PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: Stations

  • K237GG-FM

    K237GG (95.3 FM) is a small FM translator in Denver. If you’ve tuned to 95.3 and landed on a station from KLDC, this is the signal carrying it.

    The signal

    • 95.3 MHz, FM translator
    • Licensed to Denver, Colorado
    • 99 watts ERP
    • FCC facility ID 141906; the FCC lists KLDC-AM (Denver) as the primary station. KLDC was KLVZ from 1999 until the call letters changed on September 10, 2007, so older references to KLVZ mean the same station.

    A translator repeats another station on a different frequency, so what you hear can change over time. This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked with this signal, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    We haven’t identified this translator’s licensee, founders or earlier owners yet. It repeats KLDC-AM. If you know, we’d love to hear from you.

    Where the studios have been

    A translator doesn’t have studios of its own. It repeats the programming of its primary station, KLDC-AM.

    Sources

  • K225BS-FM

    K225BS (92.9 FM) is a small FM translator in Denver. If you’ve found a station from KVCU on 92.9 on your car radio, this is the signal behind it.

    The signal

    • 92.9 MHz, FM translator
    • Licensed to Denver, Colorado
    • 99 watts ERP
    • FCC facility ID 140244; the FCC lists KVCU-AM (Boulder) as the primary station

    A translator repeats another station on a different frequency, so what you hear can change over time. This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked with this signal, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    We haven’t identified this translator’s licensee, founders or earlier owners yet. It repeats KVCU-AM. If you know, we’d love to hear from you.

    Where the studios have been

    A translator doesn’t have studios of its own. It repeats the programming of its primary station, KVCU-AM.

    Sources

  • K229BS-FM

    K229BS (93.7 FM) is a small FM translator licensed to Lakewood that served the Denver market. If you caught “93.7 The Rock” in 2014, this is the signal it rode on.

    What you heard

    In March 2014, the translator began carrying 93.7 The Rock, a variety-hits simulcast of Littleton’s KCKK-AM 1510, with D.J. McCoy in middays. The simulcast ended after the translator was sold to iHeartMedia and later became part of KDFD programming.

    The signal

    • 93.7 MHz, FM translator
    • Licensed to Lakewood, Colorado
    • 99 watts ERP
    • FCC facility ID 140231; the FCC lists KDFD-AM as its primary station

    Ownership history

    • March 2014: Hunt Broadcasting launched 93.7 The Rock on the translator
    • Later: the translator was sold to iHeartMedia and became part of KDFD programming

    Where the studios have been

    A translator doesn’t have studios of its own. It repeats the programming of its primary station, KDFD-AM.

    Sources

  • KCKK-AM

    KCKK (1510 AM) is a call sign that bounced around the Denver dial, and for a while in 2014 it carried a locally staffed variety-hits station called 93.7 The Rock. If you remember country on 104.3 in the 90s, you remember where these call letters started.

    History

    The FCC record for the Littleton-licensed 1510 AM facility lists KCKK among its call signs from December 2006 until May 2020, when it became KPLS. Earlier identities on the facility include KDKO, KNRC, KCUV and KYOL. KCKK was also the call sign of classic-country K104.3 in the 90s. The calls spent time on 1600 AM (today’s KEPN) when that signal simulcast the FM, and the format and calls later moved to 1510.

    In March 2014, Hunt Broadcasting launched 93.7 The Rock as a simulcast of KCKK-AM 1510 and translator K229BS at 93.7 FM. A trade report at the time called the format variety hits, with Denver native D.J. McCoy in middays. The translator later carried KDFD programming, which its own page covers.

    The signal

    • 1510 kHz AM
    • Licensed to Littleton, Colorado
    • FCC facility ID 52249; the FCC now lists the facility as KPLS

    Ownership history

    • March 2014: Hunt Broadcasting launched 93.7 The Rock as a simulcast of KCKK-AM 1510 and translator K229BS
    • Earlier and later: other owners of the 1510 facility haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KBRR / KRMH-AM 1230 lineage

    KBRR (1230 AM) was Leadville’s first local radio station, which came on as KLVC in 1951 and was later known as KBRR and KRMH. Remember hearing Panther basketball and the burro race over the radio in Leadville? This is the station that brought them to you.

    Call sign timeline

    • KLVC: September 21, 1951
    • KBRR: around 1960 (locals joked it was a nod to Leadville winters: “brrr”)
    • KRMH: in use by 1984
    • License canceled: May 4, 2023

    KLVC: Leadville gets local radio

    Broadcast directories date the sign-on to September 21, 1951, with 250 watts on 1230 kHz, run by Top of the Nation Station, Inc. A 2020 local recollection remembers the station arriving a year earlier, in 1950; the directory date is used here.

    Local was the whole point. Tune in and you could catch Leadville High School’s Panthers, home games and road games alike, along with remote coverage of the yearly burro race and live community shows. The voice behind years of sports coverage was Gene Vancil, who ran the J.C. Penney store in town, and he was on the air the night Leadville’s 1956 state basketball champions rolled back home. Locals also remember Bill Jacobson, and Dick Peyton, who went by “Grampa” or “The Old Man of the Mountain” on the air.

