It had been owned by William H. Buckley, doing business as Tri-Counties Communications Inc.[5] The station had a beautiful music format, playing soft instrumental cover versions of popular adult songs.

[8] The Schuele Organization owned KRUZ for nearly a quarter century, selling it in October 1995 to Pacific Coast Communications Inc. for $3 million.

This transaction, combined with a concurrent purchase of McDonald Media Group's eight stations, marked Cumulus' debut on the West Coast.

[11] Among the DJs hired to launch KVYB are Jaime "Rico" Rangel and Daniel "Mambo" Herrejon, two Latino men who hosted the morning show at rhythmic contemporary competitor KCAQ (Q104.7) in Ventura.

The following day, KRUZ began stunting with clips of 1980s events, movies, video games, and songs.

Teasing the return of the KRUZ call letters, the montage announced that a new format would surface July 1 at 8 a.m., using snippets of such songs as "Cruisin'" by Smokey Robinson, "1985" by Bowling for Soup, and "California Love" by 2Pac.

The Vibe moved to 106.3 FM, replacing the classic hip hop format on that frequency and adjusting its own presentation from rhythmic contemporary to mainstream top 40.

[17] KRUZ's signal blankets the Coastal California counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo.