KAMU-TV began broadcasting on February 15, 1970.[2] It originally aired on UHF channel 15, and was the first educational station in central Texas.
Moore Communications Center, where KAMU studios are located
On April 1, 2003, KAMU was the first station in the region to begin broadcasting in HDTV.[3] KAMU made the first live HDTV broadcast in the region on April 22, 2004, with the program Meet the Candidates 2004.[4]
On February 27, 2018, Central Texas College's board of trustees voted to close down KNCT (which served the western third of the Waco–Temple–Bryan market, including Waco and Killeen) over budgetary concerns related to the FCC spectrum repacking that would have required that station to move from RF channel 46 to RF channel 17 starting in 2020, as well as the need to replace its original transmitter.[5] The shutdown of KNCT, which would occur on August 31, 2018, would leave KAMU-TV as the only PBS member station in the market.[6][7][8] However, most cable systems on the western side of the market opted to import KLRU from Austin, which had already served as the default PBS member station for the market's southwestern areas.
KAMU's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009. It opted to use channel 12 as its virtual channel, rather than its former analog channel 15. KAMU offered ResearchChannel on subchannel 12.3 until that service was discontinued in August 2010.
