KREG-TV was launched January 28, 1984, by Western Slope Communications, a group of investors, as independent station KCWS[2] on VHF channel 3.

[3] It promised the best selection of off-network and first-run syndicated programming available; plus an aggressive regional news operation that pioneered the first long-form morning newscast on Western Slope television.

In 1987, W. Russell Withers Jr., owner of KREX-TV, the CBS and NBC affiliate in Grand Junction, bought KCWS;[4] it returned to the air September 16, 1987, as KREG-TV, a satellite of KREX.

On December 19, 2013, Gray Television, who a month earlier announced its purchase of Hoak Media,[6][7] sold KREG and its sister stations in Grand Junction (as part of Gray's divestment to comply with FCC rules because it was the owner of KKCO and operator of KJCT in the Grand Junction market) to Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $33.5 million.

[11] KREG went dark on January 5, 2017, saying that ice and snow accumulation and the risk of avalanches had rendered the station's transmitter inaccessible, preventing repairs.