On June 23, 1972, the Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) approved an application filed by Texas Southern University to establish an educational FM radio station on the campus. Two of the main-reasons for instituting the station were:

1. to provide a professional unit in which students could be trained in the various field of radio broadcasting and
2. to increase the number of qualified professionals entering the broadcasting industry.

These goals complemented the FCC's interest in ensuring that minorities were given their fair share of jobs in the broadcast business. Broadcasters, particularly local ones, were also concerned about the under representation of minorities in the industry. Therefore, an approachable solution to the problem of producing trained experienced minority students who would eventually enter the fields of broadcasting was to reach out to the local broadcasting community for assistance to set up a training unit at TSU, which was initially housed in the Media Center located in the Martin Luther King Building and later moved to the Ben Building.

Assistance was forthcoming from station presidents and managers who approved the initiative because they realized that KTSU would benefit not only Texas Southern University but their stations as well by having a pool of qualified people from whom their businesses could select for employment. David H. Morris, then President of Houston's KNUZ and KQUE-FM, approached other stations concerning their assisting in the establishment of KTSU. Their responses were immediate and enthusiastic.

Eighteen Houston stations gave their time, money, and equipment to set up the station, and they provided broadcasting professionals who jointly planned and implemented the station which was designated as KTSU 90.0FM, having a power base of 10 watts. The stations and broadcasters involved in the venture included David H. Morris, who served as chairman of the project; Dickie Rosenfeld of KILT and KILT-FM became co-chair in charge of finance; Martin Griffin of KODA and KODA-FM, Bill Bosse of KULF, and Ron Sack of KXYZ and KAUM-FM, provided broadcast equipment; Richard Oppenheimer of KYOK assumed the responsibility of installation; Bobby Meeker of KCOH, Robert Chandler of KENR, Leroy Gloger of KIKK and KIKK­-FM, and Jack Lotz of KYNQ-FM served as committee members during planning and implementing the project. The implementation plan projected that the station would initiate the airing of programs in March 1973; however, logistical responsibilities were carried out expeditiously. KTSU-FM became fully operational two months early in January 1973.

In addition to serving as a training unit for university students, the station was also established to serve the University at the program level as well as the community by presenting various types of educational, cultural, and social programs to a primarily listening area within a 10-mile radius of the University, which basically included Third Ward Community of Houston. A 1973 survey indicated that radio was generally the preferred source of information of African Americans, particularly those with less than a high school education. By the late 70's, the station had secured an ample audience and programming increased in scope. At the same time, the station increased its power range from 10 watts to 18,500 watts. According to the 2004 Arbitron Rating Service (ARS), KTSU now has an audience of 244,700 listeners and is number one over all of Houston/Galveston stations for its Sunday format and its Friday format of Golden Oldies.