PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: Stations

  • KEXO-AM

    KEXO (1230 AM) is “ESPN Western Colorado,” the Grand Junction sports station. If you’ve caught a game on the radio in the Grand Valley, you may have heard it here, on an AM signal that’s been around since the late 1940s and is now also on FM through a translator.

    The story

    The station goes back to February 29, 1948, when KEXO started broadcasting on 1230 kHz at 250 watts under a license held by Voice of Western Colorado. Later on, daytime power climbed to 1,000 watts and then eased down again at sunset. If you had visited the early studios, you would have walked into a downtown Grand Junction storefront; a fire wrecked that original space in 1963 and forced a move.

    Music filled the airwaves for decades, with Top 40 and adult contemporary each getting a turn, before the station went back to sports radio. And since January 18, 2021, you could also find it on your FM dial, as it began simulcasting through Grand Junction translator K243CP at 96.5 MHz.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1230 kHz AM
    • Licensed to: Grand Junction, Colorado
    • Brand and format: ESPN Western Colorado; sports
    • Owner: Townsquare Media (Townsquare License, LLC)
    • First broadcast: February 29, 1948
    • FCC facility ID: 47113
    • Class and power: Class C, 1,000 watts, unlimited hours
    • FM translator: K243CP, 96.5 MHz

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

    Ownership history

    • 1948: Voice of Western Colorado, the original licensee
    • Today: Townsquare Media (Townsquare License, LLC)
    • In between: owners haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    • A downtown Grand Junction storefront (early years, until a fire destroyed the premises in 1963)

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

    Sources

  • KNZZ-AM

    KNZZ (1100 AM) is “Newsradio 1100,” the news and talk station in Grand Junction. If you grew up on the Western Slope and tuned in for news, talk or sports, this is probably where you landed, and it’s been on the air since 1926.

    The story

    The station started on May 1, 1926, as KFXJ in Edgewater, Colorado, and moved to Grand Junction on January 31, 1931. The call letters changed to KREX in 1956, KVEE in 1984, KJYE in 1989 and KNZZ in 1990, and KNZZ has been tied to its news-and-talk format since. Today it’s owned by MBC Grand Broadcasting, Inc. and serves the Grand Junction and Aspen areas with national news, talk and sports alongside regional programming.

    Call sign timeline

    • May 1, 1926: KFXJ signs on in Edgewater.
    • January 31, 1931: Moves to Grand Junction.
    • 1956: Becomes KREX.
    • 1984: Becomes KVEE.
    • 1989: Becomes KJYE.
    • 1990: Becomes KNZZ.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1100 kHz AM
    • Licensed to: Grand Junction, Colorado
    • Format: News/talk
    • FCC facility ID: 39465
    • Class: B
    • Power: 50,000 watts daytime, 36,000 watts during critical hours, 10,000 watts at night

    Sister stations

    KNZZ’s sisters include KMGJ, KSTR, KGLN, KKVT, KMOZ-FM, KNAM and KTMM.

    This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KNZZ or any of its earlier call signs, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • Today: MBC Grand Broadcasting, Inc.
    • 1926 to now: founders and earlier owners, from the KFXJ and KREX years on, haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found studio addresses for KNZZ yet, from the Edgewater days or in Grand Junction. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KMGJ-FM

    KMGJ (93.1 FM) is “Magic 93.1,” the Top 40 station in Grand Junction. If you’re in the Grand Valley and want today’s hits on the radio, this is the signal, and it reaches out past town through a translator in Montrose.

