That fall, the station was purchased by Stephens College and moved to Columbia (with Rollestone going on to found KVOO, now KOTV).

[2] On September 24, 1935, the Federal Communications Commission approved transfer of the station from Nelson R. Darragh, of St. Louis, to Luther L. Hill, of Des Moines.

Mahlon Aldridge Jr. was appointed manager in 1945, purchasing the station in 1948 in partnership with the publisher of the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Aldridge sold his interest to his partner's son in the 1980s, and competition caused the station's audience share to fall.

KFRU was the longtime flagship station of play-by-play broadcasts of Missouri Tiger football and basketball teams.

Prior to the founding of university-owned station KBIA-FM in 1971, KFRU was a primary training ground for broadcast journalism students at the university.