PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: People

  • Jason Janc

    Jason Janc is a Southern Colorado radio manager, programmer and former on-air personality whose career has been closely tied to KILO and KRXP. If you listened to rock in Colorado Springs from the late 1990s on, you’ve heard the stations he helped run.

    Getting started

    Jason began in radio as a college student in 1988 in Minnesota and Illinois. He started his professional career in 1990 at WJBC and WWCT in Illinois, working as an assistant production director and announcer.

    Bahakel in Colorado Springs

    He joined Bahakel Communications in Colorado Springs in 1998 as a KILO announcer. After Bahakel acquired KYZX, the station that became KRXP, Jason served as program director and announcer there until 2011. He then spent several years with Colorado Publishing Company, ultimately as director of advertising.

    Back as general manager

    Bahakel brought Jason back in 2020 as general manager of KILO and KRXP, succeeding retiring general manager Virginia Swanson.

    Sources

  • Rich Hawk

    Rich Hawk was a programmer and station manager whose long run helped define KILO‘s modern rock identity. If you cranked KILO in Colorado Springs for new rock back in the day, a lot of what you heard was his call.

    Decades at KILO

    Rich worked in Colorado radio before landing at KILO in the late 1970s. He spent more than a quarter century programming the station, which later became KRXP, and became closely tied to the active-rock format and to KILO’s reputation for backing new rock music. In 1998 he was listed as station manager and program director, with Don Jantzen as assistant program director and music director.

    Awards

    His honors included three Billboard Station of the Year awards (1988, 1989 and 1990), a Program Director of the Year honor in 1992 and a Golden Ears award in 1990.

    Remembering Rich

    Rich Hawk died March 7, 2013.

    Sources

    • Wikipedia: KILO
    • Colorado Springs Gazette obituary for Richard Hawk, 2013 (print)
    • Radio & Records, 1998 (print)

  • John Lambert

    John Lambert was the man in charge at KYSN for a good stretch of Colorado Springs radio history. If you grew up with 1460 AM Top 40, he was the boss behind the music.

    Running KYSN

    A 1973 industry profile shows how much John had on his plate: he was listed at the same time as general manager, station manager and sales manager of KYSN. On his team were Gregor Vaule as program and music director, Hal Tatel as news director and Tom Little as chief engineer.

    He stayed a long time, too. A 1980 industry directory still had him as KYSN’s general manager, and Top 40 ads pointed job-seekers to him, so he had a hand in hiring the air staff.

    Remembered fondly

    People who worked for him liked him. Jon David Anderson, who worked nights at KYSN, later called John a “great manager” from the days when the station ruled youth radio in Colorado Springs.

    Sources

    • Starship Radio station directory, 1973 (print)
    • Encyclomedia station directory, 1980 (print)
    • Top 40 trade classified advertising (print)
    • Former KYSN staff recollections, RadioDiscussions and PikesPeakCafes

  • Kurt Grow

    Kurt Grow was a Colorado Springs broadcaster, educator and longtime KILO personality. If you listened to KILO in the 80s and early 90s, or took a radio class at Pikes Peak Community College, there’s a good chance he helped shape what you heard or learned.

    KILO and the classroom

    Kurt was on KILO from 1981 to 1993 while also building a decades-long career teaching radio and television at Pikes Peak Community College. By his own account he taught broadcasting skills for 30 years and programmed and managed the college station KEPC 89.7 FM before retiring from PPCC in December 2003.

    That made him a bridge between commercial rock radio and local broadcasting education. Plenty of Colorado Springs students learned the craft at KEPC with him around.

    This is a short page built from a few records. If you worked with Kurt or studied under him, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

    • 440 International: Radio People archive (print)
    • Richard Hawk obituary guestbook: recollection by Kurt Grow

  • Gene Austin Knight

    Gene Austin Knight was a Colorado Springs Top 40 night personality on KYSN 1460 during the station’s late-1960s and early-1970s peak. If you were a teenager tuning in after dark back then, KYSN was the dial to be on, and Gene was part of why.

    Nights at KYSN

    Former KYSN staffers remember Gene as the night jock who followed Kurt Grow in the station’s evening lineup, back when KYSN was the dominant youth-oriented AM station in the market. He worked alongside colleagues like Tim Kiley and Gregor Vaule.

    Not much published documentation survives on Gene, so the exact dates of his run are still to be pinned down. If you worked with him, listened to him or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

    • Former KYSN staff recollections, RadioDiscussions
    • KYSN historical station records

  • Dan Karcher

    Dan Karcher was the longtime radio voice of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. If you spent summer nights in the Springs with a ballgame on the radio, you heard him call it.

    The Sky Sox years

    Dan joined the Sky Sox broadcast team in 1990 after working in Des Moines. He became the club’s director of broadcasting in 1991 and stayed through the team’s final Colorado Springs season in 2018. His play-by-play career covered the Sky Sox’s affiliations with Cleveland, Colorado and Milwaukee.

    On the air

    Over the years the games aired on several stations. In 2009 the Sky Sox announced Sports Animal AM 1300 (KCSF) as their new flagship for the 2010 season, with Dan calling every regular-season and postseason game. The club later extended its XTRA Sports 1300 partnership through 2018. Dan also called football, basketball and baseball on radio, TV and the web.

    Sources

  • Adam King

    Adam King was a Colorado Springs radio and digital-content pro at KILO-FM 94.3. If you ever watched a live in-studio performance from KILO online, Adam was likely the one behind it.

    Live in the studio

    Adam produced and presented KILO’s live in-studio performance content for online audiences, and that work turned up in the Colorado Broadcasters Association’s 2014 Awards of Excellence and 2015 Certificates of Merit.

    This is a short page built from two awards lists. If you worked with Adam or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Brent Hatcher

    Brent Hatcher is the professional name of Brent Cameron Hill, a longtime production specialist for KILO and KRXP. If you heard a funny, punchy local commercial on KILO or The Independent, there’s a good chance he made it.

    Production director

    In a sworn 2022 declaration filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Brent said he was production director for KILO/KRXP and Bahakel’s Colorado Springs Radio Broadcasters from 1999 through July 2019, then stayed on as a production assistant. His job covered commercials and other on-air material for the stations.

    Award-winning spots

    Colorado Broadcasters Association records credit Brent’s creative work on KILO and KRXP advertising, promotions and sales campaigns. A 2013 “Pueblo Dodge ‘Construction’” commercial won a Certificate of Merit. Awards of Excellence then credited him for KILO’s “On-Air Recruitment,” KRXP’s “The Independent Best Of” and KILO’s “FAAST — Take It to the Track” in 2014; KILO’s “Self Made Tattoo” in 2015; and “Black Falcon School — ‘Midevil Swordplay’” in 2016.

    Sources

  • OX

    OX is a Colorado Springs rock-radio personality on KILO-FM 94.3. If you listened to KILO in the evenings in the mid-2010s, OX is likely a name you know.

    Nights with Ox

    OX’s evening program, Nights with Ox, was part of KILO’s active-rock lineup.

    Sources

  • Opie

    Opie is a name on record as a Colorado Springs rock-radio personality associated with 94.3 KILO. If you listened to active rock in the Springs, the name may sound familiar.

    This is a short page built from limited records, and we’re still looking for dated details. If you worked with Opie or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources