The station began broadcasting on December 1, 1986, as KULC ("Utah's Learning Channel") with a selection of telecourses for college credit from institutions across the state.

The Ogden city school system, which had long planned educational television broadcasts, agreed to acquire KVOG-TV in January 1962.

[3] Upon acquiring KVOG-TV at a final cost of $155,500, the board changed the call letters to KOET, for "Ogden Educational Television", and converted the license to noncommercial operation.

James Lavenstein agreed to buy KOET with the intention of converting it back to a commercial station;[5] the sale application stalled at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which denied it in 1970 because of the recent or discussed closure of other educational stations in northern Utah, such as Logan's short-lived KUSU-TV and the Weber County school system's KWCS-TV.

By early 1982, it was preparing an application to the FCC for channel 9, which it hoped would be a laboratory for students learning broadcast journalism and a station providing local programming.

[12] Under an agreement with the Standard Corporation, parent of the Ogden Standard-Examiner and Salt Lake City TV station KUTV, Weber State would receive financial and facilities assistance.

[14] Weber State received the construction permit in 1984;[15] the college had already proposed building a transmitter on Mount Vision in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City.

[16] In spite of corporate support and a federal grant, however, Weber State proved unable to raise the funds necessary to build channel 9.

However, channel swaps between public VHF and commercial UHF stations were controversial, leading college administrators to deny the offer.

[30] The station changed call signs to KUEN on September 10, 2004, as part of a campaign to reinforce the UEN brand for its parent organization.