On January 1, 1968, due to new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules requiring FM stations to have separate programming from their AM counterparts, KABC-FM tried something new.

Not long after its debut, Love was dropped in favor of live, locally programmed freeform rock music at KLOS and its FM sister stations.

The initial slate of disc jockeys on KLOS includes Jeff Gonzer, J. J. Jackson, Jim Ladd, and Damion.

[8] In the spring of 1987, KLOS general manager Bill Sommers hired longtime rock radio programmer Charlie West to be the station's new program director.

[9] When West left KLOS in early 1989, Mondello assumed programming duties, directing all key decisions and overall revenue and ratings strategies.

The station maintained its fifth-place ranking overall in the market and reached the number-one position in its target young male demographics, defeating main rivals KLSX, KROQ-FM, and the upstart KQLZ (Pirate Radio).

In 1997, KLOS hired John Duncan, previously at KYYS in Kansas City, Missouri, as program director and took the station in an adult rock direction.

As part of his efforts to turn around the station, Duncan brought back Jim Ladd and hired Garth Kemp and other longtime Los Angeles radio personalities.

[11] The switch made KLOS the market's only full-time classic rock station until the launch of KSWD (100.3 The Sound) in April 2008.

Running 24 hours a day (with breaks only for Mark & Brian and Jim Ladd's show), it generally lasted about two weeks with no songs repeated.

Unlike the station's regular playlist featuring primarily classic rock hits, the A to Z also included a large number of obscure album tracks.

However, then-classic rock competitor KSWD, which hired Wilde, revamped the idea with a very similar, though shorter, compilation of familiar hits and deep tracks.

[15] On August 15, 2016, Cumulus announced that Frosty Stillwell, with whom Hamilton and Kramer have co-hosted at the same two stations, would join the duo weekday mornings effective September 6.

[16] In February 2016, KLOS launched Horns Up, a Saturday evening program hosted by Stew Herrera[17] that featured heavy metal music.

Canadian radio personality and comedy writer Greg Beharrell joined KLOS in January 2017 as a weekend host and social media content producer.

KLOS listeners contributed more than $725,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee as part of the over $2 million total raised by participating Cumulus stations.

Meruelo began operating KLOS under a local marketing agreement beginning on April 16;[21] the transaction closed on July 17.

The station also marked the return of the classic rock format to Los Angeles for the first time since KSWD flipped to the "K-Love" Christian music network in November 2017 as KKLQ.

Prior to landing at KLOS, Carter was heard on KACD-FM (Channel 103.1) in 2000 when it played adult album alternative (AAA) music.

[29] Marc Coppola, who moved on to KGB-FM in San Diego, was on KLOS in 1977 and reappeared when it aired Westwood One's Rock 'N Roll Never Forgets.

Cynthia Fox, former KMET and KLSX personality hosted the weekday show In Tune at Noon, featuring a daily celebration of events in rock and roll history and the news.

On Thursday mornings at midnight, Ladd devoted an hour to "Headsets", which combines music with a slightly more "sonic" quality (designed to be heard with headphones, or with no background noise interfering), spoken-word poetry, and audio clips from movies and television.

Often dubbed "The Last DJ", after the Tom Petty song that was written about him, Ladd was allowed unusual latitude in selecting the music for his program.

Longden and Ladd produced the successful 1974–1975 public service radio public service announcement program voiced by many prominent Rock recording artists of the day regarding hard drug abuse awareness, "Get Off" and "Get Off II", including thirty TV PSAs, (now in the Library of Congress) and were founders of The National Association of Progressive Radio Announcers.

[34] Frank Sontag hosted a public affairs call-in talk show that aired Sunday nights and early Monday mornings.

[36] Other former KLOS personalities include Geno Michellini, "Uncle" Joe Benson, Steve Downes, and full-time fill-in Lynda Clayton.