KLAV ran a middle-of-the-road (MOR) format until the late 1970s. In early 1979, at the peak of the disco craze, the station endeared itself "Disco 1-2-3 KLAV". KLAV evolved into a Top 40 format in the early 1980 under then program director Ted Ziegenbusch.[2]
It played a lot of R&B/Urban music that key rival Top 40 station, 98.5 KLUC, would not play at the time. KLAV was the first commercial station to play rap/hip-hop music in Las Vegas. In 1985 the station briefly switched to an easy-listening format and changed its call letters to KEZD but returned to its traditional KLAV name and time-brokered format by 1987.[3]
KLAV previously broadcast from atop the former Bob Stupak's Vegas World Hotel & Casino until its closure in 2000. The station broadcast in a few locations around the Las Vegas Valley but eventually settled down at its current West Sahara Avenue location.
In August 2012, KLAV was sold by Hemisphere Broadcasting to Lotus Broadcasting.[4] In April 2015, KLAV flipped to a Regional Mexican format as La Caliente.[4]
In April 2017, while announcing that it had acquired the radio rights to the Vegas Golden Knights, Lotus announced that KLAV's FM transmitter K255CT would switch to a simulcast of KRLV.[5]
In 2019, KLAV relaunched as "La Ranchera 1230 AM", emphasizing ranchero music.
In August 2020, as part of the rebrand of KRLV as Raider Nation Radio, its sports betting-oriented sports radio format The Game moved to 1230; its schedule would largely carry the Vegas Stats & Information Network.[6][7] The same month, it was announced that KLAV would carry the games of the Golden Knights' American Hockey League affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights.[8] In February 2025, the station rebranded as VSiN Las Vegas 1230 The Game to place a larger emphasis on its affiliation.[7]
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