During the 1950s, KCSJ-TV was one of two full-time NBC affiliates serving Southern Colorado—the other being KRDO-TV (channel 13) in Colorado Springs, about 40 miles (64 km) to the north.

At this point, KCSJ-TV moved its transmitter closer to Colorado Springs and became the area's sole NBC affiliate, with KRDO-TV switching to ABC.

When channel 5 moved its transmitter closer to Colorado Springs, it had to conform its signal to protect KFBC-TV (now KGWN-TV) in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

This posed a problem for KOAA, as the Colorado Springs area began an unprecedented period of growth that continues to this day while Pueblo remained relatively unchanged.

KOAA finally rebounded in 1977 when the Evening Post Publishing Company of Charleston, South Carolina, bought the station and brought in former ABC executive John Gilbert as general manager (the licensee would be renamed Sangre De Cristo Communications Incorporated).

Soon after Gilbert's arrival, KOAA opened a studio and sales office in Colorado Springs and steadily beefed up its news operation.

In 1980, KOAA signed on K30AA, a 132,500-watt translator on channel 30 in Colorado Springs, bringing a clear signal to the northern part of that city for the first time ever.

Among the Colorado Springs–Pueblo TV stations that signed on originally in the 1950s, KOAA was the last station to start a morning newscast, which began in January 1996 as an hour-long program leading into NBC's Today show, and nudging KRDO-TV to expand the length of its newscast to a half hour at the time (it ran for 15 minutes since its 1983 sign on) and did it one week before the debut of KOAA's morning news program.

Starting in 2001, KOAA used the NewsFirst 5/30 name for its morning and midday newscasts but continued to use the Eyewitness News brand for all other dayparts until February 8, 2002 (the first day of the 2002 Winter Olympics).

It began broadcasting "NewsFirst NOW" (originally named "WeatherFirst NOW" at launch in 2004) as a digital subchannel (5.2) after only having it on local cable systems earlier.