PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: Stations

  • KWBL-FM

    KWBL (106.7 FM) is The Bull, iHeartMedia’s Denver country station, on a frequency with deep rock roots. If you grew up on KAZY or KBPI at 106.7, you remember this same dial spot going from rock to country.

    History

    It signed on June 19, 1962, as KLZ-FM, simulcasting KLZ. On August 4, 1965, it switched to rock and has been called America’s first rock-format FM station. It became KAZY in 1977 and stayed mainstream rock.

    On April 20, 1994, KBPI moved over from 105.9 with a harder active rock sound. In December 2017, iHeart reshuffled its Denver stations: KYWY moved to 106.7 on December 1, simulcast KBPI for a few weeks, and launched country as “106.7 The Bull” on December 18 with a commercial-free marathon. The call letters became KWBL on December 26, giving KYGO its first full-market country competition.

    Call sign timeline

    • KLZ-FM: 1962 to 1977
    • KAZY: 1977 to 1994
    • KBPI: 1994 to 2017
    • KYWY: 2017
    • KWBL: December 26, 2017 to present

    The signal

    • 106.7 MHz, licensed to Denver, Colorado
    • Branding: 106.7 The Bull
    • FCC facility ID 29739

    People

    Denise Plante joined The Bull in 2018.

    Ownership history

    • 1962: signs on as KLZ-FM, the FM sister of KLZ
    • 1977 to 2017: owners under the KAZY and KBPI calls haven’t been identified here yet
    • 2017 to today: iHeartMedia

    Where the studios have been

    Today 106.7 The Bull is listed at 4695 S. Monaco Street in Denver. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KVCU-AM

    KVCU (1190 AM) is Radio 1190, the University of Colorado’s freeform student station, on a frequency that started out as the original home of KBCO. If you were in Boulder in the 70s or 80s, this dial position is where a lot of Boulder rock began.

    History

    Brocade Broadcasting began applying in 1969, got a permit for a Boulder daytimer in November 1972 and signed on KADE on November 1, 1973, with middle-of-the-road music and news. When that didn’t pay, a sales manager talked the owners into progressive rock. Two years later, Centennial Wireless bought it for $220,000, and in 1979 it was approved for 5,000 watts.

    The owners bought 97.3 FM in 1981 and named it KBCO. The AM took the KBCO name too in 1985. Noble Broadcast Group bought both for $27.25 million in 1987, and Jacor bought Noble in 1996. In mid-1997, Jacor needed to shed a station to buy another FM, so it donated 1190 to CU. The station went silent in January 1998 and came back on November 4, 1998, as KVCU, with student DJs and volunteers.

    Recent years

    It shut down for a while during COVID in 2020, went off the air in May 2022 for infrastructure work and returned to AM on February 16, 2023. On February 13, 2025, it added a Denver FM translator at 92.9. In the winter of 2025–26, its studios moved from the basement of the University Memorial Center, home for almost 50 years, to the garden level of Carlson Gymnasium.

    Call sign timeline

    • KADE: 1973 to 1985
    • KBCO: 1985 to 1998 (briefly KBLD in June 1994)
    • KVCU: 1998 to present

    The signal

    • 1190 kHz AM, licensed to Boulder, Colorado; FM translator at 92.9 since 2025
    • Branding: Radio 1190
    • FCC facility ID 48965

    Ownership history

    • 1969 to 1973: Brocade Broadcasting applies for and builds the Boulder daytimer, signing on as KADE on November 1, 1973
    • About 1975: Centennial Wireless buys it for a little over two hundred thousand dollars
    • 1987: Noble Broadcast Group buys KBCO AM and FM for a little over twenty-seven million dollars
    • 1996: Jacor buys Noble
    • 1997 to today: the University of Colorado, which Jacor donated the AM signal to

    Where the studios have been

    • Almost 50 years until winter 2025–26: the basement of the University Memorial Center in Boulder
    • Winter 2025–26 on: the garden level of Carlson Gymnasium

    Sources

  • KRFC-FM

    KRFC (88.9 FM) is Radio Fort Collins, a volunteer-run community station that took nearly eight years to get on the air. If you’ve ever wanted to hear your neighbors on the radio, this is the place to tune in.

