KICY AM 850

A commercial AM radio station broadcasting at 850 kHz, operated by the Arctic Broadcasting Association and dedicated to Southern Gospel music alongside other Christian religious programming. The station began broadcasting in 1960, making it one of the longer-operating radio outlets in Alaska. The station's transmission setup is distinctive: during critical hours from 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM, it uses a three-tower directional antenna array positioned slightly east of its home community and oriented due west toward Siberia and the Russian Far East. During these hours, programming shifts to Russian-language content, a mission-driven outreach that has continued for decades and represents one of the more unusual broadcast configurations among American religious radio stations. The Arctic Broadcasting Association relies on volunteer labor and donor funding to sustain operations. A significant capital campaign is currently underway to revitalize the station's studio building and staff housing after 65 years of continuous operation in an extreme Arctic environment. The project is planned in two phases: first, the construction of a small residential triplex on adjacent land to replace aging staff quarters currently housed within the studio building; second, a comprehensive renovation of the studio facility itself, including roof replacement, window upgrades, and modernization of plumbing and electrical systems. The station serves both the local Alaskan community and, through its directional overnight transmissions, listeners across a vast stretch of the Russian Far East.