Public radio was the dream of several forward-thinking Kodiak residents since the early 1970s. In 1974, nine people came together to form the Kodiak Public Broadcasting Corporation, with the station, dubbed “KMXT,” signing on the air in 1976. For the next 20 years the State of Alaska was flush with newfound wealth from the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, and public broadcasting in Kodiak and around the state thrived.
KMXT’s original studios were in converted rooms in what was the regional high school’s dormitory, later the offices of the Kodiak Island Borough, City of Kodiak and the Kodiak Island Borough School District. In the 1990s, the need for a building of its own was realized, literally a stones throw from the borough building. The spacious, well-lit and sometimes under-airconditioned station was largely built with volunteer labor. The building is the jewel of public radio stations in Alaska.
With a staff of just seven, KMXT provides programming to every community on Kodiak and Spruce islands, parts of the Alaska Peninsula, and to other communities in rural Alaska that rebroadcast our satellite signal. Starting in the mid-2000s, KMXT began streaming live on the internet to listeners around the world. KMXT broadcasts one channel of analog FM and three channels of digital HD-FM (an HD Radio is required to receive the digital signals).
A second analog FM signal signed on in 2013. KODK 90.7 FM, brings a fresh, new variety of public radio programming to Kodiak. Expansion of the building is also a possibility as Kodiak Public Broadcasting marches boldly into the future.
Kodiak Public Broadcasting’s Original July 17, 1974 Board of Directors
Peter Bailey (president),
Charles Davidson
Clifford Davidson
Starr Dippert
William Glynn
Wayne Marshall
Frances Rutledge
Merle Snider
Samuel Ward
General Managers
Mike Wall 2003-????
1995-2003 David Perkins
1994-1995 Jeffrye Young
1988-1994 Kellie K. Law
1985-1988 Susan Braine
1979-1984 David W. Thompson
1978-1979 Margy Collom
1976-1978 Jeanine “Sunshine” Drinkall
KMXT News Blog 