    History

    It started with a group of former KCSU DJs who lost their shows when Colorado State University made its station student-only. They formed Public Radio for the Front Range, which became a nonprofit in September 1995.

    In 1996, the group applied for 88.9, but there were competing applications, and talks to share the frequency with Colorado Christian University fell apart in 1997. They also tried for 89.7 in 2000. They finally worked out a deal with the other applicants, and the FCC approved it on July 7, 2002, granting a permit for a 3,000-watt station. KRFC signed on March 1, 2003. By 2004 it had three broadcast studios, mostly run by volunteers. In 2022, it jumped to 50,000 watts with its own antenna, covering much of north-central Colorado.

    The signal

    • 88.9 MHz, licensed to Fort Collins, Colorado
    • Format: community radio
    • FCC facility ID 82804

    Ownership history

    • September 1995: Public Radio for the Front Range, formed by former KCSU DJs, becomes a nonprofit
    • 2003 to today: the community group runs KRFC, which signed on March 1, 2003

    Where the studios have been

    By 2004 KRFC had three broadcast studios in Fort Collins. We haven’t found street addresses for them yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KSME-FM

    KSME (96.1 FM) is Kiss FM, Northern Colorado’s Top 40 station, licensed to Greeley. If you grew up in Greeley or Fort Collins listening to the hits, this is your station.

    History

    The station signed on in 1975 and went through several call signs: KISF (1986 to 1988), KSQI (1988 to 1991) and KGLL (1991 to 2002), when it was country “96.1 The Eagle.” On October 7, 2000, it flipped to Top 40 as “96.1 Kiss FM,” carrying Rick Dees in the mornings until 2002 and then local shows. It took the KSME call letters in 2002. In November 2008, Phoenix’s “Johnjay and Rich” replaced the local morning show.

    Jacor owned it first, then Clear Channel, which became iHeartMedia in 2014. The Colorado Broadcasters Association named it Station of the Year in 2014. In December 2017, it picked up an adult alternative HD2 channel from sister station KPAW.

    The signal

    • 96.1 MHz, licensed to Greeley, Colorado
    • Branding: 96.1 Kiss FM (since 2000); 96.1 The Eagle (country, 1990s)
    • FCC facility ID 17626

    People

    Stu Haskell helped launch 96.1 Kiss FM and later became market president.

    Ownership history

    • 1975: signs on; the original owners haven’t been identified here yet
    • 1990s: Jacor
    • Then: Clear Channel, which became iHeartMedia in 2014

    Where the studios have been

    Today 96.1 Kiss FM is listed at 4270 Byrd Drive in Loveland, even though the station is licensed to Greeley. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KNRV-AM

    KNRV (1150 AM) is Onda 1150 AM / 96.1 FM, a Spanish-language talk station licensed to Englewood, and the current name of the old KGMC/KWBZ frequency. If you remember hearing Alan Berg on Denver talk radio, this is the frequency he was on.

    History

    It signed on in January 1951 as KGMC on 1220, a 1,000-watt daytimer, and moved to 1150 the next year. In 1975 it became KWBZ, where Alan Berg hosted talk.

    It became KRZN in 1982, then KFRR in 1989 and later KCUV. Radio Unica bought it for $2.8 million in 1999. As KNRC, it went dark on July 27, 2004, when its talk format failed, then returned in 2005 as KNRV. Amigo Multimedia bought it out of the prior owner’s bankruptcy in 2011.

    Call sign timeline

    • KGMC: 1951 to 1975
    • KWBZ: 1975 to 1982
    • KRZN: 1982 to 1989
    • KFRR: 1989 on, later KCUV
    • KNRC: 2003 to 2004
    • KNRV: 2005 to present

    The signal

    • 1150 kHz AM (1220 kHz in 1951), licensed to Englewood, Colorado
    • Branding: Onda 1150 AM / 96.1 FM
    • FCC facility ID 56643

    Ownership history

    • 1951: signs on as KGMC; founders haven’t been identified here yet (see the KWBZ page)
    • 1999: Radio Unica buys it for a little over two and a half million dollars
    • 2011: Amigo Multimedia buys it out of the prior owner’s bankruptcy

    Where the studios have been

    Today Onda 1150 is listed at 6825 E. Tennessee Avenue, Suite 335, in Denver. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KLVZ-AM

    KLVZ (810 AM) is “Legends,” playing oldies and adult standards from the 50s to the early 80s, but it spent most of its life as a Christian station. If you grew up on the standards your parents played, this one is for you.

