The original permittee had intended to make channel 31 a Spanish-language station, but when census figures revealed fewer Hispanics lived in Denver than estimated, the group sold the permit.

[3][4] While the commission adjudicated the applications, channel 31 in Denver made television history in February 1980 as the first ever satellite-fed translator with a direct program source, KA2XEG (also known as K31AA), was launched by the Spanish International Network.

While Sandoval suspected that was an undercount of what he estimated were 125,000 Hispanics, the reliance of advertisers and other groups on census figures convinced the company that there was no market at the time for a Spanish-language station in Denver.

The reorganized ownership shifted its plan to operate a full-service English-language independent station incorporating programming for Hispanics in Denver.

At that time, work was already underway on constructing a new tower atop Lookout Mountain and remodeling the former studios of KWGN-TV at 550 Lincoln Street.

[8][6] Construction stretched into 1983, intermittently affected by weather at the transmitter site,[7] and the station began broadcasting on August 10[9]—23 days late due to technical issues.

[12] Camellia City Telecasters launched a third independent station in October 1983, KPDX serving the Portland, Oregon, market.

[13] It then sued Tribune Broadcasting and Chris-Craft Industries, alleging that the two groups (which owned KWGN-TV in Denver and KPTV in Portland, their two independents' chief competition) had pooled their buying power and denied Camellia City the ability to bid on syndicated shows for their stations.

[19] While a buyer was found for KTXL in December 1988,[20] KDVR was sold to Chase Communications of Hartford, Connecticut, in March 1989 as the company's third television station.

[21] The sale announcement came days before founder Sandoval was killed in a car accident at the age of 57;[22] when KDVR moved from 550 Lincoln to a building at 5th and Wazee streets later that year, it was dedicated in his honor.

[26] In 1991, Chase Broadcasting announced it would sell some or all of its properties to invest in new business ventures in Eastern Europe after the end of the Cold War, particularly successful cable television systems in Poland.

[28] Chase was approved by the FCC in 1992 for a construction permit to build channel 22 in Fort Collins (located 63.5 miles (102.2 km) north of Denver) as a satellite of KDVR.

[38] In July 1995, when the FCC granted Fox approval to buy KDVR and two additional stations in Boston and Memphis, the foreign-ownership issue was resolved, removing a roadblock to purchases by the company.

[39][40] Even then, Fox's desire for a lower channel number in Denver was the subject of rumors; one October 1995 article in Variety suggested that Fox wanted to sell KDVR to Qwest Broadcasting, a company backed by Quincy Jones and Tribune, and move its affiliation to KWGN-TV, leaving KDVR with The WB.

On February 21, 1998, the company announced it would build a 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2) facility on the corner of Speer and Lincoln—the site from which KWGN-TV and KDVR had each started broadcasting, 30 years apart.

It was one of two markets where Local TV-owned Fox stations and Tribune-owned CW affiliates would share resources, alongside KTVI–KPLR-TV in St. Louis, and built on an existing management relationship between the companies.

[51][52] Tribune sold the KDVR–KWGN studio to Urban Renaissance Group, a real estate firm from Seattle, in 2017, continuing to lease it back under a long-term agreement.

[56] Both transactions were nullified on August 9, 2018, following Tribune Media's termination of the merger agreement[57] and FCC chairman Ajit Pai's public rejection of the deal.

[68][69] In July 2001, a year after starting up, KDVR was beating ABC affiliate KMGH-TV, the traditional third-rated station, in the ratings, even though their newscasts aired at different times.

[74] Good Day Colorado was initially a 2½-hour newscast beginning at 5:30 a.m.[75] but expanded to four hours (5–9 a.m.) by May 2006, when founding news director Bill Dallman departed.

[77] After entering into the local marketing agreement, major changes were made to KDVR and KWGN's evening news programming that reduced overlap between the stations.

[83] Martino, who worked at KHOW radio concurrent with his time at KDVR, was dismissed in 2011 after he announced he was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy; he sued the station alleging discrimination, a matter which was settled in 2014.