KWSB-FM

KWSB-FM, Western Colorado University’s student radio service in Gunnison, historically heard at 91.1 MHz and known as “The Penguin.”

History and use: Western identifies KWSB as a student-centered station with a history reaching back to the late 1960s. Across its FM years, it carried student and faculty programs, music, and coverage of Mountaineer athletics. The station’s educational role is part of its identity: students learned to host, produce, and broadcast live programming while serving the campus and Gunnison Valley. The Colorado Broadcasters Association directory lists Western Colorado University as owner and the station as college radio.

Transition: In March 2026, Western announced that KWSB would move away from FM and to a streaming-only platform during that spring. The announcement describes the plan and its reasons—rising broadcast and transmitter costs, with a 15-year-old transmitter near the end of its expected life—but does not itself document the final FM broadcast date. KWSB had already streamed online since the mid-2000s.

Ownership, signal history and addresses

• Owner: Western Colorado University (formerly Western State College), documented as the station’s educational licensee/owner. The station began broadcasting in 1968; the university’s ownership has continued through the 2026 transition to online streaming.
• Former FM service: 91.1 MHz; the 1992 Broadcasting Yearbook listed 135 watts. Western announced the end of the FM signal in March 2026; the university later reported that KWSB moved to streaming-only in spring 2026. There is no current over-the-air wattage.
• Current official website and stream information: Western Colorado University’s KWSB page.
• Current address: Western Colorado University, 1 Western Way, Gunnison, Colorado 81231. KWSB is a campus service; the university does not identify a street-numbered separate studio in the sources reviewed.
• Former campus facility: Western’s alumni history records the station’s first 10-watt transmitter on the roof of Taylor Hall. Later transmitter and studio locations are not fully documented in the sources reviewed.

Additional sources: The Westerner, “A New Station,” documenting KWSB’s founding and first transmitter; Broadcasting Yearbook 1992, KWSB-FM facility entry; The Westerner, Fall 2026, reporting KWSB’s move to streaming in spring 2026.

Sources: Western Colorado University, “Western’s KWSB Radio Moves to Streaming-Only Broadcast, Ends FM Signal” (March 10, 2026); Colorado Broadcasters Association station directory; CBA 2024 awards, student-produced KWSB entries; FCC public inspection file, KWSB.