After barely a week as KKBR, the former KJRB was re-christened KMGG, “Magic” 97.7, on January 16, 1986. 
After former Michigan disc jockey Robert Liggett Jr. spent more than $500,000 to buy the quirky Russian River-focused KJRB, he spent another $18,000 on surveys, trying to find a format that could compete in the growing Santa Rosa market. Liggett hired veteran Bay Area broadcaster Casey Stangl to run things.
The format Stangl installed featured live air talent playing a mix of classic and contemporary rock that fit under the AOR (album-oriented rock) umbrella. KMGG worked out an agreement to carry news updates from Santa Rosa TV station KFTY, which had launched five years earlier and was building a strong news and public affairs presence in the Redwood Empire. The station began operating out of a new facility on Industrial Drive, west of Highway 101 in Santa Rosa. The opening gimmick: 10,977 songs without a commercial.
Within a few weeks of launch, KMGG was knocked off the air for most of a day when a strong winter storm knocked out power at the transmitter site, which remained in the hills above the Russian River.
A year into its existence, KMGG tweaked the playlist, shifting from AOR to classic rock–aiming for an older listening audience. At about that time, Stangl filed a million dollar lawsuit against the station, claiming breach of contract. Stangl had been let go in September 1986. His lawsuit said he earned $36,000 a year, plus sales commissions, as station manager and was owed more than $20,000 in unpaid commissions. Stangl had been replaced as GM by former general sales manager Kent Bjugstad.
By 1990, KMGG had shifted its music mix again, now billing itself as an Oldies station with music from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s.
In early 1995, the station changed hands. The buyer, Pacific Radio of Santa Rosa Corp., was headed by Rick Dames and Steve Bunyard. They paid a reported $1.4 million. It turned out to be a very nice investment for Pacific Radio, which flipped the station a year later for $3 million to Joseph Amaturo’s Amaturo Group, which was assembling a portfolio of Sonoma County radio properties.
KMGG hung in through the 1990s, promising “Good Times, Great Oldies”. Veteran San Francisco DJ John Mack Flanagan spent some time at the station, making a two-hour daily drive to host the morning show in what would prove to be his last radio gig.
In 2003, the station was re-formatted and re-branded, becoming “The River” in a nod to the nearby Russian River and airing a classic rock format. The call letters were changed to KVRV.
