On March 19, 1955, CBS affiliate KBET, owned by Sacramento Telecasters, signed on the air as Channel 10 in Sacramento, California. In 1959, KBET was purchased by the Corinthian Broadcasting Corporation. Soon thereafter, Corinthian changed the station's call letters to KXTV, the X in the name representing the Roman numeral 10. The station was sold again in 1971, this time to Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. Twelve years later, in 1983, Dun and Bradstreet's television interests (including KXTV) were acquired by the A.H. Belo Corporation. In 1999, ownership of KXTV10 passed the Gannett Company. Gannett spun its publishing properties from its broadcast and digital properties in 2015, making KXTV part of TEGNA Media, one of the largest and most geographically diverse broadcasters in the U.S.

From its inception until 1968, KXTV telecasted from studios on 7th Avenue in South Sacramento. The site of the former studios now lies beneath Interstate 5. KXTV moved to its present location, 400 Broadway in downtown Sacramento, when an expanding staff necessitated larger quarters. Since 1968, KXTV has continued to grow. The station recently purchased an adjacent building, joined to the existing structure. KXTV now occupies nearly an entire city block and is Sacramento's largest broadcast facility.

On March 6, 1995, Channel 10 passed another milestone. After more than 40 years of carrying CBS programming, KXTV switched network affiliations to ABC. In November 1999, KXTV became one of the first Sacramento stations to initiate digital broadcasting services, including a high-definition television (HDTV) signal. KXTV broadcasts digitally on Channel 61, although this channel appears as a subset of Channel 10 on most digital receivers.

In September 2015, KXTV adopted ABC10 as an overall brand name. The brand symbolizes ABC10’s promise to empower people with clear, practical information to help them make intelligent decisions. Currently, ABC10 continues to expand its staff, improve the news product, aggressively promote the station, and reach out to the community.