PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: Stations

  • KPUB-AM

    KPUB (1480 AM) was a Pueblo country station. If you grew up in Pueblo in the 60s or 70s with country on the radio, KPUB was one of the places you heard it.

    Back on the air in 1963

    KPUB brought Pueblo’s 1480 facility back to the air in 1963 after the original KTUX operation went silent during bankruptcy. It took on a country format and became a significant country outlet in town.

    The FM sister

    In 1975 KPUB launched KPUB-FM on 99.9, simulcasting the AM and stretching the programming into nighttime hours. The AM and FM were sold separately in 1978. The FM became KYNR, and 1480 went on to become KGMQ, KAYK, KRRU, KAVA and finally KIXD.

    Ownership history

    • Before 1963: the original KTUX operation on 1480, which went silent during bankruptcy
    • 1975: Quixote Broadcasting Company owned the new KPUB-FM, the AM’s sister
    • 1978: the AM and FM were sold separately

    The people behind KTUX and the later AM buyers haven’t been identified yet.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

    • FCC call-sign history
    • Broadcasting Yearbook (print)
    • Published station histories of KIXD and KVUU

  • KCSJ-FM

    KCSJ-FM (97.9) was a very short call-sign era on Pueblo’s 97.9 FM, lasting from October 1978 to January 1979. If you caught 97.9 in Pueblo that winter, it carried the same call letters as the old-time KCSJ on 590 AM.

    A quick name tie to KCSJ

    The FM facility had signed on in 1975 as KDJQ with automated Top 40. The brief KCSJ-FM name tied it to Pueblo’s heritage KCSJ 590 AM. In January 1979 the FM became KCCY and started the long-running country identity tied to 97.9 and, later, 96.9.

    Call sign timeline

    KDJQ, then KCSJ-FM (1978 to 1979), then KCCY.

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

    Ownership history

    Who owned 97.9 during these few months hasn’t been identified yet. The wider trail is on the KCCY-FM page.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KDJQ-FM

    KDJQ (97.9 FM) was where Pueblo’s long-running country FM got its start. If you were listening in Pueblo in the late 70s, you may have caught it in its first life as an automated Top 40 station.

    The first on-air name

    KDJQ began broadcasting in 1975 on 97.9 with automated Top 40 programming. In October 1978 it changed to KCSJ-FM, and in January 1979 it took the KCCY calls and built the country identity Pueblo came to know well.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 97.9 MHz FM
    • Market: Pueblo, Colorado
    • First broadcast: 1975
    • Call sign period: 1975 to 1978
    • Programming: automated Top 40
    • Next call signs: KCSJ-FM, then KCCY

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

    Ownership history

    The people who built and owned 97.9 in its KDJQ days haven’t been identified yet. If you know who signed it on in 1975, we’d love to hear from you.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KSIP-AM

    KSIP (690 AM) is a very short chapter in Pueblo radio. If you were scanning the AM dial in Pueblo in 2009, KSIP was the name on 690 for a brief stretch.

    Between KRMX and KWRP

    The 690 kHz station had gone by KAPP and KAPI earlier, then KRMX for many years. In 2009 it used KSIP before adopting KWRP. This is the story of one Pueblo AM station and its changing call signs; it isn’t the same as the FM service that used related KAPI and KRMX call letters.

    The signal

    • Frequency: 690 kHz AM
    • Community: Pueblo, Colorado
    • Call sign period: 2009
    • Before: KRMX
    • After: KWRP
    • Earlier calls: KAPP and KAPI

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

    Ownership history

    Who owned 690 in 2009 hasn’t been identified yet. The owners before it are on the KRMX page.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KRMX-AM

    KRMX (690 AM) was Pueblo’s 690 AM station from 1981 to 2009. If you tuned in for Spanish-language or bilingual radio in Pueblo in the 80s and 90s, this is the station you remember.

    A new name in 1981

    The KRMX calls were adopted on 690 AM alongside KRMX-FM, the former KAPI-FM, and the pair kept up Spanish-language service at first. The FM broke away from the AM schedule in 1985 and later became KUSN, while 690 kept the KRMX name. It had been KAPI before that.

    Ownership history

    In 1990, Ventana Enterprises bought KRMX. Its principals included Jerry De La Cruz and Diane Young. A 1997 trade listing described the station as Spanish/bilingual, and a market directory from the same year lists De La Cruz in management, programming and engineering roles and Young in sales leadership.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sister stations

    KRMX-FM was its partner in the early 1980s. After that the AM operated on its own through several ownership changes.

    A brief KSIP, then KWRP

    In 2009 the station briefly became KSIP before adopting KWRP.

    Sources

    • Wikipedia: KWRP
    • FCC call-sign history
    • Broadcasting magazine transaction reports (print)
    • Radio Business Report Source Guide (print)

  • KAPI-AM

    KAPI (690 AM) was the main call sign on Pueblo’s 690 AM from the late 1950s until 1981. If you grew up in Pueblo’s Spanish-speaking community in the 60s or 70s, this was a station you knew.

