Channel 23 began operation owned by New Mexico Visions as KMXN-TV in 1975 as a Spanish-language television station most of the day. They ran programming from the Spanish International Network daily in the afternoon and evening hours. In the mornings they ran religious programs in English. In the spring of 1980, Channel 23 changed the format to English-language general entertainment making it a traditional independent. The station ran cartoons from 7–9 a.m./3–5 p.m. weekdays, religious shows 9 a.m. to Noon weekdays, sitcoms/westerns/dramas/movies from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays, classic sitcoms or drama shows 5 to 7 p.m., movies from 7-9 p.m. weekdays, and a blend of dramas and westerns late at night. On weekends, the station ran more movies and drama shows along with religious shows on Sunday morning. The station changed call letters to KLKK to reflect the new format. In 1981, KGSW signed on and KLKK began to have financial difficulties. In the summer of 1982, KLKK was sold to Carson Broadcasting which was owned by a group of celebrities headed by Johnny Carson. Carson Broadcasting also owned KVVUchannel 5 in Henderson, Nevada. The station was renamed KNAT. KNAT dropped all the religious programs and began to add more recent off network sitcoms and more recent movies. The religious shows would move to KGSW and a new sign on station KSAFchannel 2. While KNAT had good ratings, the station continued to lose money. In April 1985, Carson Broadcasting decided that they could no longer put money into KNAT's operation. At the same time they sold KVVU to Meredith Corporation, which still owns them today. They put KNAT up for sale and sold the programming to KSAF, which became known as KNMZ that same year. KNAT then began airing music videosaround the clock. In mid-May 1985, Carson Broadcasting shut down KNAT altogether after being unable to sell the station. The station stayed up for sale through the Fall of 1985, when Trinity Broadcasting Network, through National Minority Television, purchased KNAT. By the winter of 1986, KNAT was back on the air running TBN programming 24/7.
Digital television
KNAT-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHFchannel 23, on that date. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 24. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 23.