    What it is

    KMGJ is a commercial contemporary hit radio station licensed to Grand Junction and run by MBC Grand Broadcasting, Inc., which also operates a cluster of Grand Junction stations in news/talk, sports, classic rock and country. The hit-radio format is what sets KMGJ apart in that lineup.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 93.1 MHz FM
    • Licensed to: Grand Junction, Colorado
    • Brand and format: Magic 93.1; contemporary hit radio
    • Operator: MBC Grand Broadcasting, Inc.
    • FCC facility ID: 47115
    • Class and power: Class C0, 100,000 watts ERP
    • Antenna height: 437 metres above average terrain
    • Translator: K243CN, 96.5 MHz, Montrose

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

    Ownership history

    • Today: MBC Grand Broadcasting, Inc.
    • Earlier: founders and earlier owners haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

    • Today: 1360 E. Sherwood Drive, Grand Junction (listed as Magic 93.1 on Google Maps)

    Earlier studio addresses haven’t been found yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KMSA-FM

    KMSA (91.3 FM) is “Music for the Mavs,” the student-run college radio station of Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction. If you went to school at Mesa, or you just like discovering new adult album alternative music picked by students, this is your station.

    The story

    If you’d tuned in on February 20, 1975, you’d have caught KMSA’s very first broadcast, beamed out of the Mesa College campus (the school’s name at the time). It was a scrappy setup: the studio was cobbled together from campus rooms nobody else was using, a restroom and a closet among them, and the station had to make do with borrowed equipment. It has stayed a student-run service connected to Colorado Mesa University ever since, and the call letters are a nod to “Mesa.”

    The signal

    • Frequency: 91.3 MHz FM
    • Licensed to: Grand Junction, Colorado
    • Format: Adult album alternative / college radio
    • Licensee: Colorado Mesa University
    • First broadcast: February 20, 1975
    • FCC facility ID: 41300
    • Class and power: Class C2, 3,100 watts ERP
    • Antenna height: 406.8 metres above average terrain

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

    Ownership history

    • 1975 on: Mesa College, now Colorado Mesa University

    Where the studios have been

    KMSA got going in repurposed campus rooms at Mesa College, a restroom and a closet among them. We haven’t found later studio locations yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KPRN-FM

    KPRN (89.5 FM) is the Grand Junction public radio station that’s part of Colorado Public Radio’s Western Slope service. If you listen to public radio on the Western Slope, this may be the signal you’re hearing.

    The story

    KPRN began serving western Colorado in 1984. In 1991, KPRN and KCFR, Denver’s public radio station, merged to form Colorado Public Radio. That merger meant one organization could bring public radio to listeners on both sides of the state, and later signals extended the service to more regions.

    KPRN is still its own FCC-licensed Grand Junction facility on 89.5 MHz within CPR’s wider network. Grand Junction’s community station, KAFM, grew out of an effort tied to the sale of KPRN’s license to Colorado Public Radio.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 89.5 MHz FM
    • Licensed to: Grand Junction, Colorado
    • Network: Colorado Public Radio
    • Licensee: Public Broadcasting of Colorado, Inc.
    • FCC facility ID: 53774
    • Class and power: Class C1, 20,000 watts ERP
    • Antenna height: 402 metres above average terrain

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

    Ownership history

    • 1984: KPRN began serving western Colorado
    • 1991: KPRN and Denver’s KCFR merged to form Colorado Public Radio
    • Today: Public Broadcasting of Colorado, Inc.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KAFM-FM

    KAFM (88.1 FM) is Grand Junction’s community radio station, with a second signal at 96.9 FM in the Palisade area. Live on the Western Slope and enjoy locally picked music and local voices? Then you know this one, and it exists because neighbors decided to build it themselves.

    How it got started

    Back in 1992, a group of Grand Valley residents set out to create a station that would be locally owned and locally programmed. What lit the fuse was the sale of KPRN‘s license to Colorado Public Radio, since Grand Junction was suddenly missing programming made at home. Then came seven years of work on planning, raising money, licenses and gear before KAFM finally went on the air in March 1999.

