PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: Stations

  • KAPI-FM

    KAPI-FM (107.1) was a Spanish-language station that started in Pueblo on October 30, 1979. If your family listened to Spanish-language radio in Pueblo around 1980, this FM signal stretched that listening into the evening.

    History

    KAPI-FM was built to carry the programming of KAPI 690 AM beyond the AM station’s operating hours. In 1981, both stations changed their calls to KRMX and kept their frequencies. The FM later went through more call sign and frequency changes and became part of the Pueblo 106.9 / 107.1 lineage. This page covers the KAPI-FM years only. See KRMX-FM and KWRY for what came next.

    Ownership history

    Who owned KAPI-FM hasn’t been confirmed yet. Its AM partner was run by George Sandoval, as described on the KAPI page. The later 107.1 owners are on the KWRY page.

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found a KAPI-FM studio address yet. If you know it, we’d love to hear from you.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 107.1 MHz FM
    • Community: Pueblo, Colorado
    • First broadcast: October 30, 1979
    • Programming: Spanish-language
    • Related AM: KAPI, 690 kHz
    • Call sign period: 1979 to 1981
    • Next call sign: KRMX-FM

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

    Sources

  • KRYN-AM

    KRYN (1490 AM) was the call sign on the Manitou Springs 1490 AM station from September 1987 to February 1988, a short adult-standards chapter. If you were a fan of standards in the Springs back then, it was a short-lived home for them.

    History

    The 1490 AM station had been KCMS, KEDI, KIIQ, KRTS and KIKX before this. After the KIKX AM and FM operations were split, the AM took the KRYN calls on September 17, 1987, and played adult standards, ending its simulcast relationship with KIKX-FM. In February 1988 it became KXRE, the call sign it kept through its later Spanish-language and noncommercial eras.

    Ownership history

    Who owned 1490 as KRYN hasn’t been identified yet. Owners across the 1490 lineage are on the KXRE page.

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found a KRYN studio address yet. If you know it, we’d love to hear from you.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1490 kHz AM
    • Community of license: Manitou Springs, Colorado
    • Call sign period: September 17, 1987 to February 1, 1988
    • Format: adult standards

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

    Sources

  • KRTS-AM

    KRTS (1490 AM) was a short-lived call sign on the Manitou Springs 1490 AM station from 1982 to 1983. If you were an adult-standards fan in the Pikes Peak region in the early 80s, this was where you could find it.

    History

    The station had been KIIQ before it became KRTS in 1982. During the KRTS period, the AM separated from its FM simulcast and played adult standards. In 1983 it went back to KIIQ, and later it used KIKX and KRYN before becoming KXRE in 1988. These are all the same 1490 AM license, not separate transmitters.

    Ownership history

    Who owned 1490 as KRTS hasn’t been identified yet. Owners across the 1490 lineage are on the KXRE page.

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found a KRTS studio address yet. If you know it, we’d love to hear from you.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1490 kHz AM
    • Community of license: Manitou Springs, Colorado
    • Call sign period: 1982 to 1983
    • Format: adult standards

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

    Sources

  • KXRE-AM

    KXRE (1490 AM) started life in Manitou Springs in 1956 as KCMS, and today it’s a college radio station. If you’ve ever tuned to 1490 in the Pikes Peak region, it has gone through more names than almost anything else on the Springs dial.

    From KCMS to KXRE

    The 1490 AM facility signed on in Manitou Springs in November 1956 as KCMS, the AM simulcast partner of KCMS-FM on 102.7. The calls then changed several times:

    Through the KCMS, KIIQ and KIKX years, 1490 was paired with 102.7, including stretches of simulcasting.

    Ownership history

    • 1956 to 1980s: the owners of KCMS and its FM partner; see the KCMS page
    • 1984 to 1987: shared with the KIKX owners
    • Today: Pikes Peak State College

    The owners from 1988 to the college’s purchase haven’t been identified on this page yet.

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found earlier studio addresses for 1490 yet. Today it’s run by the college’s broadcasting program in Colorado Springs. If you know the earlier addresses, we’d love to hear from you.