    Spanish-language radio in Pueblo

    Directories from the period show KAPI carrying a good deal of Spanish-language programming. The 1966 Broadcasting Yearbook lists George Sandoval as president, general manager, commercial manager, promotions manager and program director, with Henry Reyes as news director and James Glusick as chief engineer.

    KAPI-FM joins in

    In October 1979, KAPI added a sister station, KAPI-FM at 107.1. The FM extended Spanish-language service into the nighttime hours. In 1981 both stations took the KRMX calls.

    Ownership history

    • By 1966: George Sandoval, listed in the Broadcasting Yearbook as president and general manager

    Earlier and later owners haven’t been identified yet. Sandoval’s name shows up again on the KWRY page.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

    • Broadcasting Yearbook (1960s) (print)
    • FCC call-sign history
    • Wikipedia: KWRP

  • KCCY-AM

    KCCY (1350 AM) was the call sign on Pueblo’s 1350 AM from April 2012 to January 2018. If you were a Pueblo country fan or a sports talk fan in the early 2010s, you may remember this one flipping between the two.

    The KCCY years

    The station changed from KDZA to KCCY on April 3, 2012. Ten days later it moved from sports to classic country. On May 22, 2013, it went back to sports as “Fox Sports 1350” and kept the KCCY calls.

    Same letters, different station

    This AM page is separate from KCCY-FM at 96.9, though the familiar country call letters tie the two identities together in the market.

    What came next

    The station became KBPL on January 16, 2018, then returned to KDZA a week later. In 2022 the same 1350 facility took the KUBE call sign.

    Ownership history

    The owners during the KCCY years haven’t been identified yet. The earlier ownership trail is on the KGHF page.

    Where the studios have been

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

    The call sign timeline on 1350

    KGHF, KKAM, KIDN, KRYT, KGHF again, KDZA, KCCY, KBPL, KDZA again and then KUBE.

    Sources

  • KRYT-AM

    KRYT (1350 AM) was a brief call sign on Pueblo’s 1350 AM from 1988 to 1989. If you were tuning around Pueblo’s AM dial in the late 80s, it may have been on your radio for a short time.

    A short stop on 1350

    The KRYT calls followed KIDN on the 1350 kHz Pueblo station for a short period in the late 1980s. The station went back to the KGHF calls in 1989. It’s one chapter in the 1350 AM facility’s long history, which includes other call letters and stretches off the air.

    Not to be confused with

    The signal

    • Frequency: 1350 kHz AM
    • Community: Pueblo, Colorado
    • Call sign period: 1988 to 1989
    • Before: KIDN
    • After: KGHF

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

    Ownership history

    Who owned 1350 during the KRYT year hasn’t been identified yet. The wider ownership trail is on the KGHF page.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

  • KIDN-AM

    KIDN (1350 AM) was Pueblo’s 1350 AM station from 1976 to 1988. If you grew up in Pueblo in the late 70s or 80s with the AM dial on, this was one of the stations in the mix.

    A long lineage

    KIDN took over from KKAM in the long history of a facility that began as KGHF in 1928. During the KIDN years the station carried country and related full-service programming. The station became KRYT in 1988 and went back to the KGHF calls in 1989.

    A tribute to Buddy Johnson

    A 1986 aircheck kept by the Buddy Johnson family catches KIDN carrying an Ace Ball Radio Show tribute to Pueblo entertainer Buddy Johnson, not long after Johnson’s death.

    The call sign timeline on 1350

    KGHF, KKAM, KIDN, KRYT, KGHF again, KDZA, KCCY, KBPL, KDZA again and then KUBE.

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

    Ownership history

    The KIDN owners from 1976 to 1988 haven’t been identified yet. For the owners on either side of that stretch, see the KKAM and KGHF pages.

    Where the studios have been

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

    Sources

    • FCC call-sign history
    • Buddy Johnson family archive (aircheck, 1986)
    • Pueblo station directories (print)

  • KKAM-AM

    KKAM (1350 AM) was the call sign on Pueblo’s 1350 AM from 1964 to 1976. If you listened to AM radio in Pueblo in the mid-60s or early 70s, KKAM was the name on 1350.

    Taking over from KGHF

    The 1350 facility began as KGHF in 1928. It carried the KKAM calls for twelve years before becoming KIDN in 1976.

    The Garvey Communications years

    The 1966 Broadcasting Yearbook lists KKAM under Garvey Communications Systems. The staff it names:

    • Rush Evans, general manager
    • William Beck, station and sales manager
    • Denny Hawkins, program director
    • Earl Bradshaw, news director
    • Antonio Mejia, chief engineer

    Ownership history

    • By 1966: Garvey Communications Systems

    Owners for the rest of the 1964 to 1976 stretch haven’t been identified yet.

    Where the studios have been

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

    The call sign timeline on 1350

    KGHF, KKAM (1964 to 1976), KIDN, KRYT, KGHF again, KDZA, KCCY, KBPL, KDZA again and then KUBE.

    Sources