Rex Howell (born 1907) put KFXJ on the air as a teenager and went on to build Western Colorado’s first television station. If you grew up on the Western Slope with TV in the living room, you can thank him, and if you work in Colorado broadcasting, his name is on the CBA’s Rex Howell award.
A teenage broadcaster
Rex was born in Norton, Kansas, and grew up in Longmont, where he was licensed as a broadcaster by 1921 and worked at a KFEL station while still in high school. In 1926 he started KFXJ in Edgewater with just 15 watts, raised it to 50 watts in 1927 and to 100 later on. KFXJ moved to Grand Junction and became the city’s pioneer station, authorized for 1,000 watts in 1942. It survives today as KNZZ 1100.
Television and industry leadership
On May 4, 1954, Rex signed on KREX-TV in Grand Junction, later adding satellite stations KREY in Montrose and KREZ in Durango, and he founded the XYZ Television Network. He ran the ham station WORX to handle communications for service members during World War II and Vietnam. He was the first president of the Colorado Broadcasters Association, chaired the National Association of Broadcasters board, served as a BMI director and sat on CBS’s board of advisors.
Honors
Rex was part of the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado’s first Hall of Fame class, in 1998, and the CBA’s Rex Howell award is named for him.
Sources
Stations They Worked At
FROM THE TIMELINE
Career Moments
1926: Rex Howell puts KFXJ on the air
1926 — Teenager Rex Howell started KFXJ in Edgewater with 15 watts, upping it to 50 watts in 1927. The station later moved to Grand Junction, where it became the city’s pioneer radio station; today it’s KNZZ 1100.
1942: KFXJ authorized for 1,000 watts
1942 — Rex Howell’s Grand Junction station KFXJ, which had started at 15 watts in 1926, was authorized for 1,000 watts.
Colorado Broadcasters Association inducts its first Hall of Fame class
The Colorado Broadcasters Association inducted its inaugural Hall of Fame class on October 24, 2025, in Greenwood Village. The nine honorees, announced that September, were Mark Cornetta, Tom Green, Rex Howell, Harry Hoth, Murphy Huston, Lee Larsen, Dick Maynard, Gene O’Fallon and Denise Plante. A second class, including Alan Berg, Peter Boyles and Bob Martin, was announced for 2026.
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