KJEL signed on October 20, 1973[1] on 1080 kHz with a format of middle of the road music and news programming under the ownership of Risner Broadcasting.

[4] By 1981, KJEL had affiliated with the ABC Entertainment Network and changed to a country music format while retaining its news programming, with only 10 percent of its programming being simulcast with KJEL-FM;[5] the following year, the two stations began simulcasting full-time.

[8][9] By then, the FM station, which had become KIRK, was programming a country music format separate from KJEL.

[11] On December 1, 1996, the call letters were changed to KBNN,[12] and the station took on a talk radio format.

[13] In March 2007, GoodRadio.TV LLC agreed to buy the Shepherd Group's stations, including KBNN, for $30.6 million.