KGON's offices and studios are located south of Downtown Portland on Bancroft Street.

The two stations were owned by the Cascade Broadcasting Company, simulcasting a talk radio format.

[8] On February 1, 1974, the new owners changed the format to album-oriented rock under new call sign KGON.

The flip put KGON in competition with KINK, which went on the air in 1968 as a freeform radio station, along with KQIV, which signed on in 1972 playing progressive rock.

KGON was programmed with a more structured format, playing only the most popular tracks from the top-selling rock albums.