The station debuted on December 3, 1955 as KRBB-TV. It was founded and owned by three men—Dr. Joe F. Rushton, W. C. Blewster, and William M. Bigley (hence the KRBB call letters)—under the company name South Arkansas TV Company. In 1957, Representative Oren Harris owned the station for one year with Rushston, Blewstar, and Bigley. On November 7, 1958, upon erecting a larger transmitter to better cover the Monroe/El Dorado area, it changed its call letters to KTVE. In 1960, the station was sold to Veterans Broadcasting Company, who owned then-NBC affiliate WROC-TV in Rochester, New York. It began broadcasting in color in 1961 and was purchased by J. B. Fuqua in 1963. It was a primary NBC affiliate, sharing ABC with KNOE-TV. Fuqua sold KTVE to Gray Communications in December 1967, making it Gray's third owned station. In February 1970, shortly after rival station KNOE installed a translator in El Dorado to better serve viewers there, KTVE installed a translator south of Monroe, W02AW.