Doug Clifton

Doug Clifton is a Colorado radio programmer whose career connected commercial alternative and adult-alternative radio with Colorado Public Radio’s music service. His work in Denver included leadership roles at The Peak and KCUV before he became part of CPR’s music operation.

In 1994, Clifton was program director of KXPK 96.5 “The Peak,” one of the stations that helped broaden Denver’s commercial rock landscape during the 1990s. Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado records Clifton as the station’s program director when KXPK launched, with Steven B & The Hawk in mornings. The Peak became part of a period of rapid format development and consolidation in Denver radio.

Clifton later served as program director of KCUV, the eclectic Denver-area music station remembered for a broad, locally distinctive rock presentation. When KCUV’s format ended in 2008, contemporary reporting identified Clifton as its program director and documented the reaction from listeners who had developed a strong attachment to the station.

Clifton subsequently joined Colorado Public Radio. CPR’s archive identifies his tenure with the organization as spanning 2011 through 2024. His work there extended a career built around music discovery and programming into public radio, connecting several distinct chapters of Colorado’s music-radio history.

Sources: Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado — Denver Radio history; Westword — KCUV and Doug Clifton; Colorado Public Radio — Doug Clifton archive.