Early years

The station first signed on the air on June 21, 1922. It was in Wichita Falls, Texas, and the call sign was KGKO.^[4] The station then moved to Fort Worth after being purchased by Amon Carter, getting the new call sign WFAA. (In the early days of radio, many stations in Texas were given call letters beginning with a "W".) WFAA and WBAP had a shared time agreement that lasted until May 1, 1970, when WFAA operated on 570 alone and WBAP became the sole operator on 820. This arrangement allowed both stations to program full-time music formats. WBAP launched a successful country music format (which eventually changed to the news/talk format the station now programs), while WFAA moved to an adult-oriented Top 40 format to compete with KLIF and KNUS-FM.

WFAA's music format lasted until the mid-1970s, when the station began a talk radio format that lasted until July 2, 1983. At that point, the station began broadcasting in AM stereo with classic rock music and the call letters KRQX.^[5] The station flipped on January 26, 1987, to a 1950s and 1960s oldies format, with new call letters KLDD. In January 1990, the station switched to a simulcast of KKWM-FM as KKWM.

On February 5, 1990, Susquehanna Radio Corporation purchased KKWM from Anchor Media Ltd.^[6] That purchase became final on November 29, 1990. Beginning at 5:00 that morning, KLIF simulcast on both the 570 and 1190 frequencies for one week, and then began broadcasting on 570 kHz permanently.^[7] Susquehanna Radio Corporation, a division of kitchenware maker Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff, was sold to Cumulus Broadcasting in 2005.

Despite different owners, KLIF and KDFW maintain a partnership. KLIF is affiliated with Fox News Radio, while KDFW is the local Fox O&O (owned and operated) station. In January 2015, KLIF began carrying Westwood One News from its parent company's news operation. On August 30, 2020, KLIF once again became an affiliate of Fox News Radio after Westwood One News ended operations. KDFW-TV provides some local news and weather coverage.

KLIF is licensed to transmit a digital signal using iBiquity's "HD Radio" system but stopped in 2009. Because the license to broadcast digital "HD Radio" is perpetual, the station could resume digital broadcasts at any time. Meanwhile, this station's signal had been retransmitted on sister station KLIF-FM-HD2. KLIF-FM temporarily stopped its digital (HD Radio) simulcast in late November 2011 and resumed in early January 2012. As of February 2013, the simulcast has been moved to KSCS-HD2.

For many years, KLIF ran 5,000 watts of power around the clock from a transmitter site in Coppell near North Lake. In July 2016, KLIF filed an application for an FCC construction permit to diplex from the KTCK transmitter site, on Ledbetter Road in Irving, and decrease night power to 2,400 watts.^[8] The switch to the Irving site was made several years later. While Cumulus has profited from sales of other transmitter sites such as WMAL (AM) and KABC (AM), the North Lake land is owned by an electric utility and was rented by the 570 station.

First news/talk era

An event which foreshadowed KLIF's future success in the news/talk format was the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Even though it was a Top 40 station, KLIF News was always quick to report news bulletins when they came in. The station was one of the first media outlets on the air with reports of the shooting.^[9]

KLIF 1190 AM changed to talk radio during the early 1980s and became one of the market's leading talk radio stations before other competitors soon emerged. KRLD, its primary competitor during the mid and late 1980s, was mostly all news but with talk shows nights and weekends.

KLIF had a "classic" lineup of hosts.^[10] Kevin McCarthy, with a more centrist point of view, held the midday spot with interviews and conversational radio. David Gold had the late afternoon shift with his brand of conservatism. The station's morning show featured Norm Hitzges on sports. Up until then, sports talk had primarily aired in afternoons and evenings in most U.S. cities. That lineup made the station one of the most respected Dallas-Fort Worth talk radio stations.^[11] Community leaders and politicians listened regularly, according to a Dallas magazine report.

It was during this time when KLIF achieved its highest ratings ever as a news-talk station, the only time it ever cracked the Top 10 after its Top 40 heyday.^[12]

During the 1995 OJ Simpson trials, KLIF simulcasted the audio of KDFI’s trial wrap ups.

Competition in the form of all-sports radio began to hurt KLIF's ratings. Other stations offered more opinionated talk show hosts. As a result, the station's ratings plummeted, barely garnering a 1.0 share.

Flip to all-news blocks, return to mostly talk

Cumulus Media acquired Citadel Broadcasting in late 2011, bringing KLIF and its larger rival WBAP-AM-FM under common ownership. To reflect the common ownership between the two channels, KLIF began swapping programming with WBAP and retooled its AM/PM drive to an all-news radio format, designed to compete against CBS Radio-owned KRLD.^[13]

KLIF airs Fox News Radio's top-of-the-hour newscasts. Afternoon host Chris Krok was transferred to WBAP for a local talk show in the evening hours, while morning host Jeff Bolton was dismissed. The weekday lineup for KLIF includes the local 'DFW Morning News with Dave Williams', Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Coast to Coast AM. KLIF replaced 'The Dana Show' with The Markley, Van Camp and Robbins Show in early 2022.^[14] KLIF also serves as an overflow for NFL on Westwood One Sports in case sister sports station KTCK-AM/FM airs local sporting events (e.g. Dallas Stars NHL games) on the same evening.

Former hosts

Hosts previously heard on KLIF include David Gold, Norm Hitzges, and Kevin McCarthy.