KLIZ signed on August 6, 1946,[2] on 1400 AM under the ownership of Brainerd Broadcasting Company.[3] It joined the Mutual Broadcasting System on December 15, 1946.[4] The station moved to 1380 AM in 1956.[5]
By 1971, KLIZ was airing middle of the road and country music, and was affiliated with the NBC Radio Network.[6] In 1973, the station went to a full-time country music format.[7] It moved to a middle of the road format in 1982.[8]
Sequel Communications bought KLIZ and its FM sister station, KLIZ-FM (107.5), in 1985.[9] CD Broadcasting bought the stations in 1987[10] and changed KLIZ to a contemporary country format.[11] In 1988, news and talk programming were added, along with affiliations with the Associated Press, NBC Talknet, and the Minnesota News Network.[12] CD Broadcasting exchanged the KLIZ stations to Sioux Valley Broadcasting for KJJQ and KKQQ in Volga, South Dakota, in 1989.[13] Sports programming was added to KLIZ's format in 1992.[14]
The KLIZ stations, along with KLLR and KLLZ in Walker, were acquired by Ingstad Broadcasting in a 1994 swap that saw Sioux Valley acquire North Dakota radio stations KDDR and KOVC AM-FM from Ingstad.[15] Country music was dropped in December 1995 in favor of programming from One on One Sports.[16] In 1996, Jim Ingstad Broadcasting sold nine of its northern Minnesota stations, including KLIZ, to the Provident Investment Council;[17] the station's license was transferred to Kommerstad Communications.[18] That May, KLIZ dropped sports for a simulcast of the news/talk programming of sister station KVBR (1340 AM);[19] in November, KLIZ switched to an adult contemporary format provided by Westwood One.[20] In January 1998, KLIZ returned to a talk radio format;[21] by 2000, the station had affiliations with the USA Radio Network and Westwood One.[2]
Omni Broadcasting agreed to acquire the Kommerstad stations in 2003;[22] the purchase had been planned since 2002.[23] Shortly after Omni's BL Broadcasting subsidiary took over in 2004, BL swapped the formats of KLIZ and KVBR; KLIZ became sports radio station "The Fan", with programming being provided by the Fan Radio Network (then based out of KFAN in Minneapolis–St. Paul) and Sporting News Radio.[24] Hubbard Broadcasting announced on November 13, 2014, that it would purchase the Omni Broadcasting stations, including KLIZ;[25] the $8 million sale was completed on February 27, 2015.[26]