KREL was the call sign used by Colorado Springs’ 1580 AM facility from 2010 until 2015. The identity belonged to a much older frequency whose lineage began with KPIK in 1957 and later continued through KWYD and KKKK.
Real Radio 1580
In 2012, broadcaster Dan Cochell’s DC Enterprises arranged to operate local programming on KREL under owner Pilgrim Communications. Branded Real Radio 1580, the station mixed local news and talk with syndicated programming and formed a news-sharing partnership with KXRM-TV/Fox 21. Cochell developed the local operation and contributed on air.
ESPN and Fox Sports
KREL shifted to ESPN Radio in January 2013. Colorado State University records show that the station carried Rams football and men’s and women’s basketball as the Colorado Springs-Pueblo affiliate of the CSU radio network during the 2013 season. The sports identity later changed affiliation to Fox Sports Radio in October 2014.
End of the KREL era
On April 13, 2015, 1580 AM abandoned sports and became KHIG, branded “K-High 1580,” with a cannabis-oriented talk format. The KREL call sign therefore marks the sports-and-talk chapter immediately before one of the facility’s most unusual format experiments.
Facility lineage: KPIK → KWYD → KKKK → KREL → KHIG → KFCS.
Sources
- The Gazette — “Cochell takes charge of KREL, partners with Fox21” (2012)
- Colorado State Athletics — 2013 Rams radio-network listing
- Wave Farm/WGXC — KREL’s 2015 change to KHIG
People Who Worked Here
KEEP EXPLORING
Go further down the dial
HELP IMPROVE THE ARCHIVE
See something that needs a correction?
Suggest a correction or add information to this station. Nothing changes publicly until it is reviewed.