KSTE

The station that today is KSTE was first planned on April 10, 1981, when Minority Communications of California filed an application for a music and talk station on 650 kHz in Rancho Cordova. Minority's principals, Mary Forbes, Paul Neuhoff, and Robert W. O'Leary, also owned WQIZ and WDWQ in St. George, South Carolina. The construction permit was given the call sign KMCE in 1987. The station signed on the air in April 1991 as a Spanish-language outlet, simulcasting KRCX (1110 AM). While still owned by Minority Communications of California, KMCE was programmed by Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting, owner of KRCX and KRXQ (93.7 FM) in Roseville, under a time brokerage agreement. The call sign was changed to KRDX that June.

The station was sold to Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting in December 1992 for $1 million; the deal was originally reached in 1991. The acquisition required a waiver of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership rules because of the overlap of the signals of KMCE, KRCX, and KSRO in Santa Rosa, as well as plans to sell KRCX. Ahead of the sale's completion, in November 1992, the call sign was changed to KSTE and the format switched to news/talk, carrying ABC News Radio for hourly newscasts.

In April 1996, Fuller-Jeffrey agreed to sell KSTE to American Radio Systems (ARS) for $7.25 million; ARS was also in the process of acquiring KCTC and KYMX at the time. That June, ARS turned around and swapped KSTE, along with $33 million, to Chancellor Broadcasting, owner of KFBK, KGBY, and KHYL, in exchange for WEAT, WEAT-FM, and WOLL in West Palm Beach, Florida. The sale was completed in October 1997, by which time Chancellor Broadcasting had itself merged with Evergreen Media to form Chancellor Media.

Chancellor Media and Capstar Broadcasting announced in August 1998 that they would merge (Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst was a major shareholder in both companies); upon the merger's completion in July 1999, the combined company was named AMFM Inc. AMFM was in turn acquired by Clear Channel Communications (forerunner to iHeartMedia) in a deal announced on October 4, 1999, and completed in August 2000. Through these ownership changes, KSTE's talk format remained in place, making it a rare radio station that, except for its first two years, has remained with the same format for its entire history.

Armstrong & Getty

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty joined KSTE in 1998 and now have one of the highest rated morning radio shows in Northern California. They can also be heard on radio stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and other cities in the West. Armstrong & Getty is the only locally based weekday talk show on KSTE.

Sports

KSTE was the former home of the Sacramento River Cats baseball team, before it moved to KIFM.

On February 14, 2025, the Athletics (A's) baseball team announced that KSTE would be the team's flagship station, following their temporary move from Oakland to West Sacramento as part of their long-term relocation to Las Vegas. In addition to KSTE, games are aired on the "A's Cast" stream on iHeartRadio and on the A's Radio Network. KSTE replaced KHTK as the A's Sacramento radio outlet; the move also resulted in KAHI in Auburn and KESP in Modesto being dropped as network affiliates.