History
KNIK-FM
The station signed on the air on September 15, 1960.[4] Its original call sign was KNIK-FM, the sister station to KNIK 1270 AM (now KBYR 700 AM). The call letters were a reference to the Knik River.
At first, KNIK-FM was only powered at 3,000 watts, broadcasting on 105.5 MHz, a Class A frequency limited in power and coverage area. KNIK-FM began by simulcasting with KNIK 1270. But after a few years, it broke away, airing its own beautiful music format. It played quarter hour sweeps of mostly automated soft instrumentals with some Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.
Smooth Jazz and Adult Contemporary
As the audience for easy listening was aging in the 1990s, KNIK-FM switched to a smooth jazz format. It was still soft music but designed for younger listeners.
On August 27, 2009, the station began stunting as a prelude to a format change. It played the top 100 songs of 1970 through 1989, one year per day. On September 15, 2009, KNIK-FM started playing what it called "Light Rock and Yesterday's Best Music," an adult contemporary music format, branded as "Lite 105.7".[5] On September 16, 2009, KNIK-FM changed its call letters to KNLT.[1]
KMVN
The AC format lasted three years. On August 31, 2012, at 2:00 PM, after playing "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty, KNLT flipped to Rhythmic AC, as "Movin 105.7". It launched with "Bust a Move" by Young MC. On September 18, 2012, KNLT changed its call sign to KMVN, to go with the "Movin’ 105.7 FM" branding.
On March 8, 2019, Alaska Integrated Media sold Alternative 94.7 KZND and KMVN to Last Frontier Mediactive. It is a Fairbanks, Alaska-based radio company, headed by Robert and Tor Ingstad. The price tag was $1.25 million. [1] The sale closed on May 31, 2019.