PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: Stations

  • KYBG-FM

    KYBG-FM (92.1 FM) was the country and talk chapter of the Castle Rock 92.1 signal serving Denver. If you flipped around the Denver dial in the early 90s, this was a country-and-talk spot between KZRZ and the modern-rock flip to 92-X.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 92.1 FM
    • City of license: Castle Rock
    • KYBG calls: 1989 to 1995
    • Format: country and talk
    • Before: KZRZ
    • After: KNRX (March 29, 1995), modern rock as “92-X”

    Same calls, other frequency

    The KYBG call was also used by the sports station on 1090 AM (today’s KMXA), which was KYBG from 1987 to 1996.

    The 92.1 facility is today KJMN. The FCC call-sign history shows one Castle Rock 92.1 license under successive call signs, not separate frequencies or transmitters.

    Ownership history

    We haven’t identified who owned the 92.1 signal during the KYBG years yet. The facility was first built in 1979 by Morey DaVolt. If you know more, we’d love to hear from you.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KZRZ-FM

    KZRZ-FM (92.1 FM) was a brief call-sign chapter on the Castle Rock 92.1 signal that served the Denver market. It sat between KADX and KYBG and lasted only about a year.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 92.1 FM
    • City of license: Castle Rock
    • KZRZ calls: 1988 to 1989
    • Before: KADX-FM
    • After: KYBG-FM

    The same facility is today KJMN. The FCC call-sign history shows one Castle Rock 92.1 license under successive call signs, not separate frequencies or transmitters.

    This is a short page built from call-sign records. If you worked at KZRZ, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    We haven’t identified who owned the 92.1 signal during the KZRZ years yet. The facility was first built in 1979 by Morey DaVolt. If you know more, we’d love to hear from you.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KRKY-FM

    KRKY-FM (92.1 FM) was the Castle Rock 92.1 signal that served the Denver market. According to Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado, Morey DaVolt built it in 1979 as KRKY-FM, and it was up for sale by 1983. The same facility later became KJMN.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 92.1 FM
    • City of license: Castle Rock
    • Power: 3,000 watts, per Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado
    • KRKY-FM calls: from 1979, per Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado
    • After: KADX-FM (1984)

    Sources differ on the call-sign history. Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado, our primary account here, says Morey DaVolt put up “KRKY-FM 92.1” in Castle Rock in 1979. The FCC call-sign history, as summarized by Wikipedia’s KJMN article, instead lists this facility as KMJD from 1979 to 1983 and KRKY from 1983 to 1984, before KADX. See also the page for KMJD. The two accounts are noted here rather than reconciled.

    The FCC call-sign history shows one Castle Rock 92.1 facility under successive call signs, not separate frequencies or transmitters.

    This is a short page built from call-sign records. If you worked at KRKY, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1979: Morey DaVolt, the builder of KLAK and KSIR, built the Castle Rock 92.1 signal (3,000 watts) for around $20,000, according to Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado
    • 1983: Broadcast Pioneers reports the station was up for sale at a reported $700,000 to Dick Gibson and some 20 investors

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KMJD-FM

    KMJD (92.1 FM) is the call sign that FCC records, as summarized by Wikipedia, list for the first years of a Castle Rock-licensed signal that served the Denver market and later became KJMN. Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado, our primary account, describes the same signal as KRKY-FM from 1979.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 92.1 FM
    • City of license: Castle Rock
    • Serving: the Denver market
    • KMJD calls: 1979 to 1983, per FCC records as summarized by Wikipedia
    • Primary account: KRKY-FM from 1979, per Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado

    The FCC call-sign history shows the same Castle Rock 92.1 facility under successive call signs, not separate frequencies or transmitters.

    Sources differ on the call-sign history. Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado says Morey DaVolt put up “KRKY-FM 92.1” in Castle Rock in 1979 and does not mention KMJD, so we treat KRKY-FM as the primary account (see the KRKY-FM page). The FCC call-sign history, as summarized by Wikipedia’s KJMN article, lists KMJD from 1979 to 1983 and KRKY from 1983 to 1984, before KADX. We keep this page so the FCC-recorded call sign can be found.

    This is a short page built from call-sign records. If you worked at KMJD, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1979: Morey DaVolt, who built the Castle Rock 92.1 signal
    • Later: owners after DaVolt haven’t been identified here yet

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KLMO-AM

    KLMO-AM (1050 AM) was a Longmont commercial station that signed on in December 1949. If your family has Longmont roots, this was the hometown AM station in the postwar years.

    How it started

    KLMO began service in December 1949 on 1050 kHz. It grew up as a local Longmont broadcaster alongside its FM sister, KLMO-FM, which signed on in 1964. Later station histories name it as the predecessor to KRCN on 1060 AM. Call signs and frequencies can be reassigned separately, so this page sticks to KLMO-AM’s own record and doesn’t treat every later use of the KRCN calls or the 1060 facility as the same unchanged operation.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1050 AM (historical)
    • City of license: Longmont
    • First on the air: December 1949
    • FM sister: KLMO-FM (1964)
    • Later Longmont AM identity: KRCN, 1060 AM

    This is a short page built from station-history references. If you worked at KLMO, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1949: Signs on in Longmont
    • 1959: Bill Stewart bought a half interest, helped by a $5,000 loan
    • 1969: Bill and Lila Jean Stewart added an FM sister station
    • 1986: The Stewarts sold the FM to Lincoln Broadcasting for $5.5 million
    • 1998: The AM went to Pilgrim Broadcasting for $575,000

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KOAQ-FM

    KOAQ (103.5 FM) was Q103, Denver’s pop and Top 40 FM in the 1970s and early 80s. If you grew up in the Denver area in the 70s and listened to hit music on FM, Q103 may have been your station.

    How it started

    Before there was a Q103, there was KOA-FM, which came on the air June 1, 1961. For a while it leaned on its AM sibling, KOA 850, for both programming and facilities.

    The Q103 years

    The change listeners noticed came in 1974, when the FM dropped beautiful music for Top 40 and took the KOAQ calls and the “Q103” name. As more people turned to FM for hit music, Q103 became one of Denver’s big players. Around the middle of the 1980s, stiffer competition from Y108 and KPKE pushed it toward adult contemporary.

    Ownership history

    • 1961: KOA-FM signs on next to KOA 850, under General Electric ownership
    • 1968: General Electric Broadcasting purchases KOA radio and TV from Metropolitan, paying $10 million
    • 1983: A. H. Belo pays GE $22 million for KOA and Q103
    • 1987: Jacor takes the pair from Belo for $24 million

    The run ended on January 18, 1989, when KOAQ flipped to classic rock as KRFX, “103.5 The Fox.”

    Call sign timeline

    • KOA-FM (1961)
    • KOAQ / Q103 (1974)
    • KRFX (January 18, 1989)

    Where the studios have been

    • 1044 Lincoln Street, Denver (until June 1984)
    • 1380 Lawrence Street, Denver (from June 1984)

    Sources

  • KBRQ-FM

    KBRQ-FM (105.1 FM) was the country chapter of Denver’s 105.1 story. If you listened to country on the Denver FM dial in the early 80s, this was one of the places to be.

    How it started

    Before it was country, 105.1 spent years as something else entirely. It came on the air December 1, 1956 as KTGM, playing middle-of-the-road and beautiful music for Good Music Associates. In the late 1960s (sources say 1968 or 1969) Sound Corporation of Colorado bought it and changed the calls to KADX. Columbine Broadcasting took it over in 1973 and went with jazz, and by 1978 Welcome Radio was the owner.

    The country years

    By 1981 the old KADX was in the hands of Great Empire Broadcasting, and in 1982 it became country KBRQ-FM, teaming up with KBRQ 1280 AM. If you were tuning around Denver in those years, that pair carried the country sound until July 3, 1987, when Shamrock Communications turned 105.1 into oldies as KOOL 105 with the calls KXKL.

    Call sign timeline

    • KTGM (December 1, 1956)
    • KADX (late 1960s to 1982)
    • KBRQ-FM (1982)
    • KXKL (July 3, 1987)

    Ownership history

    • December 1, 1956: Signs on as KTGM, owned by Good Music Associates
    • Late 1960s: Sound Corporation of Colorado (KADX)
    • 1973: Columbine Broadcasting
    • By 1978: Welcome Radio
    • By 1981 to 1987: Great Empire Broadcasting
    • 1987: Shamrock Broadcasting, which flipped the station to oldies as KXKL

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KBOL-AM

    KBOL (1490 AM) was one of Boulder’s foundational commercial radio stations. If you grew up in Boulder in the AM-radio years, this was the local station with local news, local personalities and community programming.

    How it started

    Boulder Radio KBOL, Inc. was incorporated in 1948, a year or so after the station signed on, with Herb Hollister as president and Russell Shaffer as vice president and general manager. Shaffer later took a majority interest in the station.

    Why it mattered

    KBOL built a strong local-service identity around Boulder news, personalities and community programming. Its staff became an important training ground and crossover point for broadcasters who later worked all over the Denver market. The station eventually moved through later call letters and formats as Boulder radio folded more and more into the Denver-Boulder market.

