PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: People

  • Greg Thomas

    Greg Thomas was KILO‘s promotions director during one of the station’s most visible stretches in the 1980s. If you won tickets, entered a contest or showed up at a KILO event in the Springs back then, his department was behind it.

    Promotions at KILO

    In March 1983, KILO appointed Greg promotions director, replacing Hazel Parker. By March 1985, a trade feature titled “KILO: Worth Its Weight In Gold To Colorado Springs” credited him with the station’s lifestyle, concert and community promotions, including its U2 St. Patrick’s Day contest and other high-profile events.

    Industry directories kept listing him as KILO promotion manager through the mid- and late 1980s, and a 1987 Gavin Report promotion ad quoted him on KILO’s behalf.

    Sources

  • Dave Brull

    Dave Brull worked in production at KILO in Colorado Springs in 1984. If you heard the commercials and promos on KILO that year, a producer like Dave was behind them.

    Production at KILO

    In June 1984, KILO advertised an opening for a copywriter/producer and asked applicants to send production samples to Dave at the station.

    This is a short page built from a trade-paper listing. If you worked with Dave or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Tricia York

    Tricia York ran KATM 100.7, The Kat, as general manager during its late-1980s Colorado Springs expansion. If you tuned in to The Kat back then, Tricia was the person steering the station from behind the scenes.

    General manager of The Kat

    A 1989 industry directory lists Tricia as KATM general manager at a Corporate Drive office in Colorado Springs. The 1991 Broadcasting Yearbook again lists her in the job, under the name Trisha York, with the station owned by Surrey Front Range Limited Partnership. Some period sources spell her first name Trisha.

    This is a short page built from a couple of directory listings. If you worked with Tricia or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Mark Blake

    Mark Blake was program director of KATM 100.7, The Kat, in Colorado Springs. If you were tuned in around 1990 and 1991, Mark was steering the station as it moved from Rock 40 toward full album rock.

    Programming The Kat

    By August 1990, Mark was listed as KATM’s program director, with Jennifer Bell as music director. The 1991 Broadcasting Yearbook still had him as PD at the station’s Corporate Drive studios. KATM finished its switch from Rock 40 to album rock in 1991, and the station was sold to Salem Communications in 1992.

    This is a short page built from trade listings. If you worked with Mark or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Kevin Burchfield

    Kevin Burchfield was a programmer and promotions executive at KATM 100.7, The Kat, during its late-1980s and 1990 Rock 40 days. If you were tuned in to The Kat back then, he was part of the team running it.

    Climbing the ranks at The Kat

    In September 1989, Kevin was listed as both Assistant Program Director and Promotion Director at KATM, working under Program Director Doug Sorenson. When Doug transferred to KATT in Oklahoma City in March 1990, Kevin stepped into the station’s programming leadership role. By June 1990 he was listed as Program Director, with Jennifer Bell as Music Director.

    This is a short page built from trade-paper records. If you worked with Kevin or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Charles Darwin

    Charles Darwin shows up in the music trade coverage of the mid-1980s as the contact for KVRH in Salida, Colorado. If you listened to KVRH in the Arkansas Valley in the mid-80s, the songs the station was adding made their way into the national trade reports through Charles.

    KVRH’s link to the national music scene

    From at least 1985 through 1987, Charles is listed on KVRH’s weekly music reports, the lists of songs the station added or reported. It’s a rare, dated peek at a small-town Colorado station taking part in the same music network as the big-city stations. The reports don’t give his exact title or on-air duties.

    This is a short page built from trade listings. If you worked with Charles or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Sam Lovato

    Sam Lovato is a big name in the story of KTSC-FM, better known as Rev 89, at Colorado State University Pueblo. If you ever listened to Rev 89 or got your start in its studios, Sam was around as a teacher, faculty adviser and broadcasting leader.

    Teaching and guiding Rev 89

    Since 1993 Sam has been in the classroom at the university, teaching electronic media. His undergraduate degree came from the University of Southern Colorado (Pueblo), and he went on to a master’s at the University of Northern Colorado. He’s had a hand in KTSC programming since the 1990s, and in 2003 he took over as Rev 89’s faculty adviser.

    During his years as adviser, the station went through big changes in programming, facilities and education, among them the move into the Buell Communications Center. When Rev 89 won a Broadcast Education Association Signature Station award, he was the faculty adviser at the time.

    Sources

  • Mike John

    Mike John was a radio executive who ran KCCY in Pueblo for eight years before heading west to Sacramento. If you listened to Pueblo radio in the late 1970s or early ’80s, he was the manager behind the station.

    Before Colorado

    Mike’s early career included management and sales work at WLOB in Portland, Maine; WCAX in Burlington, Vermont; and WTSA in Brattleboro, Vermont.

    KCCY in Pueblo

    Mike was general manager of KCCY from 1978 until 1986.

    Sacramento

    In July 1986, Mike was named vice president and general manager of KDJQ, a Fuller-Jeffrey Group album-oriented rock station in Sacramento, which ended his eight-year run at KCCY.

    Sources

    • Radio & Records, July 1986 (print)

  • Doug Sorenson

    Doug Sorenson is a rock programmer who spent a year running KATM in Colorado Springs. If you listened to 100.7 in 1989, back when it was playing “Rock 40,” you heard his work.

    One year at KATM

    Doug programmed KATM 100.7 from February 1989 until early 1990, when Billboard (March 17, 1990) reported his move to Oklahoma City. He came after several years in middays at Pittsburgh’s WBZZ/B94, where he was known as a Top 40 broadcaster. His time in the Springs fell in a competitive stretch for the market’s contemporary and rock stations, as KKMG‘s growth put pressure on KATM’s mainstream Top 40 position.

    On to bigger rock stations

    In December 1992, The Hard Report traced Doug’s path from KATM to Oklahoma City’s KATT, where he replaced Scott Douglass and programmed the heritage rock station. His resume already included KLAQ in El Paso, helping launch WTPA in Harrisburg and programming KQRS in Minneapolis. By then he had moved on to KQRC in Kansas City, another established rock competitor.

    Sources

  • Rip Avina

    Rip Avina was a longtime Pueblo radio programmer and on-air personality best known for his years at KDZA. If you grew up in Pueblo listening to KDZA in the late 70s or 80s, Rip was part of your soundtrack.

    A KDZA veteran

    Trade material puts Rip at KDZA from at least the late 1970s through the 1980s. A 1979 industry photo identifies him as the station’s music director. Later reporting has him as program director and the 9 a.m.–noon personality, and calls him a 15-year KDZA veteran. In 1983, a classified ad in the trade press even told would-be announcers to send their applications to Rip at KDZA.

    This is a short page built from trade listings. If you worked with Rip or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

    • Radio & Records: 1983 classified listing (print)
    • Radio-industry music reporting, 1979 (print)