    Valley Home Dairy, owned by the O’Leary family, backed The Bright Spot of the Week between 1955 and 1958. It was a live half-hour request show on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. Emmett and Mary O’Leary performed popular songs, with Emmett’s sister Doris joining in now and then, and the station made sure its upright piano stayed in tune for the broadcasts.

    KBRR: the “brrr” years

    A 1964 industry directory lists Continental Divide Broadcasting, Inc. as owner, and that year a majority stake changed hands within the company. In 1975, Continental Divide sold KBRR to Zap Communications, Inc. for $150,000. The station was then authorized for 1,000 watts by day and 250 watts at night. A 1975 directory lists a rock and country format, with ABC Information, Intermountain Network, University of Colorado and Denver Broncos affiliations.

    KRMH and the end of the facility

    The station was using the KRMH calls by 1984 and ran alongside KRMH-FM 93.5. A 1993 directory lists the AM at 1,000 watts with a country format under Phoenix Broadcasting. Monitoring reports from early 1991 list KRMH 1230 as silent. The AM license (FCC Facility ID 52513) was canceled on May 4, 2023.

    Ownership history

    • 1951: Top of the Nation Station, Inc., which signed on KLVC
    • By 1964: Continental Divide Broadcasting, Inc. (a majority stake changed hands within the company that year)
    • 1975: Continental Divide sold KBRR to Zap Communications, Inc. for $150,000
    • By 1993: Phoenix Broadcasting, per a 1993 directory

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found studio addresses for the Leadville station yet beyond the town itself. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KDZA-FM (101.9 / 107.3)

    KDZA (101.9 / 107.3 FM) is the revived KDZA classic-hits service heard in Pueblo and Colorado Springs. If you grew up on live local DJs and a mix of 60s, 70s and 80s hits, this brings that back to your dial.

    History

    The KDZA call letters returned to Pueblo’s 1230 AM in 2023, after the station had spent three decades as KKPC. Mountain Radio Group relaunched it as classic hits on May 18, 2023, branded by its Pueblo FM translator as 101.9 KDZA. The station later opened studios at Pueblo Community College and rebuilt a local lineup led by longtime Pueblo personality Nick Donovan.

    On November 11, 2024, Mountain Radio Group flipped KQSC 1530 AM and its 107.3 FM translator in Colorado Springs from “Mountain Country” to a simulcast of KDZA. The combined service became 101.9 & 107.3 KDZA.

    The signal

    • Full-power AM stations: KDZA 1230 AM (Pueblo) and KQSC 1530 AM (Colorado Springs)
    • FM translators: K270CM at 101.9 MHz (Pueblo) and K294CH at 107.3 MHz (Colorado Springs)
    • Format: classic hits

    This page covers the modern FM-branded service. It’s separate from the former full-power KDZA-FM at 107.9, which used that call sign from 1993 to 2018.

    What you hear

    Live, local hosts through the day, with the lineup published on the station’s website as of October 2026.

    Ownership history

    • 2023 to today: Mountain Radio Group relaunched KDZA on May 18, 2023, and flipped KQSC 1530 AM in Colorado Springs to the KDZA simulcast on November 11, 2024

    Where the studios have been

    • Pueblo Community College, Pueblo (KDZA studios, opened 2023)
    • 1935 Jamboree Drive, Colorado Springs (listed today as KDZA Radio, for the Colorado Springs side of the simulcast)

    Sources

  • KCSU-FM

    KCSU-FM is the student-run radio station at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. If you ever spun a record, read the news or ran a board in the Lory Student Center, or just tuned in to hear what college kids were playing, this is that station.

    History

    The roots go all the way back to 1943, when Colorado A&M was putting together radio programming for the region. The campus station’s first real trial came in March 1960: a prerecorded test program that traveled by carrier current over to Newsom Hall. Then in 1964 CSU got its FCC building permit, and KCSU went on the FM air that same year at 90.9 MHz. If you tuned in during those early days, you’d have found a blend of music, campus news, interviews, public affairs and educational programs, and the 1969 Broadcasting Yearbook counted KCSU among the Fort Collins stations.

    Changing hands and formats

    • 1970s: the station relocated to the basement of the Student Center
    • 1977: professional managers took over from students
    • 1980s: classical music, news and information were the focus; the station later shifted to 90.5 MHz and went up to 10,000 watts
    • 1990s: a spell of adult album alternative, then in 1995 a campus committee restored student program management, with professional support behind it

    The 1997 flood

    If you were in Fort Collins in July 1997, you remember the flood. It ruined KCSU’s studios, offices and equipment, and by the station’s own account roughly a quarter of the music library was lost. The station moved over to the former Fort Collins High School complex, stayed on the air, and came back to the Lory Student Center in January 1999.

    Today

    KCSU remains a student-run educational station. Students at CSU take care of programming, promotions, production and engineering, which gives them hands-on time with radio, audio and multimedia.

