Originally identified by its application identification, "840720 kg", the station took call letters KPMR in February 1998.

On June 15, 2015, the studios of KPMR and KTSB-CA were broken into by former station employee Pablo Quiroz Jr., destroying computers, cars, windows, and hard drives.

Local programming includes a newscast originally called Noticias Costa Central, and recently rebranded as Noticias A Su Lado, which airs nightly at 6 and 11 p.m.[3] Competing news stations in the area announced that KPMR's news department would be shut down on December 30, 2011;[4] however, the station continues to air local newscasts.

The station's signal is multiplexed: The FCC granted KPMR a construction permit in March 2001 to build companion digital facilities to broadcast on channel 21 with 1000 kW ERP.

After two extensions of the construction permit, the station applied for and was granted Special Temporary Authority (STA) to build reduced-power facilities in October 2003.