Originally launched in September 1982 and branded as VOFM, it struggled to find an audience for several years, going through formats such as light rock and eventually even dance music. In the mid-1990s it appeared to find an audience as a hot adult contemporary station branded Magic 97, having a more youthful appeal than chief competitor CHOZ-FM, although still airing frequent "flashbacks" from 1980s music, and featuring 40-minute "Magic Music Marathons" most of the day outside of its morning show.
However, by early 2002, soon after NewCap bought the VOCM stations from the Butler family, its audience had apparently dipped enough that NewCap changed the format to classic rock, a format where research indicated untapped potential. Sure enough, it soon became the top-rated FM station in the St. John's market. Unexpectedly, much of its audience came from country music station CKIX-FM, also a NewCap property. It was enough that this station was promptly reformatted as well; it became a contemporary hit radio station, Hits FM, serving much of the audience lost after the end of Magic 97.
The sole rebroadcaster of the station is VOCM-FM-1Clarenville, which broadcasts at 100.7 MHz, although three other NewCap stations in the province (CKXD-FM Gander, CKXG-FM Grand Falls-Windsor, and CKXX-FM Corner Brook) also feature the K-Rock brand and format. The brand is also shared by several other NewCap-owned stations throughout Canada.
Excluding rebroadcasters (i.e. those of VOAR), VOCM-FM is the only Canadian FM station with a call sign beginning with the ITU prefix "VO", and the only station to launch with that status after Newfoundland joined Canadian Confederation in 1949.
