the station signed on in 2000 as kvam (changing its call letters to krki later that year) with a rhythmic format as "hip hop radio" serving newcastle, wyoming. in 2007, the station upgraded to 100,000 watts and moved to rapid city, south dakota, with a format flip to the real country satellite network as "us 99.5". on january 5, 2009, krki switched to a 24-hour simulcast of espn radio becoming the first full-time sports talk station in the rapid city market.