAS, Inc., but it was unable to overcome the financial difficulties it faced.^[8] The station was transferred to William Ohlmann acting as receiver for KVAS, Inc., and in January 1954 he sold it to owners on more solid financial footing.^[9]

Lower Columbia Broadcasting

Lower Columbia Broadcasting Company, Inc., took control of KVAS in January 1954.^[10] The station began broadcasting a country & western music format. In 1963, the station was granted authorization to increase its daytime broadcast power to 1,000 watts while maintaining its 250 watt nighttime signal.^[11]

The company itself was purchased in a deal consummated in March 1974 with the presidency passing from William Tracy Moore to Charles A. Farmer.^[12] Under Farmer's leadership, KVAS continued to play a mix of country & western and Top 40 music.^[12][13]

In April 1981, the Lower Columbia Broadcasting Company, Inc., announced their intention to sell KVAS to Kay Broadcasting, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 29, 1981.^[14] Nine years later, in April 1990, Kay Broadcasting, Inc., reached an agreement to sell KVAS back to Lower Columbia Broadcasting Company, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 11, 1990, and the transaction was consummated on July 1, 1990.^[15]

New owners

Lower Columbia Broadcasting Company, Inc., announced in August 1997 that they had agreed to sell KVAS to Dolphin Radio, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 23, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on October 17, 1997.^[16] Less than two years later, in June 1999, Dolphin Radio, Inc., notified the FCC that they had contracted to sell this station to New Northwest Broadcasters subsidiary New Northwest Broadcasters II, Inc., as part of a four-station deal valued at $1.5 million.^[17] The deal was approved by the FCC on August 24, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on October 28, 1999.^[18]

KKEE era

Talk radio branding

The station was assigned the KKEE call sign by the Federal Communications Commission on January 11, 2001.^[1] These call letters had most recently resided on an FM sister station now known as KLMY (99.7 FM).^[19]

Sports radio branding

KKEE adopted a 24-hour sports talk radio format starting on Monday, May 23, 2004.^[20] This change ended the decades-long run of the locally produced "Sunday Scandinavian Hour".^[21]

The station flipped from sports talk as an ESPN Radio affiliate to a liberal talk radio format, originally including select shows from Air America Radio, in October 2007.^[22][23] After Air America folded, syndicated weekday talk programming included The Stephanie Miller Show, The Ed Schultz Show and The Thom Hartmann Program from Dial Global, The Dr. Dean Edell Radio Program and Coast to Coast AM from Premiere Radio Networks, plus The Alan Colmes Show from Fox News Radio.

In addition to its regularly scheduled news and talk programming, KKEE also aired local high school sports, Oregon State University Beavers football,^[24] and National Basketball Association games as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers radio network.^[25] In 2009, the station transitioned to a sports radio format.