    Growing the signal

    From 1999 through 2010 KAFM transmitted with just 16 watts. In 2010 the FCC signed off on a jump to 300 watts, and a fundraising drive brought in $116,000 for transmitter gear and a better broadcast booth. The station runs on volunteers and member support, pairing locally chosen music with public-service, cultural and community programming. The Radio Room, which KAFM created, hosts concerts, exhibits and community events.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 88.1 MHz FM (plus 96.9 FM in the Palisade area)
    • Licensed to: Grand Junction, Colorado
    • Service: Community radio
    • Licensee: Grand Valley Public Radio Company, Inc., a nonprofit
    • FCC facility ID: 24780
    • Class and power: Class A, 300 watts ERP
    • Antenna height: 396.6 metres above average terrain

    If you’ve volunteered at KAFM or been part of the Radio Room crowd, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1992: Grand Valley residents began the effort to build a locally owned station
    • 1999 to today: Grand Valley Public Radio Company, Inc., a nonprofit

    Where the studios have been

    The Radio Room, another KAFM creation, is a gathering spot for concerts, exhibits and community events. We haven’t found KAFM’s street addresses yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KGNU-FM

    KGNU (88.5 FM) is Boulder’s community radio station, run largely by volunteers and known for an eclectic mix of music and public-affairs programming. If you’ve ever tuned in and heard something you couldn’t have found on a commercial station, that’s pretty much the point of KGNU.

    How it started

    KGNU grew out of Boulder’s 1970s community-media movement. Earlier attempts to build a University of Colorado FM station stalled, so students helped support the independent Boulder Community Broadcast Association, including a decisive contribution from student-government radio funds. KGNU went on the air in May 1978 on 88.5 FM from studios along Boulder Creek, leaning on volunteers and emphasizing community access from day one.

    Growing up

    In 1988 the station moved to a new studio on Folsom Street, and later to its current Walnut Street studios in east Boulder. In the 1990s it put more weight on local programming, helped found the Grassroots Radio Coalition and became an early affiliate of Democracy Now.

    In 2004, KGNU bought Denver’s 1390 AM signal, the descendant of KFML. That gave the Boulder broadcaster a second signal serving Denver and tied together two very different pieces of Colorado radio history.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 88.5 MHz FM, plus 1390 AM in Denver
    • Licensed to: Boulder, Colorado
    • On the air since: May 1978

    If you’ve volunteered at KGNU, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1978: Boulder Community Broadcast Association, the independent nonprofit that put KGNU on the air
    • 2004: KGNU bought Denver’s 1390 AM signal, the descendant of KFML

    Where the studios have been

    • Studios along Boulder Creek, Boulder (from 1978)
    • Folsom Street, Boulder (from 1988)
    • Walnut Street, east Boulder (current)

    Sources

  • KDEN-AM / 1340 lineage

    KDEN (1340 AM) is the Denver station you might remember for jazz, classical and all-news radio before it went silent and reappeared with a very different identity. The 1340 signal has been through a lot of call letters, and KDEN is the chapter in the middle.

    The story

    The 1340 AM facility goes back to KMYR, launched by F. W. Meyer in the early 1940s. It was sold in 1956 and became KDEN. A 1960 yearbook lists Ed Koepke as president and station manager, Gene Amole as vice president and general manager, and Lloyd Knight handling news and programming.

    KDEN and its later FM sister mixed popular music, jazz and classical programming. In later decades KDEN also ran an all-news format, first with NBC’s News and Information Service and then with local news after the network service ended.

    KDEN went silent in early 1993 and returned that December as KKYD and Radio AAHS. Colorado Public Radio bought 1340 in 2000 and moved KCFR news programming to the AM in 2001. The frequency later became KVOQ and KDCO.

    Call sign timeline

    • Early 1940s: KMYR launches, founded by F. W. Meyer.
    • 1956: Station sold; becomes KDEN.
    • Early 1993: KDEN goes silent.
    • December 1993: Returns as KKYD, Radio AAHS.
    • 2000: Colorado Public Radio buys 1340.
    • 2001: KCFR news moves to the AM.
    • Later: KVOQ, then KDCO.