    Where it is today: KBOL’s old 1490 AM signal in Boulder is KCFC, carrying CPR News.

    This is a short page built from a couple of Colorado broadcast-history sources, so call-sign dates and the years in between are still to be filled in. If you worked at KBOL, we’d love to hear from you.

    Ownership history

    • 1946 to 1947: Herb Hollister, the founder, puts the new station together, and Russ Shaffer moves to Boulder in 1946 to be its commercial manager
    • 1948: Boulder Radio KBOL, Inc., with Hollister as president and Russell Shaffer as vice president and general manager
    • 1953: Shaffer took a majority interest
    • 1994: Acorn Broadcasting sold KBOL-AM to Visual Radio Productions for $200,000

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KNUS-AM

    KNUS (710 AM) is the Denver talk-radio frequency that goes all the way back to KMYR in 1941. If you listened to Ken Hamblin, Peter Boyles or Gary Tessler in the 90s, you were tuned to the KNUS lineage.

    How it started

    This AM frequency goes straight back to KMYR, which started up in 1941 at 1340 kHz under owner F. W. Meyer. A move in April 1956 took KMYR from 1340 up to 710, which left the old frequency open for the separate KDEN operation.

    Call signs and eras

    The 710 signal went by KICN in 1959 and KBTR in 1961, and the KBTR years are the ones with a news hook: the station teamed up with KBTV Channel 9 to tie radio and television news together. On March 21, 1967, KBTR, sister of KBTV-TV9, did something Denver radio hadn’t seen by going all-news, 24 hours a day, with Tom Mulvey as general manager (Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado). The calls moved on to KERE in 1973 and KNUS in 1981.

    The late 80s were a bit of a muddle. For 1988 and 1989 the frequency carried the KBPI calls and simulcast an FM station, then it turned into KBXG, and only in 1990 did the KNUS name return. By the 1990s, if you tuned in you would hear talk from the Tabor Center, with Denver names like Ken Hamblin, Peter Boyles, Gary Tessler, Carol McKinley, Nia Bender and others.

    Call sign timeline

    • KMYR (1956 on 710)
    • KICN (1959)
    • KBTR (1961)
    • KERE (1973)
    • KNUS (1981)
    • KBPI (1988 to 1989)
    • KBXG (1989 to 1990)
    • KNUS (1990 on)

    Ownership history

    • 1941: F. W. Meyer, founder of KMYR
    • 1961: John Mullins, owner of KBTV, bought KICN (710 AM) and made it KBTR
    • 1981: Sandusky Newspapers’ radio division (Toney Brooks) bought KERE for $2.5 million
    • 1993: Al Martischang bought KNUS

    Where the studios have been

    • Tabor Center, Denver (1990s)

    Sources

  • KWBZ-AM

    KWBZ (1150 AM) is the Denver-area frequency where Alan Berg hosted talk radio. If you listened to talk on the AM dial in the 70s and 80s, you may remember KWBZ.

    How it started

    Back in 1951 this signal got its start in Englewood as KGMC, a 1,000-watt daytime-only station on 1220 kHz owned by Grady Franklin Maples. A year later it shifted over to 1150 AM, where the lineage has stayed.

    By 1959, Broadcasting Yearbook shows KGMC at 3355 South Broadway under MacLee Radio, with Robert B. McWilliams as president and general manager, Lee Mehlig as co-owner, commercial manager and program director, and Tim Sullivan as news director.

    The KWBZ era

    The Alan Berg years belong to this chapter. Western Broadcasting Corporation, which was owned by Corky Cartwright and Marvin Davis, purchased the station in the 1970s and gave it the KWBZ calls. Berg hosted talk shows there; a format switch sent him packing, but once talk radio came back to the station, so did he.

    Call sign timeline

    • KGMC (1951)
    • KWBZ (1970s)
    • KRZN, KFRR, KCUV, KNRC and KNRV (later identities, dates not listed here)

    Where it is today: 1150 AM is KNRV, licensed to Englewood.

    Ownership history

    • 1951: Grady Franklin Maples, founder of KGMC
    • 1958: Maples sold to Robert Bruce McWilliams and Lee Mehlig
    • 1970s: Western Broadcasting Corporation (Corky Cartwright and Marvin Davis) era, when it became KWBZ
    • 1981: John Mullins Jr. sold to Brent Larsen of Ogden for $1.4 million
    • 1984: Duffy Broadcast bought it for $1.05 million from Marvin Johnson and others

    Where the studios have been

    • 3355 South Broadway, Englewood (as KGMC, 1959)

    Sources