Fox 9's History

Founded in 1965 as a satellite station of KBLU-TV, it later separated in 1968 under the call letters KECC-TV as a CBS affiliate. The station operated as KECC-TV from 1968 to 1981.  The station affiliation changed to ABC in 1979 and then changed back to CBS in 1984.  In 1990, KECY started a low power station, KDBA, which was licensed to broadcast in the Indio and Palm Desert area. In 1994, KECY and KDBA became the first CBS affiliates in the country to switch to the FOX Network. 

KECY's first studios were located on State Street in El Centro, California. In the 1970’s, it moved into the former Bank of America Building on Main Street. In the summer of 2002, the main office and broadcast facilities were moved to Yuma, Arizona.

Esquire Corporation, which published Esquire Magazine, bought the station in 1980 and changed the call letters to KECY-TV in 1981. In 1984 John Smart, one of the original owners of Esquire Magazine, sold the magazine to Simon and Shuster, and in turn they sold KECY-TV to him. At the time of the purchase of the station, John Smart formed Pacific Media Corporation. Judge Robinson O. Everett and the Estate of Katharine R. Everett purchased the stock of Pacific Media Corporation in March of 1989.

From February 2000 through September 2006, the WB affiliate for the El Centro - Yuma market was operated out of the KECY-TV facility. When the WB network became the CW, the station elected not to pick up the newly created network and instead on January 1, 2007, launched a full-time ABC affiliate in the El Centro – Yuma market. ABC programming can be seen on KECY-DT2 digital sub channel and Time Warner Cable channel 5. KECY-TV was one of the first stations in the nation to launch a major network affiliate on it's digital sub channel.

The station also operates the Spanish language Telemundo affiliate in the market on its digital sub channel 9.3. KESE, Telemundo can also be viewed over-the-air in Yuma on channel 35. This station was launched in April of 2002.

KECY began broadcasting in high definition in 2006, becoming the first station in the Yuma-El Centro market to broadcast in HD.  KECY broadcasts FOX Primetime and FOX Sports in high-definition.