    History

    It signed on April 26, 1956, as KHIL, a daytime-only middle-of-the-road music station on 800 kHz licensed to Brighton. It turned Christian as KBRN in 1969, and was named KLTT, “K-Light,” in 1982. Crawford Broadcasting paid $700,000 for it in 1993. Crawford moved the KLTT religious format to its new 670 signal in 1996 and renamed 800 KLDC, playing gospel. In February 2006, it moved to 810 and finally got to stay on at night. By 2010, it was Spanish-language Christian radio as KLVZ.

    It went silent August 1, 2011, came back in October 2016 with adult standards and oldies, and on April 13, 2020, added a 95.3 FM translator and rebranded as “Legends.”

    Call sign timeline

    • KHIL: 1956 to 1969
    • KBRN: 1969 to 1982
    • KLTT: 1982 to 1996
    • KLDC: 1996 to 2007
    • KLVZ: 2007 to present

    The signal

    • 810 kHz AM (800 kHz until 2006), licensed to Brighton, Colorado
    • FM translators at 94.3 and 95.3
    • Branding: Legends 95.3 FM, 810 AM
    • FCC facility ID 35089

    Ownership history

    • 1956 to 1993: original and early owners (KHIL, KBRN, KLTT) haven’t been identified here yet
    • 1993 to the 2000s: Crawford Broadcasting, which paid $700,000 for the station
    • 2010s to today: later owners, including whoever brought it back in 2016, haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    Today KLVZ is listed at 2821 S. Parker Road, Suite 1205, in Denver, even though the station is licensed to Brighton. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KLDC-AM

    KLDC (1220 AM) is Crawford Broadcasting’s Denver station for Christian talk and teaching, and the frequency has a long Denver history of its own. If you tune in for local ministries and syndicated Bible teachers, this is the dial position.

    History

    It signed on in 1954 as KFSC, Paco Sanchez’s Spanish-language station (Wikipedia calls the original call sign KFSO). It became KBNO in 1974, KLVZ in 1999 and KLDC on September 10, 2007, when Crawford swapped the KLDC and KLVZ call letters between its 1220 and 810 signals. While sister station KLTT leans on national programs, KLDC airs local ministries and preachers along with syndicated teachers like David Jeremiah and Charles Stanley. It runs 1,000 watts by day and just 12 watts at night to protect Mexican clear-channel stations.

    Call sign timeline

    • KFSC: 1954 to 1974 (Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado; Wikipedia lists the original call as KFSO)
    • KBNO: 1974 to 1999 (Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado; Wikipedia dates the change to 1977)
    • KLVZ: 1999 to 2007
    • KLDC: 2007 to present

    The signal

    • 1220 kHz AM, licensed to Denver, Colorado
    • Format: Christian talk and teaching
    • FCC facility ID 12364

    Related

    • KFSC 1220: Paco Sanchez’s Spanish-language station on the same frequency
    • KBNO 1280: today’s holder of the KBNO call letters

    Ownership history

    • Today: Crawford Broadcasting
    • 1954: Francisco “Paco” Sanchez opened it as KFSC, with Levi and Carmen Beall
    • 1990: Zee Ferrufino and Frank Ponce bought the station (as KBNO)
    • 1990s to 2007: later owners before Crawford haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    Today KLDC is listed at 2821 S. Parker Road, Suite 1205, in Denver. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KLTT-AM

    KLTT (670 AM) is “The Truth,” Crawford Broadcasting’s 50,000-watt Christian station for the Front Range. If you listen to Christian programming from Denver to Colorado Springs, this is the big signal.

    History

    It signed on in early 1996 as KLDC and became KLTT on April 5, 1996, taking over the call letters and religious format that Crawford had been running on 800 AM. In the daytime, the signal covers Denver and Colorado Springs and reaches into southeastern Wyoming, northeastern New Mexico and western Nebraska and Kansas. At night it drops to 1,400 watts, beamed to protect clear-channel WSCR in Chicago.

    Call sign timeline

    • KLDC: 1996
    • KLTT: April 5, 1996 to present

    The signal

    • 670 kHz AM, licensed to Commerce City, Colorado
    • Branding: KLTT 670 The Truth
    • Format: Christian
    • FCC facility ID 35191

    Related

    Ownership history

    • 1996 to today: Crawford Broadcasting, licensed through its Colorado subsidiary, KLZ Radio, Inc.

    Where the studios have been

    Today KLTT is listed at 2821 S. Parker Road, Suite 1205, in Denver. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KBNO-AM

    KBNO (1280 AM) is “Que Bueno,” Denver’s regional Mexican station, and the latest name on one of the city’s busiest AM frequencies. If you’ve been dialing around 1280 for decades, you’ve heard this spot go from talk to disco to country to classical and now to regional Mexican.

    History

    The station signed on May 16, 1948, as KTLN on 990, owned by former Kansas governor and 1936 presidential candidate Alf Landon. It moved to 1150 in 1951 and to 1280 in 1954.

    On July 1, 1969, it became KTLK, “K-Talk,” mixing youth-oriented phone talk with Top 40, then went disco in the late 70s. In 1981, it turned country as KBRQ, simulcasting its FM sister until August 1, 1996, when it became the talk station “Ralph 1280.” In 1999, it briefly simulcast KXKL-FM, then became Denver’s classical KVOD.

    In September 2000, Latino Communications bought the station from Clear Channel for $3.3 million to launch regional Mexican as KBNO. The classical station went off 1280 on December 15, 2000, and Colorado Public Radio picked up the KVOD name and classical format, completing the deal in March 2001 and moving it to 90.1 FM.

    Call sign timeline

    • KTLN: 1948 to 1969
    • KTLK: 1969 to 1981
    • KBRQ: 1981 to 1987
    • KXKL: 1987 to 1996
    • KRRF: 1996 to 1999
    • KEXX and KXKL: 1999
    • KVOD: 1999 to 2000 (the classical station stopped on its own December 15, 2000)
    • KBNO: renamed after the September 2000 sale; sources don’t agree on whether the call sign changed in 2000 or 2001

    The signal

    • 1280 kHz AM (990 in 1948, 1150 from 1951, 1280 from 1954), Denver
    • Branding: Que Bueno 1280 AM y 97.7 FM
    • FCC facility ID 59956

    Ownership history

    • 1948: signs on as KTLN, owned by former Kansas governor and 1936 presidential candidate Alf Landon
    • Before 2000: owners between Landon and Clear Channel haven’t been identified here yet
    • Until 2000: Clear Channel
    • September 2000: Latino Communications buys the station for a little over three million dollars

    Where the studios have been

    Today Que Bueno is listed at 1042 Osage Street in Denver. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KUVO-FM

    KUVO (89.3 FM) is Denver’s jazz station, broadcasting from the heart of Five Points. If you’ve ever tuned in for jazz on a Denver drive, you’ve felt the neighborhood in the music.

    History

    KUVO started with a plan in the early 1980s by Hugo Morales of Radio Bilingüe to build a Hispanic public radio station in Denver. Florence Hernández-Ramos, who met Morales in 1982, did the research, raised the grants, bought the equipment, built the board and set up training programs to get it on the air.

    The construction permit carried the call letters KHUM. KUVO signed on August 29, 1985, owned by Denver Educational Broadcasting. Since 1994 it has broadcast from the Five Points Media Center. In 2013, KUVO merged into Rocky Mountain PBS. In 2019, it added Denver Open Media on its HD3 channel, playing only local artists.

    Call sign timeline

    • KHUM: 1983 to 1985 (construction permit)
    • KUVO: 1985 to present

    The signal

    • 89.3 MHz, licensed to Denver, Colorado
    • Format: jazz and public radio
    • Owner: Rocky Mountain Public Media (Denver Educational Broadcasting until 2013)
    • FCC facility ID 16687

    Ownership history

    • Early 1980s: Hugo Morales of Radio Bilingüe plans a Hispanic public radio station for Denver; Florence Hernández-Ramos does the research, raises the grants and builds the operation
    • 1985 to 2013: Denver Educational Broadcasting
    • 2013 to today: Rocky Mountain Public Media, after KUVO merged into Rocky Mountain PBS

    Where the studios have been

    • 1994 to today: the Five Points Media Center, in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood
    • 1985 to 1994: earlier studio locations haven’t been identified here yet

    Sources