KWTL's first license, with the sequentially assigned call letters
KFJM, was granted on August 13, 1923 to the
University of North Dakota, making it one of the first
college radio stations. The staiton signed on the air in October 9, 1923. Its initial assignment was to 1310 kHz, however its frequency was changed multiple times throughout the years, including 900, 550, 1370, 1410, and 1440 kHz. It changed back to 1370 kHz in 1957. In 1930, a station filing stated that KFJM had been established "to provide laboratory facilities for the students studying radio engineering and to further the educational programs of the university". At this time it was broadcasting about eight hours per day. In 1976 the University of North Dakota established an FM station, KFJM-FM. In 1995, KFJY signed on as the university's second FM station, simulcasting KFJM (AM) with an AAA format and jazz overnight. During April 1997, both stations went off the air as the floodwaters went through the transmitter site. On August 15, 1997 all three University of North Dakota stations changed call signs. KFJM became
KUND and KFJM-FM on 89.3 MHz became
KUND-FM, while KFJY on 90.7 MHz inherited the historic
KFJM call letters. KUND later became known as
Northern Lights Public Radio, as some of its funding came from the listening audience. On July 31, 2002, KUND (AM) and KFJM (FM) went off the air due to shortages from public funding, although KUND-FM (89.3) continued to be operated by Prairie Public Radio. The stations signed back on in August 2002 with an
adult album alternative format along with programming from
North Dakota Public Radio and
National Public Radio. In 2004 KUND (AM) was sold to Real Presence Radio, a
Roman Catholic organization. The call sign changed to
KWTL on November 4, and it began airing programming from EWTN's radio service. On December 25, 2007, KWTL began operating with 12,000 watts during daylight hours. ==References==