PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: People

  • Earl B. Miller

    Earl B. Miller sold radio advertising in Pueblo in the 1950s. If you heard a local business pitch on KDZA 1230 or KFEL 970 back then, Earl may have been the one who brought that advertiser to the station.

    Selling for two stations

    The 1957 Broadcasting Yearbook lists Earl as a sales representative for both KDZA and KFEL. Local radio then leaned heavily on direct relationships with area advertisers, which is what a sales rep like Earl did. The listing is a single snapshot, so it doesn’t tell us how long he stayed at either station.

    This is a short page built from one directory listing. If you worked with Earl or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • John T. Roscoe

    John T. Roscoe was a Pueblo radio manager and engineer who worked at two stations at once. If you tuned in to KDZA 1230 or the newer KFEL 970 in the mid-1950s, John helped keep both on the air.

    Two stations, two hats

    The 1957 Broadcasting Yearbook lists John as assistant manager and chief engineer at KDZA, and in the same directory as assistant manager and chief engineer of KFEL. That’s a mix of management and technical duties across two Pueblo operations.

    This is a short page built from one directory listing. If you worked with John or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Frank Donald Hall

    Frank Donald Hall was the owner of KFEL 970 in Pueblo in 1957. If you listened to KFEL in its early days, it was Frank’s station.

    Owning KFEL

    The 1957 Broadcasting Yearbook lists Frank as owner of KFEL Inc., the licensee operating the station from 4411 Goodnight Avenue in Pueblo. KFEL was a 1,000-watt daytime station that had been established in 1956, so it was still brand new.

    This is a short page built from one directory listing. If you knew Frank or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Jim West

    Jim West was a Southern Colorado country-radio personality on KATC, Cat Country 95.1. If you were tuned to Cat Country in Colorado Springs around 2009, he was part of the crew keeping you company.

    Cat Country 95.1

    Cat Country signed on in July 2006, and by 2009 Jim was part of the on-air team alongside Alisha Scott and Bryan Waters. That year the group took home the “Most Engaging Team” award at a local radio-personality culinary competition, a fun reminder that these folks were as much a part of the community as they were a voice on the dial.

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

    Sources

    • Colorado Springs Gazette: 2009 radio-personality culinary competition coverage (print)
    • Wikipedia: KATC-FM

  • Bryan Waters

    Bryan Waters has had a long Southern Colorado career that spans the microphone and the transmitter room. If you listened to KCCY or Cat Country 95.1 in the 2000s, you heard him, and if you listen to KILO or KRXP now, you hear his engineering.

    On the air

    By 2003 Bryan was an air personality at KCCY, and later industry reports describe him as the station’s music director and midday host when he left. He then joined KATC Cat Country 95.1, replacing Jeff Zaiger on nights in October 2006. At a 2009 radio-personality cooking competition he appeared with Alisha Scott and Jim West on the KATC team, which took the event’s “Most Engaging Team” recognition.

    Into engineering

    Bryan’s work gradually shifted to technical operations. By 2013 he was IT manager and assistant engineer for Cumulus Colorado Springs, where he helped modernize the cluster’s remote-broadcast systems. He then became chief engineer for KILO and KRXP. In a 2017 Radio World article under his own byline, he described engineering the stations’ Cheyenne Mountain transmission and studio-to-transmitter systems while serving as chief engineer for Cheyenne Mountain Public Broadcast House and KILO/KRXP.

    Sources

    • Airplay Monitor, August 2003 (print)
    • Colorado Springs Gazette, 2009 radio-personality culinary competition coverage (print)
    • Radio World, 2017 (byline article)

  • Alisha Scott

    Alisha Scott, who also used the name Alisha Smith during part of her Colorado Springs radio career, is a longtime Southern Colorado on-air personality best known for KATC/Cat Country 95.1. If you started your mornings with country in the Springs in the 2010s, you probably heard Alisha.

    Colorado Springs radio

    Alisha worked for Citadel’s Colorado Springs operation beginning in the mid-2000s across air, promotions and community events, with ties to KVUU and especially KATC. In 2009 she was part of the KATC team at a local radio/chef charity competition. Before moving to Denver she also did afternoons on classic rocker KYZX in the Springs.

    Denver and back

    Alisha hosted middays at Denver country station KYGO starting in April 2011, then returned to Cumulus in Colorado Springs. She came back to KATC as Cutter’s morning co-host in March 2013, handling mornings, music, marketing and promotions.

    Awards

    The Colorado Broadcasters Association recognized “Cutter & Alisha with Nash FM Mornings” on KATC with a 2017 Certificate of Merit for Best Morning Show.

    Moving on

    Alisha left KATC in October 2019, after more than 11 years at the station over two stints and more than 13 years in the market. At the time she was music director, morning co-host and cluster promotions director.

    Also known as: Alisha Smith

    Sources

  • Antonio Mejia

    Antonio Mejia was chief engineer at KKAM 1350 in Pueblo in 1966. If you listened to KKAM back then, Antonio was one of the people behind the scenes keeping the signal clean.

    Engineering at KKAM

    The 1966 Broadcasting Yearbook lists Antonio as chief engineer alongside program director Denny Hawkins and the rest of the KKAM staff.

    This is a short page built from one directory listing, so we don’t have service dates or later work. If you worked with Antonio or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Earl Bradshaw

    Earl Bradshaw was news director at KKAM 1350 in Pueblo in 1966. If you got your local news from KKAM in the mid-1960s, Earl was the one running the newsroom.

    The KKAM newsroom

    The 1966 Broadcasting Yearbook lists Earl as news director during the Garvey Communications era, a chapter in the long history of Pueblo’s 1350 AM.

    This is a short page built from one directory listing, so we don’t have the full length of Earl’s time at the station. If you worked with Earl or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Denny Hawkins

    Denny Hawkins was program director of KKAM 1350 in Pueblo in 1966. If you listened to KKAM in the mid-1960s, Denny was shaping what came out of your speaker.

    On the KKAM team

    The 1966 Broadcasting Yearbook lists Denny as program director. The same directory names general manager Rush Evans, station and sales manager William Beck, news director Earl Bradshaw and chief engineer Antonio Mejia. It’s a snapshot of one moment, so it doesn’t tell us how long Denny stayed.

    This is a short page built from one directory listing. If you worked with Denny or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • William Beck

    William “Bill” Beck was a longtime Southern Colorado broadcaster and radio manager with stops at both KDZA and KKAM in Pueblo. If you listened to Pueblo AM radio in the 60s, he was helping run the stations.

    Pueblo stations

    Station directories place Bill at KDZA by 1964 as station manager and commercial manager under Dee B. Crouch. By 1966 the Broadcasting Yearbook listed him as station manager and sales manager of KKAM 1350, then owned by Garvey Communications Systems and affiliated with ABC and the Intermountain network.

    After radio

    Bill’s career included 38 years in broadcasting. After radio he spent another 15 years in industrial-product sales with W.W. Grainger. He died September 23, 2013, in Colorado Springs, at age 87.

    Sources