In 1969, the station changed hands again, this time acquired by Entertainment Communications, Inc. KBRG carried a multi-ethnic programming format, with music and talk shows in German, Chinese, Italian, Filipino, Arabic, Armenian and Spanish.

KBRG would switch to Regional Mexican music (as "Caballero Spanish Radio"), the market's only full-power Spanish-language FM station at that time.

The station adopted radio consultant Mike Joseph's Hot Hits Top 40 music format, with the call letters switching to KITS.

Seven air personalities were recruited during a nationwide search, coming from stations such as XETRA in San Diego-Tijuana, KBEQ-FM in Kansas City, WXGT in Columbus, Ohio, and WCAU-FM in Philadelphia.

The format featured a short playlist of only current hit songs, with heavy repetition, frequent jingles and fast-talking air personalities.

The original weekday DJ lineup on "Hot Hits KITS" consisted of program director Jeff Hunter 6–9a.m., followed by Doug Ritter 9a.m.–Noon, Gary Robbins Noon–3p.m., Todd Parker 3–7p.m., Richard Sands 7–midnight, and Rick Neal (George Fryer) midnight–6am.

The KITS studios were a popular place with celebrities; visits were common from movie and TV stars such as Bette Midler, Tom Cruise, Pat Morita, George Takei, Anthony Perkins, and others.

It remained a mainstream CHR station but began a gradual musical shift, incorporating more modern rock songs into the Top 40 playlist.

"Live 105" became a national influence on the format and the sole source of radio exposure for such artists in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The DJ lineup remained relatively stable from 1986 through 1997, and included Masters, Big Rick Stuart, Mark Hamilton, Roland West, with Alex Bennett and Lori Thompson doing a comedy/talk show in the morning.

The modern rock format changed nationwide by the 1990s, moving away from the dance-leaning, synthesizer-based European sound to a harder, guitar-driven direction with artists such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.

After numerous years of success, ratings for KITS began to dip during the late 1990s, as Infinity Broadcasting's KOME in nearby San Jose switched to a harder modern rock format, coupled with carrying the syndicated Howard Stern Show in the mornings.

Big Rick Stuart continued in afternoons until being let go in 2000, severing the last remaining thread to the original incarnation of "Live 105", though Steve Masters returned briefly to host a midday specialty show.

By the end of 2001, KITS saw a drastic reduction in listeners due to an unpopular music assortment that was being played, which included some hip hop and heavy metal titles.

The station regained its reputation as a leader in new music and respect in the industry, winning numerous awards for creativity and playing new bands before they caught on nationally.

The most notable of the changes was airing the syndicated Kevin and Bean show, originating from co-owned Alternative station KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, as the new morning drive time program (5:30–10 a.m.) beginning January 3, 2011.

By December, Megan moved back to her previous midday shift, and in April 2013, Steve Masters returned to the station to host the morning show.

[17] The show has received press coverage for some of its stunts, including a flash mob parade for competitive eating champion Matt Stonie.

[19] Some of Klein's most notable interviews include Drew Barrymore,[20] Dave Grohl,[21] Ronda Rousey,[22] and Lisa Johnson, an African-American woman who made headlines after getting kicked off the Napa Valley Wine Train.

However, Klein's show (and later, the hot talk format as a whole) would be dropped before its premiere after attracting controversy for an advertisement that made light of suicide by bridge jumping.

[34] On September 14, 2020, Entercom implemented the roll-out of their nationwide network programming across all their alternative music formatted stations, which originates from central hubs in New York City and Los Angeles.

[35][36] By the end of the alternative format's run, the majority of on-air personalities and specialty shows originated from outside the San Francisco Bay Area region.

[39][40] On June 2, 2023, the station began stunting, dropping all references to the Dave FM branding and imaging, with mostly cold segues between songs and commercial breaks, punctuated by promos and sweepers highlighting the history and significance of the Live 105 format (and by the 5th, including montages of music related to the Bay Area in some fashion), teasing an event to occur the following Monday, June 5.

On the 3rd, Audacy officially announced that KITS would revive the Live 105 branding at 10:53 a.m. on June 5, with a gold-leaning modern rock format featuring "music from every era of [KITS's] history as the Bay Area’s Alternative" mirroring similar moves done with heritage alternative stations in major markets, such as WKQX in Chicago and WNNX in Atlanta, in the previous year.

The final song on "Dave FM" was "Any Way You Want It" by Journey; the first on the revived "Live 105" was "Welcome To Paradise" by Green Day (by coincidence, both bands were founded in the Bay Area).

The station's winter concert, "Not So Silent Night", formerly known as the "Green Christmas Ball" and "Electronica Hanukkah", occurred in early December and has featured such bands as Linkin Park, Muse, Green Day, Kasabian, The Killers, My Chemical Romance, Smashing Pumpkins, System of a Down, Blink-182, David Bowie, Franz Ferdinand, The White Stripes, Silversun Pickups, Modest Mouse, Cake, Paramore, Angels & Airwaves, Spoon, Jimmy Eat World, Death Cab for Cutie, and Everclear.

The Halloween-themed concert featured three stages of entertainment, having included performances over the years by The Faint, Basement Jaxx, Crystal Method, DJ Steve Aoki, Crystal Castles, MSTRKRFT, Underworld, DJ Shadow, and many other electronic and rock artists that were regularly featured on the station's Saturday night show, Subsonic.

Other nominees included WBCN in Boston, KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, KTBZ-FM in Houston, KNDD in Seattle, and WWDC in Washington, D.C.[43] Members of the Live 105 programming and air staff have also received awards.