Dan Cowen is a veteran Colorado radio programmer, air personality and audience-research executive whose career has spanned Colorado Springs, national radio research and consulting, and programming leadership for Colorado mountain-market stations.
Early Colorado Springs career
Contemporary country-radio trade publications establish Cowen at KSSS-AM in Colorado Springs by 1981. Cash Box regularly carried his “Programmers Picks” for KSSS, andRadio & Records reported that he was promoted to Music Director that year. In January 1982, Cash Box reported that Steve Sauder had been named KSSS music director, replacing Cowen.
A later firsthand recollection from former KSSS morning host Tony Lynn places Cowen back on the KSSS air staff during Lynn’s 1984–1990 tenure, remembering Cowen as the station’snight personality. Taken together, the contemporary trade record and Lynn’s recollection show that Cowen’s KSSS association included both programming/music responsibilities and on-air work across different points in the decade.
KKCS-FM
By 1984, Cowen was listed as Music Director at KKCS-FM 101.9, then a Colorado Springs country station paired with the former KYSN/KKHT AM facility. The 1984 and 1986Broadcasting Yearbooks both identify Cowen in the KKCS music-director role, documenting another significant stop in his Southern Colorado programming career.
KKLI / K-Lite
Cowen later became one of the key programmers behind KKLI-FM / K-Lite 106.3. The 1991 Broadcasting Yearbook lists him as Program and Music Director. By 1992 he was listed as Program Director, and a 1993 yearbook lists him as Operations Manager and Programming Director for the Tippie Communications operation.
Trade coverage from January 1994 shows Cowen remaining KKLI’s Program Director while also doing a weekday late-morning air shift under the nameMichael St. John, from 9–11 a.m. The same lineup included Sharon Green and Mark Goldberg in mornings, Marty Lenz in middays, Dean Radice in afternoons, Michelle Murphy at night and Dayle Howard overnight.
Radio research and consulting
Cowen later moved from station programming into audience research. By 2001 he was Director of Client Services for Music Technologies. That August, Radio & Records reported that he had been hired as Director of Research for Pinnacle Media Management, a broadcast-research company founded by Bob Lawrence. The trade reported that Cowen brought 22 years of experience in on-air, programming and research positions and would relocate from Colorado Springs to Pinnacle’s San Diego office.
He later rose to Vice President of Research at Pinnacle Media Worldwide. In that role he worked with stations on music testing, perceptual research, competitive analysis and format strategy. Cowen became known for advocating a combination of research discipline and programmer judgment rather than relying blindly on national airplay trends.
Always Mountain Time
By the mid-2010s, Cowen had returned to Colorado radio in a group-programming role with Always Mountain Time, which operates radio brands across Colorado resort communities. A 2016 programming interview identified him as the company’s Group Program Director overseeing 11 radio brands.
That same year, CBS Colorado identified Cowen as Director of Programming for KIFT-FM / The LIFT FM during coverage of a widely reported unauthorized-audio incident involving the station’s signal. Cowen spoke publicly for the company about the incident and the station’s response.
Where are they now?
As of 2026, Always Mountain Time publicly lists Dan Cowen as Director of Programming & Talent. His career now spans more than four decades of on-air work, local and group programming, music research, consulting and talent development.
Chronology note
A 2016 interview summarized Cowen as having started his on-air career in 1985. Contemporary trade publications, however, document him at KSSS in 1981 and as its Music Director that year. Because those sources were published at the time, the Colorado Radio Archive uses the earlier 1981 documentation as the stronger chronological evidence.
Colorado stations
KSSS-AM; KKCS-FM; KKLI-FM; KIFT-FM.
Sources
- Cash Box, August 15, 1981 — Dan Cowen listed at KSSS in the country programmers section.
- Cash Box, December 26, 1981 — KSSS programmers listing.
- Radio & Records, December 11, 1981 — Cowen promoted to Music Director at KSSS.
- Cash Box, January 30, 1982 — Steve Sauder replaces Cowen as KSSS Music Director.
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 — KKCS-FM music-director listing.
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1986 — KKCS-FM music-director listing.
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1991 — KKLI program/music director.
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1992 — KKLI programming director.
- Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1993 — KKLI operations/programming manager.
- Radio & Records, January 14, 1994 — KKLI lineup and Michael St. John airname.
- Radio & Records, August 31, 2001 — move from Music Technologies to Pinnacle Media Management.
- Radio))) ILOVEIT, 2016 — programming/research interview and Always Mountain Time group-PD role.
- CBS Colorado, 2016 — KIFT Director of Programming.
- Dan Cowen professional profile — Always Mountain Time and education.
- Tony Lynn, first-person oral-history contribution to the Colorado Radio Archive, October 2026 — KSSS night-shift recollection.
Stations They Worked At
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