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

    Ownership history

    • Early 1940s: F. W. Meyer launched KMYR
    • 1956: Gene Amole and Ed Koepke named it KDEN (Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado lists the two as owners of KDEN AM and FM through the 1950s and 60s)
    • 1970: The station was sold
    • 1993: Silent in April, then back in December as KKYD under general manager Cindy Adcock
    • 1999: Catholic Family Radio bought 1340
    • Autumn 2000: Colorado Public Radio bought 1340 from the Catholic radio owner for $4.4 million and renamed it KCFR. It planned classical music on the AM, but audio-quality complaints moved news there and sent classical to 90.1 FM as KVOD

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KDAB / KQXI 1550

    KDAB / KQXI (1550 AM) was an Arvada-based Top 40 challenger in the early 1960s that survived a flood, a name change and a long run of formats. If you were a teenager in the Denver area in 1963, people who worked there remember KDAB giving the dominant KIMN some real competition.

    The story

    The story starts in Arvada, where Denver Area Broadcasters launched KDAB 1550 on January 9, 1962, with 10,000 watts but only in daylight hours. Things went sideways in June 1965, when a South Platte flood took out the transmitter building, the transmitter and the tower and left the station off the air. It returned under a new name, KQXI, as of September 27, 1965. If you tuned in during the late 1960s and 1970s, the format could be country one stretch and gospel/religious programming another, since KQXI changed direction several times.

    By 1997 the FCC had cleared KQXI to jump over to the new AM expanded band at 1690. ABC picked up the 1550 facility along with the 1690 construction permit in 1998, paying $3.5 million, with plans to run Radio Disney. For a while the two frequencies carried the same thing, but 1550 eventually went dark and its license was deleted in 2003. The 1690 successor lives on.

    Call sign timeline

    • January 9, 1962: KDAB signs on at 1550 AM, 10,000 watts daytime.
    • June 1965: South Platte flood wipes out the transmitter site.
    • September 27, 1965: KDAB becomes KQXI.
    • 1997: FCC authorizes the move to 1690 on the expanded band.
    • 1998: ABC buys the 1550 facility and 1690 permit for Radio Disney.
    • 2003: The 1550 license is deleted.

    The longer chain reads KBRB construction permit, then KDAB, KQXI and KDDZ/KADZ, with an expanded-band successor running KAYK, KADZ/KDDZ and KDMT. This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KDAB or KQXI, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1962: Denver Area Broadcasters put KDAB on the air
    • 1998: ABC bought the 1550 facility and the 1690 permit for $3.5 million to run Radio Disney

    Where the studios have been

    KDAB signed on from Arvada. We haven’t found specific studio addresses yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • KFML-AM / 1390 lineage

    KFML (1390 AM) was a Denver AM/FM pair that became a big deal in the late 1960s and early 70s. If you were around Denver then and loved album music, long interviews and live sets in the studio, this was the dial position for it. Its FM sister on 98.5 is today’s KYGO.

    The story

    A surviving February 1957 verification letter lists KFML 1390 AM and its 98.5 FM sister in Denver. KFML became especially important during Denver’s freeform era, mixing adventurous album music with news, interviews and live performances. Its studios hosted established and up-and-coming musicians alike.

    The FM was sold to Jefferson-Pilot and ultimately became KIMN-FM and then KYGO. For a time the freeform approach carried on at 1390 AM.

    The 1390 signal went on to cycle through KJJZ, KPPL, KMDK, KFTO, KDZR and KJME, and eventually became part of KGNU Community Radio.

    Call sign timeline

    • 1957 (documented): KFML on 1390 AM with a 98.5 FM sister.
    • Late 1960s to early 1970s: Freeform era.
    • Later: KJJZ, KPPL, KMDK, KFTO, KDZR, KJME, then KGNU.

    This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KFML or hung out in its studios, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • Freeform era: the FM sister at 98.5 was sold to Jefferson-Pilot
    • Founders and AM owners: haven’t been identified here yet, including the later KJJZ through KGNU years

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources