It was originally owned by Marvin Caldwell & Associates. Mid-America Broadcasting sold the station to the owners of the Kansas State Network in 1975. The station changed its call letters to KTVJ (TeleVision of Joplin) in 1976. On August 23, 1982, the station then changed its call letters to KSNF, and almost two weeks later on September 5, swapped affiliations with KOAM-TV (channel 7) to become an NBC affiliate. The station did limited simulcasting with Wichita NBC affiliate KSNW. KSN then sold KSNF to Price Communications in 1986, but the station continued the partial simulcast with KSNW. It stopped simulcasting KSNW completely after George Lilly (SJL Communications) acquired the KSN stations and, in a cost-cutting effort, cut the microwave links to KSNT and KSNF.