KTOO is the non-profit Juneau-based corporation that provides a variety of telecommunications services to Juneau and statewide audiences.
Founded by community volunteers in 1972, KTOO started service to Juneau on January 27, 1974, with a 10-watt radio station and a commitment to local service, community access and diverse viewpoints. Even before KTOO-FM signed on the air, community volunteers sent Juneau news stories by telephone to the three public radio stations in existence in Alaska. That tiny network eventually became the Alaska Public Radio Network.
In 1977, we launched a television production unit to provide daily Legislative coverage, and 18 months later, KTOO-TV signed on the air as a fledgling PBS station on October 1, 1978. By 1983, the TV station was broadcasting on low-power translators through Southeast Alaska.
Today, KTOO provides a variety of public services throughout Alaska. In addition to providing the Alaska Public Media program service to Southeast Alaska, KTOO-TV operates a full-time cable and satellite television channel, KTOO 360TV (formerly 360 North), which beams live C-Span style legislative coverage throughout the state (Gavel Alaska). The channel expanded in 2007 to provide a wide variety of Alaska programming on a year-round basis. KTOO’s production team assists a range of government, agency and non-profit clients with audio and video production and program distribution services. The website ktoo.org delivers KTOO’s content to an expanding online audience throughout Alaska and the lower 48.
KTOO also owns and operates three public radio stations. KTOO News offers a diverse range of news and music programs and is the most-listened to radio station in the Juneau radio market. KRNN provides a broad mix of music and arts programming, while KXLL offers alternative pop sounds, soul, rock, R&B, and hip-hop music and spotlights new and emerging Alaskan artists.
Through unique partnerships with our sister stations, we collaborate to extend and support public broadcasting throughout the state. CoastAlaska, an independent but closely related non-profit association, provides engineering, fund raising and administrative support to radio stations throughout Southeast Alaska.
Through these wide ranging services and partnerships, we have changed from a local radio and television station to a company that connects Juneau with the rest of Alaska and provides information and entertainment to our citizens by a variety of means. All this helps fulfill KTOO’s mission, which reads, “KTOO provides trusted and independent news, connects our community to the arts and music, promotes civic participation, and embraces diverse viewpoints and cultures.”