History

Work on this station began when the Federal Communications Commission issued a construction permit for a new AM station to McMinnville Broadcasting Company on September 9, 1948. The new station was authorized to broadcast with 1,000 watts of power, daytime-only, on a frequency of 1260 kHz as KMCM. McMinnville Broadcasting owner Jack B. Bladine was also the publisher of the Telephone-Register newspaper in McMinnville. The corporate name on the permit was changed to Yamhill Broadcasters in December 1948.

Physical construction of the broadcast tower began in January 1949 with work on the radio studio building commencing in March 1949. KMCM began testing its transmitter on June 11, 1949, and started regular broadcast operation at 11:00am on June 18, 1949, with a ceremonial first broadcast at a local theater inaugurated by McMinnville mayor R.H. Windisher. The station's initial format was a mix of local and syndicated block programming under the slogan "Always good listening". KMCM was authorized to add nighttime service with a 850 watt directional signal on November 4, 1949

-From Wikipedia