KNML was first licensed on August 17, 1927[2] to Jay Peters in Inglewood, California, with the sequentially assigned call letters of KGGM, as a portable broadcasting station that could be transported between various communities.

[3] In early 1928, promoter C. C. Pyle organized a cross-country foot race divided into daily timed stages and run from Los Angeles to New York City.

[5] H. C. Shaw hired the KGGM equipment, carried on a specially prepared school bus,[4] and used it to make broadcasts from the various race destinations.

In late March the race was scheduled to end a leg in Albuquerque, and the station was set up to broadcast the runners' arrivals followed by their departures the following day.

[6] However, a financial dispute led to the race bypassing the city, although the station continued to shadow the racers as they headed east.

On May 10, a front-page article announced that the racers and KGGM had arrived in Elyria, Ohio, where the station was used to make a broadcast featuring Congressional Representative James T.

[13] At the end of July, the FCC approved the requests of Peters and Whitmore to license KGGM permanently in Albuquerque, giving the town its first radio station.

At the urging of the city of Albuquerque, Whitmore, who lacked experience in running a radio station, sold KGGM in March 1929 to the New Mexico Broadcasting Company, headed by Anton Hebenstreit.

[18] In 1973, citing their desire to focus on television and comply with multiple ownership rules (the combination with KVSF remained grandfathered), KGGM radio was sold to Gaylord Broadcasting for $720,000.

In 2000 the Sports Animal format was moved once again to its current home at 610 AM, the second-strongest AM signal in Albuquerque, which included the transfer of the KNML call letters.

Previous program directors include: Andrew Paul (now with KXNT in Las Vegas), Dennis Glasgow and Ian Martin, who worked for the station beginning in 1999 and resigned during the week of July 15, 2008.