    Ownership history

    • 1943 onward: Colorado A&M, now Colorado State University, producing radio programming for the region
    • 1964: CSU received the FCC building permit and KCSU began FM broadcasting
    • Today: Colorado State University, with students handling programming

    Where the studios have been

    • Newsom Hall, Colorado State University (carrier-current test program, 1960)
    • The basement of the Student Center, Colorado State University (1970s)
    • The former Fort Collins High School complex (after the July 1997 flood, until January 1999)
    • Lory Student Center, Colorado State University (back since January 1999)

    Sources

  • KTLN-AM

    KTLN (1280 AM) was an early Denver AM station with a big place in Broncos history. If you grew up hearing Broncos games in the 60s, or Denver’s first full-time sports talk, KTLN is where it started.

    History

    KTLN signed on May 16, 1948, at 990 kHz with 1,000 watts in the daytime. Its first owner was Alfred M. Landon, the former Kansas governor and 1936 presidential candidate, who announced the sale of his broadcasting interest in 1949. The station moved to 1150 kHz in 1951 and to 1280 kHz in 1954. Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado also mentions an earlier 1180 kHz reference in its account of the frequency changes.

    In 1969, KTLN became KTLK and went up against KIMN in Denver’s Top 40 race. Later identities have their own pages.

    Broncos and Denver’s first sports talk

    The Denver Broncos’ team historian records that the team’s games aired on KTLN 1280 from 1964 through 1969, which brought Bob Martin into the radio booth. Martin also started Denver’s first full-time sports-talk show on KTLN in 1965.

    The signal

    • 990 kHz at sign-on (1948), 1150 kHz (1951), 1280 kHz (1954)
    • 1,000 watts daytime at sign-on; a 1954 trade listing shows 5,000 watts on 1280

    Ownership history

    • 1948 to 1949: Alfred M. Landon, the former Kansas governor and 1936 presidential candidate, the first owner
    • 1956: Radio Denver, Inc. was reported as owner
    • In between: the chain of owners isn’t fully documented yet

    Where the studios have been

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

    Where it is today

    1280 AM is now Spanish-language KBNO. Another era on the same frequency is KVOD-AM.

    Sources

  • KVOD-AM

    KVOD (1280 AM) was the third Denver home of the city’s commercial classical-music station. If you were a classical fan who followed KVOD around the dial in the late 90s, this is where the music landed after it left FM.

    History

    If you were a classical fan in Denver on May 21, 1999, that was the day the KVOD calls and the classical programming hopped from 92.5 FM over to 1280 AM, as 92.5 switched to Jammin’ Oldies. Up to then, 1280 had been repeating the programming of Chancellor-owned KXKL (KOOL 105). Denver Westword described the move as a quick return of classical programming on AM rather than the end of it.

    This page is about the 1280 AM stretch only. It’s separate from the earlier 99.5 and 92.5 FM KVOD eras and from the later noncommercial KVOD service.

    The signal

    • 1280 kHz AM, 5,000 watts (the licensed power of the facility)
    • Format: classical music

    Ownership history

    • 1999: Chancellor Media at the move to 1280
    • After the merger: AMFM Inc.
    • 2000: Clear Channel, after its merger with AMFM, which sold the 1280 facility to Latino Communications in 2000. The KVOD-AM identity was gone by 2001.

    Where the studios have been

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

    What came after

    1280 AM is now KBNO, Qué Bueno 1280 AM and 97.7 FM, a regional Mexican station owned by Latino Communications. See also the earlier KTLN era on the same frequency.

    If you worked at KVOD, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KRWZ-AM

    KRWZ (950 AM) was “Cruisin’ Oldies 950,” Denver’s rock-oldies AM station from 2008 into 2016. If you wanted to hear the hits you grew up with on the AM dial, and then caught Nuggets or Avalanche games there later on, this was the spot.

    History

    On September 2, 2008, the signal dropped the sports-talk identity KKFN and went back to oldies. Denver Westword covered the launch and followed its early ratings. In 2010, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, Altitude and Mile High Sports Radio announced a three-year deal to put Nuggets and Avalanche games back on AM 950, with KRWZ carrying them.

    In December 2015, KSE Radio Ventures agreed to buy KRWZ from Entercom. Entercom’s SEC filing recorded the sale of the Denver assets in March 2016. That ended the KRWZ identity and began the KKSE-AM / Altitude Sports Radio era on the same signal.

    The signal

    • 950 kHz AM, 5,000 watts
    • Brand: Cruisin’ Oldies 950
    • Oldies format launched September 2, 2008

    Ownership history

    • 2008 to 2015: Lincoln Financial Media, which ran Cruisin’ Oldies 950 alongside KYGO, KS 107.5 and 104.3 The Fan in Denver
    • 2015 to 2016: Entercom, which agreed to buy Lincoln Financial Media’s stations in December 2014 and closed the deal in late 2015
    • Dec 2015: Entercom agreed to sell KRWZ to KSE Radio Ventures; today’s occupant of 950 AM is Altitude Sports Radio

    Where the studios have been

    • 2008 to 2016: 7800 E. Orchard Road, Suite 400, Greenwood Village, the same building Bonneville’s Denver stations use today (supplied by the archive; Lincoln Financial Media’s Denver stations moved to Greenwood Village in 2006, per Wikipedia)

    Sources