Jon Steele

Jon Steele was part of the original KBCO air staff when the Boulder-based station signed on in 1977. Hosting evenings from 6 to 10 p.m., Steele helped introduce listeners to the free-ranging music philosophy that became central to KBCO’s identity and, in later years, to the development of adult album alternative radio.

The launch-era staff was deliberately small and music-focused. Dennis Constantine served as program director and morning host, Judy McNutt was music director, Richard Ray handled production, Bob Lynch worked overnights and Steele occupied the evening shift. Rather than relying on a narrow playlist, the station gave its announcers unusual latitude to build programs across genres and eras.

KBCO’s early staff also participated in ambitious specialty programming. The station’s annual Intervention Day productions imagined a future celebration of humanity’s rescue by an intergalactic community. The creative broadcasts ultimately earned international recognition, winning the 1987 International Radio Festival of New York Grand Award for Best Entertainment Program of the Year.

Steele’s documented Colorado radio legacy is therefore rooted in KBCO’s formative period: the years when a relatively small Boulder FM station was developing an approach to music programming that would become nationally influential.

Sources: Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado — Denver Radio history; Broadcasting Yearbook — KBCO era reference.