PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: Stations

  • KMXY-FM

    KMXY (104.3 FM) is Mix 104.3, Grand Junction’s hot adult contemporary station. If you want today’s hits plus the favorites from your high school years, this is the Western Slope’s mix.

    History

    KMXY began as a construction permit under the call letters KMKE in 1992 and signed on as KMXY in 1996. Dick Maynard’s Jan-Di Broadcasting bought it in 1998, making it a sister to KEKB and KBKL. Townsquare Media owns it today.

    Call sign timeline

    • KMKE: 1992 to 1996 (construction permit)
    • KMXY: 1996 to present

    The signal

    • 104.3 MHz, licensed to Grand Junction, Colorado
    • Branding: Mix 104.3
    • Format: hot adult contemporary
    • FCC facility ID 5550

    Ownership history

    • 1992 to 1998: the original permit holders and early owners haven’t been identified here yet
    • 1998: Dick Maynard’s Jan-Di Broadcasting buys the station
    • Today: Townsquare Media

    Where the studios have been

    Today Mix 104.3 is listed at 315 Kennedy Avenue in Grand Junction, shared with its Townsquare sisters KEKB and KBKL. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KBKL-FM

    KBKL (107.9 FM) is Grand Junction’s KOOL 107.9, a classic hits station. If you want the oldies you grew up with on the Western Slope, this is the dial position.

    History

    The 107.9 facility started as KJYE in 1988, became KIOB in 1989 and took the KBKL call letters in 1993. The Colorado Broadcasters Association credits Dick Maynard’s Jan-Di Broadcasting with creating KOOL 107.9 in 1996, alongside its country station KEKB. It’s now owned by Townsquare Media.

    Call sign timeline

    • KJYE: 1988 to 1989
    • KIOB: 1989 to 1993
    • KBKL: 1993 to present

    The signal

    • 107.9 MHz, licensed to Grand Junction, Colorado
    • Branding: KOOL 107.9
    • Format: classic hits
    • FCC facility ID 30430

    People

    Dick Maynard was a co-founder of Jan-Di Broadcasting.

    Ownership history

    • 1988 to the 1990s: early owners of the KJYE / KIOB signal haven’t been identified here yet
    • 1996: Dick Maynard’s Jan-Di Broadcasting creates KOOL 107.9
    • Today: Townsquare Media

    Where the studios have been

    Today KOOL 107.9 is listed at 315 Kennedy Avenue in Grand Junction, shared with its Townsquare sisters KEKB and KMXY. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KEKB-FM

    KEKB (99.9 FM) is the Grand Valley’s long-running country station. If you’ve spent mornings in Grand Junction with Heller and Maynard: The Breakfast Flakes, you know this one.

    History

    KEKB signed on May 24, 1984, licensed to Fruita and serving Grand Junction, as the first station from Dick Maynard’s Jan-Di Broadcasting. It launched right in the middle of a Western Slope economic slump and still went on to a record-setting 48 share among adults 25–54. The morning show picked up several CBA Station of the Year awards and Country Music Association recognition.

    Today KEKB is owned by Townsquare Media and runs 79,000 watts. Its Grand Junction sister stations are KBKL, KEXO, KKNN and KMXY.

    The signal

    • 99.9 MHz, licensed to Fruita, Colorado
    • Format: country
    • FCC facility ID 30431

    People

    Dick Maynard was co-founder, general manager and morning host.

    Ownership history

    • 1984: Dick Maynard’s Jan-Di Broadcasting signs on KEKB, its first station
    • Today: Townsquare Media

    Where the studios have been

    Today KEKB is listed at 315 Kennedy Avenue in Grand Junction. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KGEK / KSTC-AM 1230

    KSTC (1230 AM) in Sterling is the descendant of KGEK, one of the oldest radio stations on Colorado’s Eastern Plains. If you grew up in Logan County, you probably knew it as KGEK, and today it runs Fox Sports Radio.

    History

    KGEK started in Yuma as the work of self-taught engineer and inventor Elmer G. Beehler. The Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado date his Yuma broadcasting to 1921–1925 and describe KGEK as Colorado’s third-oldest station. Beehler later ran the station from Sterling from 1934 to 1966, with his son-in-law Al Ross taking over the business side in the 1940s. Other accounts, including Wikipedia, date KGEK’s founding in Yuma to 1938 and its move to Sterling to the 1950s.

    The station kept the KGEK call letters until the late 1970s, when they changed to KSTC. It moved into a new building in 1983 and switched to sports on March 13, 2017.

    The signal

    • 1230 kHz AM, licensed to Sterling, Colorado
    • 1,000 watts
    • FCC facility ID 35639
    • Format: sports (Fox Sports Radio)

    Ownership history

    • 1920s: Elmer G. Beehler founds KGEK in Yuma
    • 1934 to 1966: Beehler runs the station from Sterling; his son-in-law Al Ross takes over the business side in the 1940s
    • After 1966: later owners haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    • Early years: Yuma
    • 1934 on: Sterling
    • 1983: a new building in Sterling

    Sources

  • KNAB-AM

    KNAB (1140 AM) is the hometown station of Burlington, out on Colorado’s Eastern Plains near the Kansas line. If you’ve driven I-70 east of Limon and tuned in for the local news, weather and adult standards, this is the one.

    History

    KNAB signed on July 11, 1967. An FM sister station joined it in 1980, and the AM is also heard on translator K230CD at 93.9 FM.

    Engineer Bette Bailly arrived at KNAB the year it signed on, meaning to stay 30 days. She stayed nearly 50 years as engineer, disc jockey and eventually owner, and became one of the best-known voices for small-market radio in the state.

    The signal

    • 1140 kHz AM, licensed to Burlington, Colorado
    • 1,000 watts by day, 10 watts at night (Class D)
    • FCC facility ID 35206
    • Format: adult standards

    Ownership history

    • 1967 to the 2010s: Bette Bailly joined at sign-on as engineer and nearly 50 years later was also owner
    • Founders: the original owners who signed it on in 1967 haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    KNAB’s studios today are at 17543 County Road 49 in Burlington. Earlier studio addresses haven’t turned up yet, so if you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KFSC-AM

    KFSC (1220 AM) was Denver’s first Spanish-language radio station, founded by Francisco “Paco” Sanchez. If your family tuned in for Latin music and news in Spanish in the 50s and 60s, this is where it started.

    History

    Sanchez began buying airtime on KTLN and KMYR around 1949 so he could broadcast his own Spanish-language program, at a time when Denver’s roughly 30,000 Latino residents had no Latin music on the local dial. By 1954 he owned his own station, KFSC, which first broadcast from his home before moving to a Broadway location.

    Andrés Neidig started at KFSC in 1961 as a news translator, copywriter and on-air talent, and was running the station as general manager within a year. The Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado describe KFSC as the first and only Spanish-language media outlet west of the Mississippi at the time. Sanchez operated the station for about 16 years, and in 1968 the station was damaged by an arson fire.

    The signal

    • 1220 kHz AM, Denver
    • On the air by 1954
    • Founder and owner: Francisco “Paco” Sanchez
    • Format: Spanish-language

    This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KFSC, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1954: Francisco “Paco” Sanchez opens KFSC, with Levi and Carmen Beall
    • 1974: the station becomes KBNO
    • 1990: Zee Ferrufino and Frank Ponce purchase the station

    Where the studios have been

    • 1954: Sanchez’s home at 3340 Lafayette Street
    • Later: a Broadway location

    Sources

  • KVOQ-FM (102.3)

    KVOQ-FM (102.3) is Indie 102.3, Colorado Public Radio’s independent music service in Denver. If you like discovering new bands between the songs you already know, this is the spot on your dial.

    Format and service

    CPR relaunched its independent music service as Indie 102.3 on July 1, 2019, replacing the OpenAir name. The Denver signal is at 102.3 FM, and CPR also distributes the service on separately licensed stations and translators in other Colorado communities.

    The signal

    • 102.3 MHz, licensed to Denver, Colorado
    • Noncommercial, operated by Colorado Public Radio
    • FCC facility ID 37028

    Ownership history

    • Today: Colorado Public Radio, which relaunched the service as Indie 102.3 on July 1, 2019
    • Earlier: earlier owners of the 102.3 facility haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found studio addresses for KVOQ-FM yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KFXD-AM (Nampa/Boise)

    KFXD (AM 580) served Nampa and the Boise area in Idaho. It’s in the archive for its link to Wayne Cornils, whose radio career ran through here.

    History

    Wayne Cornils was general manager from 1962 to 1964, then president, general manager and co-owner from 1964 to 1976. The 1984 Broadcasting Yearbook identifies KFXD(AM) as a Nampa station at 580 kHz.

    This page covers the historic KFXD operation relevant to Cornils’ career. It’s separate from later stations that used the KFXD call sign after Boise-area frequency and call-sign changes. Cornils’ earlier stop was KPIG in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

    This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KFXD, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1964 to 1976: Wayne Cornils, president, general manager and co-owner
    • 1962 to 1964: Wayne Cornils, general manager
    • Before 1962: founders and earlier owners haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found studio addresses for KFXD yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KPIG-AM

    KPIG (AM) was a radio station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It’s in the archive because it’s an early stop on the career path of Wayne Cornils, who went on to run a station in Idaho.

    Career connection

    Wayne Cornils held “various positions” at KPIG from 1954 through 1961, before becoming general manager of KFXD in Idaho.

    This entry records the station’s historic call sign and Cornils’ documented employment. It doesn’t claim a later facility lineage.

    This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KPIG, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    The owners of KPIG haven’t been identified here yet.

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found studio addresses for KPIG yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KEXS-AM

    KEXS (AM) is an AM station licensed to Excelsior Springs, Missouri, serving the Kansas City area. It’s in the archive because it’s where Marty Smith, who later became a Colorado broadcaster, got his start.

    Career connection

    Marty Smith recalled that he began his radio career at KEXS in 1990.

    This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KEXS, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    The owners of KEXS haven’t been identified here yet.

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found studio addresses for KEXS yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources