The station went on the air as KHBX on July 17, 1998. On August 31, 2000, the station changed its call sign to the current KMLK.
The station founder was Jerome Orr, who had worked for Noalmark at KELD, El Dorado and at Hobbs. Orr had recently been managing the company's then KIOL in Midland/Odessa.