The station was first licensed on July 29, 1922, as WKAA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to the Republican Times and H. F. Parr, for operation on the "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz).

In January 1923 the Mississippi River was established as the new boundary, thus after this date Iowa stations generally received call letters starting with "K" instead of "W".

[7] Following the establishment of the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), stations were initially issued a series of temporary authorizations starting on May 3, 1927.

[8] In addition, they were informed that if they wanted to continue operating, they needed to file a formal license application by January 15, 1928, as the first step in determining whether they met the new "public interest, convenience, or necessity" standard.

[9] On May 25, 1928, the FRC issued General Order 32, which notified 164 stations, including KWCR, that "From an examination of your application for future license it does not find that public interest, convenience, or necessity would be served by granting it.

[12] This new KSO became an NBC Blue Network affiliate, carrying its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio.

KSO changed frequencies one last time as part of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement of 1941, moving from 1430 to 1460 kHz.

On September 1, 1989, KSO began simulcasting KGGO-FM's album rock format, taking on the KGGO call sign in the process.

On January 14, 2020, KXNO laid off its programming director, a producer, and four on-air personalities as part of a larger wave of layoffs by iHeartMedia due to a corporate restructuring.

Fales told Rolling Stone that the threat of the station's programming of local interest being replaced by nationally-syndicated personalities, with no adequate alternative available, was a disservice to the region's "passionate sports fans".

On March 20, 2009, things boiled over in the KXNO studios as Tirrell initiated a verbal tirade, using harsh words that was heard briefly on the air.

[27] On April 20, a new show hosted by WHO-TV personalities Keith Murphy and Andy Fales debuted in the 2-4 p.m. time slot.