Licensed to Palo Alto, California, United States, the station serves the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

KDOW has broadcast some local college sports, specifically San Jose State Spartans football and Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball.

The station was first licensed on October 4, 1949, as KIBE, owned and operated by Donald K. Deming and Millard Kibbe, founders of the D&K Broadcasting Company.

[13][11] Beginning 1997, KBPA broadcast local women's basketball from Stanford University and the professional team San Jose Lasers.

[15] On February 15, 1999, the station became KBZS and changed its format to business news and financial advice; its previous personal achievement talk shows moved to evenings.

[21] KBZS began broadcasting the Metropolitan Opera in December 1999 after KDFC dropped the show for not being able to carry it on tape delay.

[26] Beginning in 2003, KSFB broadcast select San Jose Giants minor league baseball and Santa Clara University men's basketball.

[37] In November 2005, the FCC granted KNTS a construction permit to increase its power to 50 kW day and night and use a transmitter in Hayward.

[39] On July 1, 2008, 1220 AM picked up its present call letters KDOW, resuming its previous business news and financial advice format.

The towers would have allowed KDOW to have a stronger signal for a $5 million one-time fee in addition to an annual $60,000 lease.

[49] Beginning in 2017, KDOW broadcast the majority of Santa Clara basketball games, with sister station KTRB occasionally carrying others.

[28] KDOW is owned by Salem Media Group as part of a five-station cluster of in the San Francisco Bay Area with KDIA, KDYA, KFAX, and KTRB.

The stations' studios and offices are in Fremont,[58] and its transmitter is in East Palo Alto west of the Dumbarton Bridge.