Merwin Smith

Merwin W. Smith (1928–2016), known on the air as “The Tune Smith,” was a Colorado radio and television broadcaster whose career stretched across the formative decades of Denver broadcasting. He was also the father of longtime Denver broadcast engineer Mark Paul Smith.

Early career

Smith began his radio career in 1948 at KYOU in Greeley, according to the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado’s Denver radio chronology. He came to broadcasting after growing up in Northern Colorado and later became part of the first generation of Denver television personalities.

In 1953 Smith joined KFEL Radio in Denver. KFEL was then associated with pioneering KFEL-TV Channel 2, Denver’s first television station. Historical accounts identify Smith as one of the early announcers seen on Denver television. When KFEL-AM was sold in 1954 and became KIMN, Smith worked during the early KIMN era and was known as “The Tune Smith.”

KLZ

Smith subsequently joined KLZ, one of Denver’s dominant news operations. The Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado lists him among the station’s notable newsmen, and a 1957 Broadcasting advertisement for KLZ‘s nighttime news programming names Merwin Smith alongside Warren Chandler and Dick McMahon as part of the station’s broadcast news staff. Smith later recalled that he went to work at KLZ radio in 1956.

Voice and narration work

Smith’s career extended well beyond commercial broadcasting. University of Northern Colorado alumni material credits him with a roughly 40-year career in radio and television in Buffalo, New York, and Denver. He became a prolific narrator for the Library of Congress Talking Book program, recording hundreds of books for blind and print-disabled readers. UNC records credit him with narrating 465 talking books and receiving the American Foundation for the Blind’s Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Award as well as a Didymus Award for his narration work.

Legacy

Smith is remembered as one of the voices of mid-century Denver broadcasting, with documented work at KYOU, KFEL, KIMN and KLZ and in early Denver television. His son, Mark Paul Smith, followed him into broadcasting and spent approximately 44 years as a Denver-area broadcast engineer.

Merwin Smith died in 2016 at age 88.

Sources

• Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado — Denver Radio chronology — documents Smith’s 1948 start at KYOU, 1953 move to KFEL and later Denver career.
• Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado — Radio History — identifies Smith among KLZ‘s notable newsmen.
• Broadcasting, November 4, 1957 — contemporary KLZ advertisement naming Merwin Smith as part of its news staff.
• University of Northern Colorado alumni listing — broadcast career and Talking Book narration honors.
• Radio World, “Remembering the Late Mark Smith” — identifies Merwin as Mark Smith’s father and a Denver broadcaster and World War II veteran.