KBPI-FM

KBPI (107.9 FM), branded “107.9 KBPI,” is a commercial active rock radio station licensed to Fort Collins, Colorado. It serves Northern Colorado, the Denver metropolitan area and Cheyenne, Wyoming, through a network of stations and translators. It is owned by iHeartMedia, broadcasts at 100,000 watts and is part of the Denver cluster. Its current website is kbpi.iheart.com.

History

The KBPI call letters were first used on Denver’s 105.9 FM facility, which began broadcasting in 1965. Founder William S. “Bill” Pierson named the station for Bill Pierson Incorporated. KBPI became known for progressive rock and later album-oriented rock. On April 20, 1994, the KBPI identity and rock format moved from 105.9 to 106.7 FM; 105.9 adopted the Alice format and call letters KALC.

The present Fort Collins 107.9 FM facility began in 1975 as KCOL-FM. It later used KIMN and KPAW before adopting the KBPI call letters in December 2017, when iHeartMedia assembled a Front Range trimulcast on 107.9 FM. The KBPI brand was paired with translator signals in Denver and a simulcast on KDZA in southern Colorado.

Ownership

• 1965–1974: Bill Pierson and Bill Pierson Incorporated, for the original 105.9 FM KBPI facility.
• 1974 onward: The original KBPI station passed through later broadcast-group ownership; the specific transfer dates require further confirmation from FCC assignment records.
• Current 107.9 FM facility: Owned by iHeartMedia, which moved the KBPI identity to the Fort Collins-licensed signal in 2017.

Technical information

• Frequency: 107.9 MHz.
• Effective radiated power: 100,000 watts.
• Height above average terrain: 266 metres.
• Facility ID: 68976.
• Current format: Active rock.
• Current station website: KBPI.

Studio locations

• Original Denver KBPI (105.9 FM): the street address of the original station’s studio has not been established in the sources consulted. The KBPI call sign and format moved to other frequencies in Denver in 1994.
• Current KBPI office: 4695 South Monaco Street, Suite 400, Denver, Colorado 80237 (iHeartMedia’s Denver studios). KBPI’s present 107.9 FM signal is licensed to Fort Collins; this is the group’s Denver office, not the city of license.

Sources: Wikipedia, “KBPI”; 107.9 KBPI, official contact page.

Sources

• Wikipedia, “KBPI” — facility history, 2017 signal move and current technical details.
• Broadcasting Yearbook 1966 — original KBPI listing, frequency, power and personnel.
• Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado, “Denver Radio” — Denver call-sign and format chronology.
• KBPI, official website.