May built the station headquarters and Mayfair Auditorium at the Mayfair Theatre (the theatre being closed in 1963, the studio demolished in 1964 due to its being declared structurally unsafe by the Iowa State Fire Marshal, and the entire building being demolished in 1966) across the street from the nursery business.

In their early teen years, the brothers and their parents would appear on KMA to sing as "The Everly Family", but by 1952, they were discovered by a talent agent, and made their way to fame in Nashville with such hit songs as "Wake Up, Little Susie".

With the high visibility KMA operated on a slogan of "Keep Millions Advised", which was adopted in early 1926, after sorting through a reported 4,000 suggestions.

The Federal Communications Commission, however, would not allow the two outlets to share call letters as the cities of Shenandoah and Omaha were too far apart (61 miles (98 km)).

[5] May Broadcasting sold both KMTV and KGUN-TV to Lee Enterprises in 1986; both stations are now owned by the E. W. Scripps Company.

Effective December 16, 2019, the May family sold the radio station and its assets to KMAland Broadcasting, LLC, a group consisting of local investors.