The station was launched on November 1, 1981 by Sainte Broadcasting Group. It began as a Spanish International Network affiliate from noon until about 1 a.m. daily. In the mornings, it carried religious programming such as Jimmy Swaggart, The PTL Club and The 700 Club weekdays and others on weekends. While the station was primarily a Spanish-language broadcaster, the religious programming was in English. The station was put up for sale in the winter of 1986 and sold to Ackerley Broadcasting in May 1986. In June the station changed formats to an English-language conventional general-entertainment format. The station added cartoons from 6 to 9 a.m. weekdays. The religious shows, held over from the Sainte days aired from 9 a.m. to about noon. The afternoon initially consisted of a movie and eventually classic sitcoms. By about 2:30 p.m. the station aired cartoons, followed by more off-network sitcoms by 5 p.m., a prime-time movie, and a blend of sitcoms, dramas, and movies into late night. On weekends, the station ran additional movies, and the Sunday morning religious shows remained for many more years.
KCBA joined the Fox network at its inception in October 1986 and remains so today. Like most Fox stations and independents, KCBA moved away from older sitcoms and added talk shows, reality shows, and court shows by the mid-1990s. In 1994, KCBA entered into a local marketing agreement with what was then KCCN-TV, which was then owned by Harron Communications. KCBA took over the operations of KCCN, which changed its call letters to KION-TV two years later. Although KCCN/KION was longer-established, KCBA functioned as the senior partner in the LMA during the years that Ackerley owned Channel 35. Ackerley bought KION outright in 1998 and sold KCBA to a pair of investors doing business as Seal Rock Broadcasters and Utica Television Partners. The transactions were completed on January 12, 2000; however, Ackerley retained control of KCBA through an LMA with its new owners. As a result, Channel 46 became the senior partner in the LMA. Cartoons were phased out in 2001, and in 2002 newscasts were added. KION and the LMA for KCBA were sold to Clear Channel Communications as part of a group deal. In addition, KCBA and KION shared a secondary affiliation with UPN from 1995 until 2003. until December 1, 2013
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel Communications, the owner of KION at the time, entered into an agreement to spin off its entire television stations group to Newport Television, a broadcasting holding company controlled by the private equity firmProvidence Equity Partners. Newport Television subsequently announced the sale of KION and its LMA with KCBA to Cowles Publishing Company. This transaction was finalized on May 7, 2008. On June 5, 2013, Entravision Communications, owner of Univision affiliate KSMS-TV, UniMás affiliate KDJT-CA, and radio stations KLOK-FM and KSES-FM, announced that it would take over KCBA's operations through a joint sales agreement on or around December 1.
Digital television
Digital channel
Analog-to-digital conversion
KCBA shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 35, on February 17, 2009, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 13. Through the use of PSIP digital-television receivers show the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 35.
News and programming
Newscasts
Until November 30, 2013, KCBA aired one newscast, Central Coast News at 10, produced by KION. The broadcast was on-air for an hour on weeknights and a half-hour on weekends. As of May 2011, this newscast was broadcast in high definition for the in-studio portions, with live field reports in unconverted 16:9 widescreen standard definition. The newscast was anchored by Jon K. Brent on weeknights and Susanne Brunner on weekends, while Norm Hoffman and Alex Snyder did the weather. KCBA used additional news personnel from KION for news and KCOY for "California Sports" segments. This newscast moved to KION's 46.2 subchannels as of December 1, 2013 while KCBA now simulcasts the KTVU Mornings on 2 morning show and The 10:00 News on KTVU Fox 2 at 10:00 p.m. daily from Fox-owned KTVU in Oakland. Notable former on-air staff includes Craig Kilborn, former late-night talk show host and SportsCenter anchor on ESPN, who was the sports anchor in the early 1990s. Another staff member, Alex Witt, anchor for MSNBC, was a reporter and anchor from 1990 to 1992.
Syndicated shows
As of the 2018–19 TV season, syndicated programming includes Right This Minute, Last Man Standing, Mom, and The Big Bang Theory.
