The station began as a construction permit issued to Clear Channel Communications on March 23, 1988 to build a low-power television station on UHF channel 17 in San Antonio. Given the callsign K17BY, the station went on air in March 1991 and was licensed a month later on April 2, 1991. Also in March 1991, Clear Channel agreed to sell the station to Nicolas Communications, who assumed full control several weeks later. In November 1997, the station took call letters KNIC-LP, named after its owners, and in November 2001, the station upgraded to a Class A license, changing its call letters to KNIC-CA. Also in November, Nicolas Communications and Univision reached an agreement for Univision to buy the station, and the transaction was consummated in January 2002, just in time for the launch of Univision's new network, Telefutura. KNIC-CA affiliated with the new network and simulcast its programming on KFTO-LP (now KFTO-CA).