On January 14, 1950, a group of five investors trading as the Fort Stockton Broadcasting Company applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to build a new daytime-only radio station on 860 kHz with a power of 250 watts.

The FCC granted the construction permit three months later on April 13,[3] but while the investors hoped to get KFST going by August 1,[4] the station remained off the air.

[5] The FCC opened an investigation into the ownership interests of both stations in March 1951 after coming into possession of a letter written by Lyon that indicated possible unauthorized transfers of control, which had never received commission approval.

It proposed a hearing into the Big Spring station and the revocation of the KFST permit,[6] leading another company to apply for the frequency.

[16] Hawkins sold KFST and KPJH to George Day and Roy Parker in March 1983, starting four years of ownership changes that ended with Ken Ripley and William Gail Garlitz as owners by 1987.