It is owned by the News-Press & Gazette Company, alongside El Centro–licensed Fox/ABC/CW+ affiliate KECY-TV (channel 9); NPG also provides certain services to Yuma-licensed dual CBS/NBC affiliate KYMA-DT (channel 13) through a shared services agreement (SSA) with Imagicomm Communications.

The three stations share studios on South 4th Avenue in downtown Yuma, with an advertising sales office on West Main Street in El Centro; KESE-LD's transmitter is located southeast of Yuma.

Prior to the sign-on of the station, KSWT (now KYMA-DT) had a secondary affiliation with Telemundo, carrying some of the network's programs in the late night hours; the full Telemundo schedule could only be viewed over-the-air in western portions of the California side of the market via San Diego/Tijuana affiliate XHAS-TV (now a Canal 66 affiliate) or on some cable providers in the area via the network's national feed.

In September 2006, KESE-LP was identified as a singleton applicant for a companion digital LPTV signal on UHF channel 40.

On April 19, 2021, KESE-LP was licensed for digital operation on channel 35, changing its call sign to KESE-LD.