It airs a sports radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KPOJ airs two local sports shows on weekdays, Rip City Mornings with Justin Myers from 6 to 9 a.m. and Rip City Drive with Dwight and Chad in afternoon drive time.

But to protect other stations on 620 AM from interference, it reduces power at night to 10,000 watts and uses a directional antenna with a two-tower array.

[2] On December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category.

The debut program included singing by Chicago Grand Opera soprano Edith Mason.

[14][15] On November 11, 1928, as part of the implementation of a major nationwide reallocation under the provisions of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, KGW was assigned to a "regional" frequency, 620 kHz.

Among KGW's early personalities was Mel Blanc, a local musician and vocalist featured on the "Hoot Owls" variety program.

KGW-TV channel 8 is now owned by Tegna, Inc. As network programming moved from radio to television, AM stations began airing music formats.

But in the 1980s, as younger listeners tuned to FM radio for their favorite songs, KGW's ratings declined.

The frequent changing of call letters continued, with the station becoming KEWS ("K-News") in 1997, KDBZ ("The Buzz") in 2000, and KTLK ("K-Talk") in 2002.

[25][26] The KPOJ call sign originated at what is now KKPZ AM 1330, which for many years was the Mutual Broadcasting System's Portland affiliate.

Hosts included Marc Maron Rachel Maddow, Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Janeane Garofalo, Sam Seder and Mike Malloy.

It also served as broadcast home for Thom Hartmann with Carl Wolfson and Christine Alexander doing a locally focused morning show for a time.

Fans of the progressive talk radio format immediately started a campaign to "Save KPOJ", with thousands of listeners signing a petition to the station's owner, Clear Channel Communications.

The station had already aired some Blazers games during the 2012–13 season when there were conflicts with KEX's broadcasts of the Oregon State Beavers.

It has carried many Fox Sports hosts, including Rich Eisen, Jay Mohr and Clay Travis.

The lineup included a television simulcast of Rip City Mornings with Dan Sheldon and Nigel Burton from 6-9 a.m., and the Rip City Drive with Travis Demers and Chad Doing 3-6 p.m. A new midday show with Dwight Jaynes and Aaron Fentress was added from 12-3 p.m..