Although the KFVS call letters appear to stand for "Five States", they were actually randomly assigned by then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.

In 1997, AFLAC sold its entire broadcasting division, including KFVS, to a group headed by Retirement Systems of Alabama.

The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion—in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom—resulted in KFVS and WQTV/WQWQ gaining new sister stations in nearby markets, including NBC/ABC affiliates KYTV and KSPR-LD in Springfield and ABC/Fox affiliate WBKO in Bowling Green, in addition to its current Raycom sister stations.

The newscasts of ABC affiliate WSIL-TV focus exclusively on Southern Illinois, from studios in Carterville, and it does not even mention the market's other two primary cities (Cape Girardeau and Paducah) in its on-air legal identification.

KFVS offers secondary coverage of Southern Illinois from a newsroom on East Plaza Drive in Carterville near WSIL.

However, that program was produced by WPSD, so it featured more of a regional summary of headlines since it originated from the NBC outlet's facility in Kentucky.

[11] Unlike other outsourced news arrangements at Sinclair-owned television stations, KBSI features the same graphics scheme and music package as seen on this CBS outlet.

In instances of severe weather (most notably during a tornado warning in the viewing area), KBSI may simulcast live coverage from KFVS if an event occurs outside the prime time newscast.

On October 3, 2010, WPSD brought back its own newscast at 9 p.m. known as The Nine to both of its digital subchannels which is seen every night, except Saturdays, for a half-hour, until it was canceled in 2019.

KFVS serves more than fifty counties in four states including all of southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, and northwestern Tennessee.