    Today

    The 1490 AM station is operated by Pikes Peak State College as a faculty-run, student-operated outlet. The college calls its eXtra Music service “student-powered maximum variety,” with music from 1980s flashbacks, 1990s retro rewinds, 2000s throwbacks and current alternative. It’s also available on 102.1 FM, 89.1 FM and online.

    Sources

  • KAVA-AM

    KAVA (1480 AM) was the call sign on Pueblo’s 1480 AM from September 18, 1998, to February 16, 2023. If you listened to Spanish-language radio in Southern Colorado over those 25 years, it was probably on your dial.

    A Spanish-language voice

    For much of that stretch, the station carried Spanish-language programming and was associated with other Spanish-language signals serving Southern Colorado. It followed KRRU on the same frequency.

    Ownership history

    • 1998 and after: owners from the KRRU chain, including Quetzal Communications and Polarcomm, held it at different times; the dates haven’t been pinned down yet
    • October 2022: Kix Broadcasting began operating the station under a time brokerage agreement
    • January 6, 2023: Kix Broadcasting closed on the purchase of the station and its translator

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found a KAVA studio address yet. If you know it, we’d love to hear from you.

    The 2022 to 2023 changeover

    Kix Broadcasting began operating KAVA under a time brokerage agreement on October 1, 2022, while working to buy the station and its FM translator, K298CG. On October 20, the station dropped Regional Mexican and switched to country as “Kix Country 107.5.” The sale closed January 6, 2023, and the calls changed to KIXD on February 16.

    Call sign timeline

    KTUX, KPUB, KGMQ, KAYK, KRRU, KAVA (1998 to 2023), KIXD.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1480 kHz AM
    • City of license: Pueblo
    • FCC facility ID: 54259

    The “107.5” in the Kix Country name comes from the FM translator K298CG, not a change in the AM station’s 1480 kHz frequency.

    Sources

  • KAYK-AM

    KAYK (1480 AM) was the call sign on Pueblo’s 1480 AM from 1983 to 1988, the Erway Communications years. If you listened to Pueblo AM in the mid-80s, this was the name on 1480.

    The Erway Communications era

    The station began as KTUX in 1960 and spent nearly two decades as country-formatted KPUB. After a brief KGMQ stretch, Erway Communications bought it in 1983 and renamed it KAYK.

    Money troubles ended the era. Colorado Community Wireless Radio Company went bankrupt, and Yonker and Turner Broadcasting took over the facility and changed the calls to KRRU in 1988.

    Ownership history

    • 1983 to 1988: Erway Communications
    • Before 1988: the licensee became Colorado Community Wireless Radio Company, which went bankrupt
    • 1988: Yonker and Turner Broadcasting

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found a KAYK studio address yet. If you know it, we’d love to hear from you.

    Call sign timeline

    KTUX, KPUB, KGMQ, KAYK (1983 to 1988), KRRU, KAVA, KIXD.

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

    Sources

  • KGMQ-AM

    KGMQ (1480 AM) was the call sign on Pueblo’s 1480 AM from May 1982 to June 1983, the first stop in a quick run of call letter and ownership changes. If you were dialing around Pueblo AM in the early 80s, you might remember how often this frequency changed its name.

    History

    The 1480 kHz station began in 1960 as KTUX and later became KPUB. The Gunter Corporation bought it in 1982 and changed the calls to KGMQ. Erway Communications bought it in 1983 and changed them again to KAYK. After that the facility went through several more identities and ended up as KIXD. This is a different station from the separate 103.9 MHz KPUB-FM.

    Ownership history

    • 1982 to 1983: The Gunter Corporation
    • 1983: Erway Communications, which renamed it KAYK

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found a KGMQ studio address yet. If you know it, we’d love to hear from you.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1480 kHz AM
    • Community: Pueblo, Colorado
    • Call sign period: May 19, 1982 to June 8, 1983
    • Before: KPUB
    • After: KAYK

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

    Sources

  • KTUX-AM

    KTUX (1480 AM) was the original call sign of Pueblo’s 1480 AM, which signed on in 1960 as a daytime-only station. If your family has roots in Pueblo going back to the early 60s, this is where that dial position began.

    History

    KTUX started as a local Pueblo AM service owned by Steel City Broadcasting and was on the air only during daylight hours, with local programming. When Steel City Broadcasting ran into financial trouble and went bankrupt, the station went silent in October 1962. It came back the following year as KPUB, under new ownership and with a country music format. Later calls on 1480 included KGMQ, KAYK, KRRU and KIXD.

    Ownership history

    • 1960 to 1962: Steel City Broadcasting, the original owner, which went bankrupt
    • 1963: new owners brought the station back as KPUB

    The people behind Steel City Broadcasting haven’t been identified yet.

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found a KTUX studio address yet. If you know it, we’d love to hear from you.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1480 kHz AM
    • City of license: Pueblo, Colorado
    • First broadcast: 1960
    • Schedule: daytime only
    • Original owner: Steel City Broadcasting
    • Call sign period: 1960 to 1963
    • Next call sign: KPUB

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

    Sources

  • KRRU-AM

    KRRU (1480 AM) was the call sign on Pueblo’s 1480 AM from August 1988 to September 1998, and in the 90s it was a Spanish-language voice on the Pueblo dial. If your family listened to Spanish-language radio in Pueblo in the 1990s, this was likely one of your stops.

    Where KRRU came from

    Before KRRU, 1480 had been KPUB, KGMQ and KAYK. The KAYK licensee, Colorado Community Wireless Radio Company, went bankrupt, and Yonker and Turner Broadcasting bought the station and introduced the KRRU calls in 1988. Ownership changed again after that, with Joyce Erway, Quetzal Communications Corporation and Polarcomm all part of the story.

    Spanish-language radio

    Directories show KRRU as a Spanish-language Pueblo station through the 1990s. A 1997 market directory lists Julio Gutierrez as general manager and general sales manager, Rita Orozco as program director and Norm Smith as chief engineer. At the time, relatively few local stations carried full-time Spanish programming, so KRRU filled a real gap for Pueblo’s Spanish-speaking listeners.

    What came next

    The calls changed from KRRU to KAVA in September 1998. The same 1480 AM facility kept KAVA for 25 years, then became KIXD in 2023.

    Ownership history

    • Before 1988: Colorado Community Wireless Radio Company, the KAYK licensee, which went bankrupt
    • 1988: Yonker and Turner Broadcasting
    • Later 1990s: Joyce Erway, Quetzal Communications Corporation and Polarcomm all held the station at various points; the exact order and dates haven’t been pinned down yet

    Where the studios have been

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

    Call sign timeline

    KTUX (1960), KPUB, KGMQ, KAYK, KRRU, KAVA, KIXD.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1480 kHz AM
    • City of license: Pueblo
    • Call sign period: August 1988 to September 1998

    Sources

  • KHIG-AM

    KHIG (1580 AM) was “K-High 1580,” the short-lived pro-cannabis talk station that took over Colorado Springs’ 1580 AM in 2015. If you were in the Springs that spring, you probably heard about it even if you never tuned in.

    K-High 1580

    The format began April 13, 2015, after Southern Colorado Radio leased airtime from station owner Pilgrim Communications. It replaced the sports-formatted KREL. KHIG was pitched as a pro-marijuana talk station, and the weekday schedule started with three locally produced shows: Wake and Bake in mornings, High Noon at midday and High Drive in afternoon drive. The shows covered medical and recreational cannabis along with things like alternative medicine and yoga.

    A one-month run on the AM dial

    The experiment lasted only about a month on the AM signal. In May 2015, K-High’s talk programming moved online, and KHIG temporarily simulcast an easy-listening station, KFEZ 101.3. The format was so short that KHIG is one of the most unusual call sign chapters in Colorado Springs radio.

    The facility later went through another ownership change and eventually became KFCS.

    Ownership history

    • 2015: Pilgrim Communications owned the station, and Southern Colorado Radio leased the airtime

    The later owners are on the KFCS page.

    Where the studios have been

    We haven’t found a street address for the K-High studios yet. If you know it, we’d love to hear from you.

    Call sign timeline

    KPIK, KWYD, KKKK, KREL, KHIG, KFCS.

    Sources