Mark Paul Smith (c. 1960–June 2023) was a Denver broadcast engineer whose career spanned approximately 44 years in Colorado radio. Known primarily for his technical work, Smith also occasionally worked on the air, recorded commercials and flew traffic-reporting missions over Denver.
Career
Smith entered radio at age 18 at legendary Denver Top 40 station KIMN. According to information supplied by his family to Radio World, he went on to spend the next 44 years working in the Denver radio market. His career included engineering and local engineering-director positions with major operators including Jefferson Pilot Communications, Entercom and Audacy.
Smith served as chief engineer at KEZW during part of Rick Crandall’s long tenure at the station. Crandall later recalled that Smith sometimes handled board shifts when the morning program was broadcasting remotely. On September 11, 2001, Crandall was doing his program from the Denver Zoo when Smith alerted him to return to the station as the terrorist attacks unfolded.
Smith’s radio work extended well beyond transmitter rooms and studios. He earned a pilot’s license and flew a single-engine Cessna while reporting Denver rush-hour traffic. He also recorded commercial spots, worked occasional DJ shifts and handled the wide range of technical problems associated with keeping radio stations operating. Former colleagues remembered him as someone willing to take on whatever the job required; on one occasion, he flew an aerial relay pattern over the Colorado Front Range to help return a remote broadcast of the Colorado State Fair to the Denver studio.
Engineering leadership
Smith later held engineering leadership roles across both Denver and Northern Colorado. A 2009 industry directory listed him as chief engineer of KJAC 105.5 in Timnath, then part of NRC Broadcasting. By 2013 he was Director of Engineering for Wilks Broadcast Group. Radio World documented the transition that August when Barry Thomas arrived as Wilks’ new Director of Engineering and chief engineer of the company’s Denver stations KIMN-FM, KXKL-FM and KWOF-FM; Thomas credited Smith’s work and said the two engineers would overlap for about a month before Smith departed Wilks.
FCC records independently document Smith as Director of Engineering for Max Radio of Denver in 2014. He appears as the technical representative on filings involving the 101.5 MHz KJHM facility and the 107.1 MHz KXDE facility, providing a primary-source record of his engineering responsibilities during that period.
Legacy
Smith was part of a Denver broadcasting family. His father, Merwin Smith, was also remembered as a Denver broadcaster and World War II veteran. Colleagues described Mark as a highly capable engineer with a distinctive sense of humor and a willingness to help wherever needed. His long career placed him behind the scenes of multiple generations of Denver radio, from the era of KIMN through the consolidated station groups of the twenty-first century.
Mark Paul Smith died in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, in late June 2023 at age 62.
Sources
- Radio World, “Remembering the Late Mark Smith,” August 29, 2023 — career history, KIMN start, KEZW work, colleagues’ recollections and death information.
- M Street / Radio Directory, 2009–2010 — lists Mark Smith as chief engineer of KJAC 105.5 in Timnath.
- Radio World, “Thomas Now at Wilks,” August 6, 2013 — documents Smith as Wilks Broadcast Group’s outgoing Director of Engineering and identifies the Denver cluster as KIMN-FM, KXKL-FM and KWOF-FM.
- FCC historical CDBS record 1634561 — identifies Mark Smith as Director of Engineering for Max Radio of Denver in connection with KJHM 101.5.
- FCC historical CDBS record 1634563 — identifies Mark Smith as Director of Engineering in connection with KXDE 107.1.
Stations They Worked At
KEEP EXPLORING
Go further down the dial
HELP IMPROVE THE ARCHIVE
See something that needs a correction?
Suggest a correction or add information to this person. Nothing changes publicly until it is reviewed.