PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: People

  • Ryan Kaufman

    Ryan Kaufman is a Colorado Springs sports and talk-radio programmer and host. If you tune in to XTRA Sports 1300 for the game or AM 740 KVOR for the news, he’s one of the people shaping what you hear.

    Pueblo roots

    Ryan studied at Colorado State University-Pueblo from 2003 to 2008, and during those early years in broadcasting he put in time at the school’s KTSC-FM.

    Cumulus Colorado Springs

    Ryan’s start with Cumulus in Colorado Springs came in 2015, when he was hired as a producer working on XTRA Sports 1300/KCSF and AM 740 KVOR. From there he worked his way up to program director of KCSF and became host of Drive Time Sports.

    Cumulus promoted Ryan in March 2022 to program director of KVOR, and he stayed in charge of programming at KCSF too. That put both the longtime news/talk station and the sports outlet under his oversight. He has also done sports play-by-play around the region.

    Sources

  • Ross Ford

    Ross Ford is a Colorado Springs rock-radio personality and programmer. If you’ve been tuning in to Rock 94.3 KILO or X103.9 KRXP over the years, you’ve almost certainly heard his work.

    Career

    His KILO tenure reaches back to at least the mid-1990s. In February 2001 the station promoted him from assistant program director to program director after Don Jantzen left for Kansas City, and Rich Hawk noted at the time that Ford had already been at KILO for seven years. He later became a familiar KILO morning personality.

    In 2017 he was promoted to operations manager and program director for both KILO and its alternative sister station KRXP. In July 2025 he took over programming duties at KRXP again when program director Carly Evans left, while remaining cluster operations manager and KILO PD/morning host.

    Local reporting has credited Ford and his staff with KILO’s strong ratings in Colorado Springs, and the Gazette’s 2025 reader poll named him a silver medalist in the radio personality category.

    Where is Ross Ford now?

    As of July 2025, he’s hosting mornings on KILO and running programming for both KILO and KRXP in Colorado Springs.

    Sources

  • George James

    George Leroy James was a Colorado Springs broadcaster, station owner and civic figure tied to KPIK 1580 and KPIK-FM. If you grew up on those frequencies in the Springs, his fingerprints were on the place.

    A Springs native in radio

    George was born and raised in Colorado Springs and got hooked on radio as a teenager, spending time around KPIK before working in the business himself. He went on to serve as station manager and became a station owner.

    City Council and the KPIK split

    George was elected to the Colorado Springs City Council in 1977 and served until 1981. In 1978 the KPIK AM and FM were separated, and the FM became KILO.

    Remembering George

    George James died January 11, 2021, at age 78.

    Sources

  • Douglas W. Dailey

    Douglas W. Dailey helped launch commercial FM radio in Colorado Springs as president and general manager of KLST. If you ever tuned to 94.3 FM in the Springs, you were on the frequency he helped put on the air.

    Starting KLST

    KLST was a 94.3 MHz station operated by Little London Broadcasting. It signed on August 22, 1962, which made Doug part of the first management team of the station that would eventually become KILO.

    After the sale

    In 1966 KLST was sold to Western Broadcasting and became KPIK-FM, joining the company’s country station on the AM dial. The records we’ve found tie Doug to the station’s founding years.

    This is a short page built from industry directories. If you knew Doug or know what he did after 1966, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Irwin M. Cunningham

    Irwin M. Cunningham was farm director at KGHF 1350 in Pueblo in the mid-1950s. If you farmed or ranched near Pueblo back then, Irwin was the voice with the ag news.

    Farm news on KGHF

    The 1955 Broadcasting Yearbook lists Irwin in the farm director role alongside news director Robert A. Mott. It’s a good reminder that agricultural programming was a named part of KGHF’s local service. The directory data was corrected to December 15, 1954, and it doesn’t give Irwin’s dates of service.

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

    Sources

  • John H. McGill

    John H. McGill was sales manager at KGHF 1350 in Pueblo in the mid-1950s. If you heard a local advertiser on KGHF back then, John’s sales team helped put them on the air.

    Selling KGHF

    The 1955 Broadcasting Yearbook lists John in that role alongside general manager Robert D. Ellis and commercial manager William Mahoney. KGHF carried ABC network service at the time. The market data was corrected to December 15, 1954, and it doesn’t give John’s dates of service.

    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

  • William Mahoney

    William Mahoney was the commercial manager of KGHF 1350 in Pueblo in the mid-1950s. If your family ran a Pueblo business back then and bought airtime on KGHF, he’s the kind of person you’d have dealt with.

    On KGHF’s business staff

    Mahoney shows up as commercial manager in both the 1955 and 1957 Colorado station listings, so he was on the business side of the station across at least two years. He worked under company president Gifford Phillips, at a station that carried ABC network programming. Those snapshots tell us what he did in those years, but not exactly when he started or left.

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

    Sources

  • Gifford Phillips

    Gifford Phillips was a Pueblo broadcasting owner who helped build KGHF and had a hand in Colorado Springs TV and FM too. If you grew up tuning in Pueblo radio in the mid-20th century, his name was on the company behind the dial.

    Owning KGHF

    Phillips was the principal stockholder when Colorado Broadcasting Company bought KGHF in Pueblo in the mid-1940s. By the 1950s, Broadcasting Yearbook listed him as president of the company that owned the station.

    TV and FM

    Phillips later became a major owner of TV Colorado Inc., the company behind KKTV in Colorado Springs, and held interests connected with KFMH-FM. In January 1963, Broadcasting reported the sale of the group, including KGHF, KKTV and KFMH.

    Art and legacy

    Outside broadcasting, Phillips was a prominent collector and supporter of contemporary and Native American art. He co-founded the Chamiza Foundation with his wife Joann in 1989.

    He passed away at 94 in Palm Desert, California, on April 17, 2013.

    Sources

  • Mary Smith

    Mary Smith was women’s director at KCSJ 590 in Pueblo in the mid-1950s. If you were a homemaker tuning in to KCSJ back then for programs aimed at women, Mary was the person behind them.

    On the KCSJ staff

    The 1955 Broadcasting Yearbook lists Mary in that role alongside news director Bob Billman, sports director Ross Beatty and chief engineer Marion Cunningham. The data was corrected to December 15, 1954, and the listing doesn’t describe her specific programs or later career.

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

    Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado’s recollection of KCSJ-TV’s early days, written by Bill Baker, remembers a Mary Smith as the channel’s own Julia Child, hosting a kitchen show after the station signed on June 14, 1953. That lines up with a women’s director at KCSJ in the mid-1950s, but Mary Smith is a common name and the recollection gives no dates, so it’s probably, not certainly, the same person.

    Sources

  • Ross Beatty

    Ross Beatty was sports director at KCSJ 590 in Pueblo in 1955. If you followed Pueblo sports on the radio in the mid-1950s, Ross was the one bringing you the scores.

    Sports on KCSJ

    The 1955 Broadcasting Yearbook lists Ross among the station’s local staff, alongside news director Bob Billman and chief engineer Marion Cunningham. Having a dedicated sports director says something about how much local coverage KCSJ was putting on the air. The station data was corrected to December 15, 1954, and it doesn’t give Ross’s years of service.

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

    Sources