The two stations share studios on South 14th Street in western Abilene; KTAB-TV's transmitter is located on Texas State Highway 36 in neighboring Callahan County.

It was built by a consortium headed by Bill Terry, who had been KRBC-TV's general manager, and several of that station's on-air personalities moved to the new channel 32.

[4] Picking up CBS gave the new station, designated KTAB, an immediate audience draw: most Dallas Cowboys football games.

[5] In staffing KTAB, Terry poached a number of key employees from KRBC-TV, then the dominant news station in Abilene.

After the Minneapolis-based International Broadcasting Corporation,[11] owned by stockholder Thomas Scallen, acquired KTAB in 1984,[12][13] the station's news ratings continued to grow.

[16][17] Under Shamrock, KTAB continued to be the news leader in Abilene, though KTXS made inroads with younger viewers and won more regional awards.

[30] In 2014, KTAB added Telemundo to its 32.2 digital subchannel, three years after low-power station KTES-LP dropped the network in 2011 to join This TV.