Licensed to Safford, Arizona, United States, the station is currently owned by Reed Richins, through licensee Double-R-Communications LLC, and features programming from Westwood One and ESPN Radio.

[2] KATO carries local high school sports and Eastern Arizona College football and basketball.

KATO was built and signed on by veteran eastern Arizona radio station owner Willard Shoecraft.

When it came on air on May 5, 1961, it restored radio service to Safford, which had been lost on October 29, 1960, when the Safford-based Gila Broadcasting chain—and its local station KGLU—shuttered operations in the face of a pending FCC license revocation hearing.

[3] Shoecraft had started his radio career in 1939 at KGLU, working 70 hours a week for $10 pay.