Rex Howell (born 1907) put KFXJ on the air as a teenager and went on to build Western Colorado’s first television station. He was the first president of the Colorado Broadcasters Association.
KFXJ
Howell was born in Norton, Kansas, and grew up in Longmont, where he was licensed as a broadcaster by 1921 and worked on a KFEL station while still in high school. In 1926 he started KFXJ in Edgewater with just 15 watts, raising it to 50 watts in 1927 and 100 watts later on. KFXJ moved to Grand Junction, where it became that city’s pioneer station, and in 1942 it was authorized for 1,000 watts. The station survives today as KNZZ 1100.
Television and industry work
On May 4, 1954, Howell signed on KREX-TV in Grand Junction, later adding satellite stations KREY in Montrose and KREZ in Durango, and he founded the XYZ Television Network. He ran the ham station WORX to handle communications for service members during World War II and Vietnam. Beyond being the CBA’s first president, he chaired the National Association of Broadcasters board, served as a BMI director and sat on CBS’s board of advisors.
Howell was in the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado’s first Hall of Fame class, in 1998. The Colorado Broadcasters Association’s Rex Howell award is named for him.
Sources
Stations They Worked At
FROM THE TIMELINE
Career Moments
1926: Rex Howell puts KFXJ on the air
1926 — Teenager Rex Howell started KFXJ in Edgewater with 15 watts, upping it to 50 watts in 1927. The station later moved to Grand Junction, where it became the city’s pioneer radio station; today it’s KNZZ 1100.
1942: KFXJ authorized for 1,000 watts
1942 — Rex Howell’s Grand Junction station KFXJ, which had started at 15 watts in 1926, was authorized for 1,000 watts.
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