KLTV began as a class at Lower Columbia College in 1973. After the college decided to discontinue the class, a group of citizens formed a non-profit organization that was named Lower Columbia Telecommunications Association. This would later become Kelso Longview Television Inc.

Devotion to the concept of access television as a means of communication throughout the county held the group together. The station operated without a budget until 1980 when the city of Longview agreed to give a portion of the franchise fee to operate the access channel.

KLTV chose a membership-based structure to increase user accountability, demonstrate commitment to the principles of cable access, and help defray operating expenses. Membership expenses are minimal and it is KLTV’s goal to remain accessible to any citizen of Cowlitz County.

The mission of KLTV is to make available to the cable viewers programming that reflects the interests and serves the needs of every segment of the community. KLTV is unequivocally committed to the expression of lawful free speech defined as by statutes, ordinances and judicial decisions. Our responsibility is to assist, within our limitations, all residents and nonprofit organizations in Cowlitz County in the production of their programs. We require high technical quality, while realizing the content of the programs is the responsibility of the producers. We expect that this will lead to entertaining, diverse, informative, challenging, and interesting video that in the aggregate will appeal to a wide spectrum of the community.