Archives: Stations

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

• FCC history cards: 1550 Facility 54743
• FCC Reports: KQXI proceeding, 1968
• Broadcasting, June 21, 1965: Denver flood
• Wikipedia: KADZ (1550 chronology and source list)

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

• KFML verification letter, February 1957
• KFML Denver Memories
• Wikipedia: KGNU (1390 AM facility chronology)
• Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 (print)

KLIR (990 AM) signed on in 1953 with a slogan you can still say out loud: “It’s CLEAR in Denver.” If you grew up in the Denver area listening to Christian talk and teaching on 990 “The Word,” you were hearing the later chapter of this same signal, which began as KLIR and became KRKS.

The story

KLIR signed on August 1, 1953, at 990 AM, run by Denver Broadcasting Company. A September 1953 verification letter lists 1,000 watts during the day. By 1964 it was still run by KLIR Inc., with George B. Anderson as president and general manager.

In 1959 KLIR added an FM sister at 100.3. That FM signal later became Majic 100 and is today’s KIMN, Mix 100. The AM station changed its call letters from KLIR to KRKS in 1970, and eventually became the Christian talk and teaching station known as 990 “The Word.”

Call sign timeline

• August 1, 1953: KLIR signs on at 990 AM, 1,000 watts daytime.
• 1959: KLIR-FM joins at 100.3.
• 1970: KLIR becomes KRKS.

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

Ownership history

• 1953: Denver Broadcasting Company signed KLIR on
• By 1964: KLIR Inc., with George B. Anderson as president and general manager
• 1970 and later: owners of KRKS and 990 “The Word” haven’t been identified here yet

Where the studios have been

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

Sources

• KLIR verification letter, September 1953
• 1964 Radio Annual
• FCC history cards: KRKS/KLIR

KLAK (1600 AM) started life as a little 250-watt daytime country station in Lakewood. If you’ve ever listened to ESPN Denver on 1600 AM, you’re tuned to the same signal, which has worn a lot of call letters since the 1950s.

The beginning

KLAK signed on January 8, 1955, at 1580 AM. Founder Morey DaVolt built the station after he couldn’t land the radio job he wanted elsewhere, and by his own telling the first record played was “This Old House.” In 1957 KLAK moved to 1600 AM, went to 1,000 watts and added nighttime service. It reached 5,000 watts in the early 1960s, and in 1966 a sister station, KLAK-FM, signed on at 107.7. The two shared country programming until the FM started a long run of format changes.

The AM later picked up the KRXY calls during the Y108 era, then KWMX, KYGO and KCKK, before finally becoming KEPN with sports programming.

Call sign timeline

• January 8, 1955: KLAK signs on at 1580 AM, 250 watts, daytime.
• 1957: Moves to 1600 AM, 1,000 watts, adds night service.
• Early 1960s: Power rises to 5,000 watts.
• 1966: KLAK-FM joins at 107.7.
• Later years: KRXY, KWMX, KYGO, KCKK, then KEPN.

Ownership history

• 1955: Morey DaVolt built and founded KLAK
• 1961: Ed Scott purchased KLAK
• Later: owners from the KRXY, KWMX, KYGO, KCKK and KEPN years haven’t been identified here yet

Where the studios have been

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

Where it is today

The 1600 AM signal is ESPN Denver, KEPN.

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

Sources

• Westword: Country Cookin’
• Wikipedia: KEPN (1600 AM chronology and cited Broadcasting Yearbooks)
• Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado: Denver Radio

KPOF (910 AM) is one of Colorado’s oldest radio operations, and nothing else on your dial has quite the same backstory. It traces back to a station that first went on the air in 1927, and for close to a hundred years it has been linked to the Pillar of Fire religious organization and the historic Westminster Castle campus.

How it started

Go back to the beginning and you’d find KGEY, a 15-watt signal on 1490 kHz that got its license on January 12, 1927. It was attached to the small college at Westminster Castle. Early listeners mostly heard live shows, with speakers and musicians performing right on site. Sometime in 1928 the station got a new transmitter and changed hands, going to Pillar of Fire. The Federal Radio Commission signed off on that sale on March 9, 1928, and the same approval covered the switch to the KPOF call letters, which stand for Pillar of Fire.

Moving around the dial

If you tuned in during the 1930s, you’d have found KPOF at 880 kHz with 500 watts, trading airtime with another station. The big shuffle came when the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement kicked in on March 29, 1941: KPOF landed on 910 AM with 1,000 watts. Greeley’s KFKA still had to split that frequency with it until KFKA relocated to 1310, and after that KPOF had 910 to itself around the clock.

Call sign timeline

• January 12, 1927: KGEY licensed, 15 watts on 1490 kHz.
• March 9, 1928: Sale to Pillar of Fire approved; call letters become KPOF.
• 1930s: 880 kHz, 500 watts, time-sharing.
• March 29, 1941: Moves to 910 kHz at 1,000 watts.

Pillar of Fire and the Westminster Castle campus are still part of the KPOF picture, so it works as a rare living connection to the state’s earliest days of broadcasting. This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KPOF, we’d love to hear from you.

Ownership history

• 1927: KGEY got its license, tied to the small college at Westminster Castle
• 1928: Pillar of Fire purchased the station; the Federal Radio Commission okayed both the sale and the new KPOF calls on March 9, 1928
• Since then: Pillar of Fire has remained the owner

Where the studios have been

KPOF has been tied to the Westminster Castle campus since the 1920s. We haven’t found specific studio addresses yet. If you know them, we’d love to hear from you.

Sources

• Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado: Denver Radio
• Wikipedia: KPOF
• Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 (print)

KKHK (99.5 FM) was “The Hawk,” Denver’s classic-rock station from 1996 to 2002. If you were cranking classic rock in the late 90s, this is the one on your dial. It took over 99.5 right after the old classical KVOD moved to 92.5 FM.

The story

At midnight on March 4, 1996, 99.5 flipped to The Hawk and the KKHK call letters. In January 2002, Tribune sold the 99.5 facility to Entercom, and later that year KKHK was renamed “The Mountain” with new KQMT call letters. KKHK is the in-between chapter on the same 99.5 signal.

The signal

• Frequency: 99.5 MHz FM
• Call sign period: 1996–2002
• Brand: The Hawk
• Before: Classical KVOD-FM, whose format moved to 92.5 FM
• After: KQMT-FM, The Mountain

Call sign timeline

• March 4, 1996: The Hawk launches on 99.5 as KKHK.
• January 2002: Tribune sells the facility to Entercom.
• 2002: KKHK becomes KQMT and The Mountain.

This page covers the 1996–2002 call sign era, not every later identity on 99.5. It’s a short page built from current station records. If you worked at The Hawk, we’d love to hear from you.

Ownership history

• 1996 to 2002: Tribune owned the 99.5 facility
• January 2002: Tribune sold it to Entercom

Where the studios have been

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

Sources

• FCC historical CDBS record: Facility ID 26929
• Radio & Records: Denver Defections & Debuts! (March 8, 1996)
• Westword: Dialing for Differences (July 18, 2002)

KVOD is one of those call signs that showed up in more than one spot on the Denver dial. If you were a classical music fan in the 70s, 80s or early 90s, KVOD on 99.5 FM was probably your station. If you go back further, the call letters also belonged to 630 AM, which is now KHOW.

The KVOD story

On 630 AM, KVOD came after KFXF and before KHOW, so that chapter belongs to the KHOW lineage. Separately, a commercial classical station used KVOD on 99.5 FM from 1969 until 1995, when that frequency was sold and the format moved to 92.5 FM.

In February 1996, the classical programming moved from 99.5 to 92.5 with a short stretch of both frequencies carrying it. The 99.5 signal went on to become KKHK, a classic-rock station. Then in May 1999, the classical format and the KVOD call letters moved from 92.5 FM over to 1280 AM, and that AM chapter has its own page. Two more KVOD chapters have pages too: the original KVOD on 630 AM (“Voice of Denver,” 1934 to 1958) and today’s KVOD on 88.1 FM, which also spent years on 90.1.

The signal

• Earlier AM use: 630 kHz, later KHOW.
• Commercial classical FM: 99.5 MHz, 1969–1995.
• Temporary successor frequency: 92.5 MHz, 1996–1999.
• Later AM identity: KVOD-AM at 1280 kHz, from May 1999.

Call sign timeline

• 1969: KVOD classical begins on 99.5 FM.
• 1995: The 99.5 frequency is sold.
• February 1996: Classical programming moves to 92.5 FM; 99.5 becomes KKHK.
• May 1999: KVOD and the classical format move from 92.5 FM to 1280 AM.

The AM and FM KVOD identities aren’t treated as one continuous station here. The call letters and formats moved between licenses on the dates above. This is a short page built from current station records. If you worked at KVOD, we’d love to hear from you.

Ownership history

• 1925: William Duncan Pyle opened KFXF, the 630 AM station that later became KVOD and then KHOW (see KHOW for that lineage)
• 1969 to 1995: owners of the commercial classical KVOD on 99.5 FM haven’t been identified here yet

Where the studios have been

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

Sources

• FCC history cards: KFXF/KVOD/KHOW 630 AM facility
• FCC historical CDBS record: Facility ID 26929 (99.5 FM)
• Radio & Records: Denver Defections & Debuts! (March 8, 1996)
• Westword: Feedback