PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: Stations

  • KVOR-FM

    KVOR-FM (92.9 FM) was the original identity of the Colorado Springs 92.9 FM facility. It signed on in 1960 as the FM companion to KVOR 1300 AM, part of the old “Voice of the Rockies” operation.

    Early operation

    The 1969 Broadcasting Yearbook listed KVOR-FM on 92.9 MHz at 1.35 kW and described it as duplicating KVOR’s programming.

    Brookside and the switch to Z93

    A former employee who worked at the KVOR and KVOR-FM operation from 1973 to 1978 remembers the stations at 615 E. Brookside Street. They describe a purpose-built facility where the broadcast side and the business and sales side were separated by a thick rubber gasket between two joined structures. They also remember Brookside Street dead-ending into the station parking lot.

    During their time there, KVOR-FM became KSPZ and launched the Z93 identity. They remember the switch as a near-total break from the earlier sound, with the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” as the first song of the new format.

    Later identity

    The station became KSPZ in 1974 and took the Z93 identity using Century 21’s Z Format. The same 92.9 facility eventually became KKPK.

    Call-sign lineage

    KVOR-FM, then KSPZ, then KKPK.

    Sources

  • KPIK-FM

    KPIK-FM (94.3 FM) was the FM sister to KPIK 1580 AM in Colorado Springs. If you listened to country on the FM dial in the late 1960s or 70s in the Springs, it may well have been this one. It’s the same facility that signed on in 1962 as KLST and is now KILO.

    An early all-country FM

    The station became KPIK-FM after Western Broadcasting bought it in 1966. The AM and FM simulcast a country format for years, which made KPIK-FM one of the early all-country FM stations in the United States. In the late 1970s the FM set itself apart with a more contemporary sound called “Super K-94.” The AM and FM were sold separately in 1978, and the FM became KILO.

    Where the studios have been

    • 1962: KLST’s original studio was at 802½ E. Fillmore Avenue, Colorado Springs
    • 1966 to the 1970s: the FM shared the KPIK operation, which period records place at 120 E. Platte Avenue
    • Later: the KILO lineage moved to 1805 E. Cheyenne Road

    Sister station

    KPIK 1580 AM, from 1966 to 1978.

    Sources

  • KLST-FM

    KLST (94.3 FM) was the original call sign of the Colorado Springs FM station you now know as KILO. If you were around for the early 1960s FM dial in the Springs, this is where it began.

    Little London

    KLST signed on August 22, 1962, at 94.3 FM under Little London Broadcasting. Historical records name Douglas W. Dailey as the first president and general manager. The calls nodded to Colorado Springs’ long-time nickname, “Little London.”

    Sold to Western Broadcasting

    In 1966, Western Broadcasting Company, owner of country station KPIK 1580 AM, bought KLST. The FM became KPIK-FM and joined the AM in a country simulcast. In 1978, after a frequency move from 94.3 to 93.9, the station became KILO.

    Call signs

    KLST (1962 to 1966), then KPIK-FM (1966 to 1978), then KILO.

    Sources

  • KIXD-AM

    KIXD (1480 AM) is Kix Country 107.5 in Pueblo. If you grew up on country in Pueblo in the 1960s and 70s, you may remember this frequency as KPUB. If you listened to Spanish-language radio in the 1990s and 2000s, you may have heard it as KRRU or KAVA.

    KTUX, silence and KPUB

    The 1480 AM facility signed on in 1960 as KTUX, a daytime-only station. After Steel City Broadcasting went into bankruptcy, the station went silent on October 24, 1962. It returned in 1963 as KPUB with a country format.

    In 1975 KPUB launched KPUB-FM at 99.9, which simulcast the AM and carried the country programming after sunset (that FM is now KVUU). The AM and FM were sold separately in 1978.

    A run of new calls

    The 1480 facility then went through a long sequence of owners and call signs: KGMQ in 1982, KAYK in 1983, KRRU in 1988 and KAVA in 1998. KRRU and KAVA were tied to Spanish-language programming for much of the 1990s and 2000s. A 1997 market directory lists Julio Gutierrez, Rita Orozco and Norm Smith in leadership, programming and engineering roles at KRRU.

    In 2022 Kix Broadcasting began operating the station under a time-brokerage agreement and flipped it to country as “Kix Country 107.5” on October 20, 2022. The sale closed in 2023, and the calls became KIXD.

    The call-sign lineage runs KTUX, KPUB, KGMQ, KAYK, KRRU, KAVA, KIXD.

    Sources

  • KUBE-AM

    KUBE (1350 AM) is Fox Sports Pueblo 1350, and the same frequency has been on the air in Pueblo since 1928 as KGHF. If your grandparents listened to the radio in Pueblo, they probably spent time on this spot on the dial.

    Nearly a century on one frequency

    The 1350 AM facility is one of Southern Colorado’s oldest surviving radio lineages. It was authorized in the late 1920s and signed on in January 1928 as KGHF from the Congress Hotel. Along the way it has carried Top 40, country, oldies, standards, talk and sports.

    The call-sign lineage runs KGHF (1928 to 1964), KKAM (1964 to 1976), KIDN (1976 to 1988), KRYT (1988 to 1989), KGHF again (1989 to 2008), KDZA (2008 to 2012), KCCY (2012 to 2018), a short stint as KBPL in 2018, KDZA again (2018 to 2022) and finally KUBE, starting in May 2022.

    When KGHF returned in 1989, it brought oldies programming. A 1997 market directory lists Greg Hargrove as program director.

    Fox Sports and CSU Pueblo

    KUBE operates as Fox Sports Pueblo 1350 under iHeartMedia and served as a flagship for CSU Pueblo athletics. For the 2026-27 school year, iHeartMedia chose not to renew that agreement, and CSU Pueblo moved its football, men’s and women’s basketball and coaches-show broadcasts to student-run KTSC (REV 89.5).

    In the iHeart era, the 1350 facility has been grouped with KCSJ, KCCY-FM, KVUU, KKLI, KIBT, KPHT and KBPL.

    Sources

  • KDZA-AM

    KDZA (1230 AM) is “The Rock of Pueblo.” If you grew up in Pueblo in the 1960s, 70s or early 80s, KDZA was the Top 40 station that probably ruled your radio dial. Today it’s back on the air as 101.9 & 107.3 KDZA with classic hits.

    The Rock of Pueblo

    KDZA signed on December 29, 1947, and under founder Dee Crouch became a Pueblo institution. In 1964 it made a decisive move into rock and roll and became one of Southern Colorado’s defining Top 40 stations, a role it held through much of the 1960s and 1970s and into the 1980s. Historical accounts credit a long line of local owners and personalities with building the Rock of Pueblo name.

    By the early 1990s KDZA was tied to the KATM and KRYT-FM operation. In 1993 the 1230 station became KKPC and spent years in public-radio service. In the 1970s, the 100.7 FM facility launched as KZLO, sister to KDZA (that signal is now KGFT).

    The comeback

    The KDZA calls returned to 1230 in 2023 with a classic-hits format. On November 11, 2024, the service expanded into Colorado Springs through KQSC 1530 and its 107.3 FM translator, rebranding as 101.9 & 107.3 KDZA. The current operation puts live local personalities up front and serves both Pueblo and Colorado Springs.

    Awards

    • 2025: Certificates of Merit for Best Sports Coverage (“KDZA Cannon Game coverage,” Guy Girtin, Brett Burke and Lee Truan) and Best Radio Commercial (“KDZA Commercial Discount Motors,” Kevin Hayes and Coba Hoban).
    • 2024: Award of Excellence for Best Radio Commercial for an Advertiser, “Hot Rod Stampede” (Dave West, voice-over; Kevin Hayes, producer).

    Sources

  • KFEL-AM

    KFEL (970 AM) signed on in Pueblo in September 1956 and today carries Catholic radio. If you remember 970 as a full-service AM from the 1950s, or you tune in now for EWTN, you’re listening to the same signal.

    Joining the Pueblo dial

    KFEL added another full-service AM to a market that already had KCSJ, KDZA and KGHF. The 1957 Broadcasting Yearbook listed it as a 1,000-watt daytime station owned by KFEL Inc., with studios at 4411 Goodnight Avenue. Frank Donald Hall was listed as owner, John T. Roscoe as assistant manager and chief engineer, and Earl B. Miller as sales representative.

    Catholic radio

    The station later increased power and moved into religious programming. Today KFEL carries a Catholic format through EWTN Radio and the Catholic Radio Network, under Kansas City Catholic Network ownership. Its modern Catholic-radio group also includes KCRN and KRCN.

    Sources

  • KWRP-AM

    KWRP (690 AM) is Pueblo’s oldies station on 690, also heard on FM translators including 100.3. If you’ve ever cruised Pueblo with the oldies on, you’ve likely heard it. The calls are commonly read as “We Are Pueblo.”

    From KAPP to KRMX

    The 690 AM facility in Pueblo dates to the late 1950s. It was documented first as KAPP and then became KAPI, which built a substantial Spanish-language service. In 1979 KAPI added KAPI-FM at 107.1, creating an AM/FM pair, and both became KRMX in 1981. KRMX-FM separated from the AM in 1985 (that FM is now KWRY), while 690 kept the KRMX calls through 2009.

    The AM then briefly became KSIP before settling on KWRP. The call-sign lineage runs KAPP, KAPI, KRMX, KSIP, KWRP. In modern years it has been paired with KFEZ under common ownership.

    Pueblo Radio Group, SoCo and Western Radio

    By April 2012, KWRP (690 AM and 100.3 FM) was part of Pueblo Radio Group. In September 2014, Mike and Lori Knar’s SoCo Radio began running it under a lease with United States CP, and on September 1, 2015, it joined the oldies “Cruisin’ 98.5” brand also heard in Colorado Springs. In September 2017, Mike Hernandez (Buzz Corona) bought KWRP and two translators for $80,000 through Western Radio, which ended the SoCo lease.

    Sources

    • Colorado Springs Gazette: April 5, 2012 (print)
    • RadioInsight: September 25, 2014
    • RadioInsight: September 1, 2015
    • Radio Online: September 2017
    • Inside Radio: November 2, 2017
    • Broadcasting Yearbook (print)
    • FCC history cards

  • KCSJ-AM

    KCSJ (590 AM) is NewsTalk 590 KCSJ, Pueblo’s long-running news and talk station. If your family had KCSJ on for the farm reports, the sports or the local news, you know what a Pueblo staple sounds like. It signed on in August 1947 and has kept the same call letters ever since.

    Where the name comes from

    The call letters came from the Chieftain-Star Journal, the Pueblo newspaper operation that once owned the station.

    Full-service radio

    KCSJ became a major full-service local station, carrying network shows, music, news, farm reports, sports and community programming. In the 1960s and 1970s it mixed middle-of-the-road music with a lot of local service. It moved toward adult contemporary in the 1980s and 1990s, and by about 2000 it had settled into full news and talk.

    The people

    Trade directories show a deep local staff. A 1953 listing included Douglas D. Kahle, Robert L. Clinton, Larry Gordon, Dale Redlingshafer, Cliff Hendrix, Bill Paxton and Esther Witt. A 1957 directory listed Ray J. Williams, Daniel Durniak, Cliff Hendricks, Howard Myers, Marion Pennington and John Douglas among station leadership and department heads.

    Sister stations and owners

    In the 1990s KCSJ was co-owned with KYZX and KNKN. Pueblo Broadcasters sold KCSJ, KYZX and KGHF to Bahakel’s Colorado Springs Radio Broadcasters in 1999. KCSJ later joined the Clear Channel and iHeart Southern Colorado cluster with KCCY-FM, KVUU, KKLI, KIBT, KPHT, KBPL and KUBE.

    Sources

  • KBPL-FM

    KBPL (107.9 FM) is 107.9 KBPI South, the active rock station for Colorado Springs and Pueblo. If you want your rock loud and local-ish, this is the one. It’s licensed to Pueblo, owned by iHeartMedia and transmits from Cheyenne Mountain. It’s part of the KBPI brand family but runs its own local schedule and playlist.

    From KRYT to KBPI South

    The station signed on March 3, 1987, as KRYT, the FM counterpart to Pueblo AM station KGHF, and became KRYT-FM in 1988. McCoy Broadcasting bought it in 1993 and changed the calls to KDZA-FM, borrowing the name of a longtime Pueblo radio brand. Clear Channel Communications acquired KDZA-FM in 2000. In 2009 the station moved to Colorado Springs and adopted album rock, then rebranded as Z107.9 in 2011. A transmitter move to Cheyenne Mountain widened its coverage.

    In December 2017, iHeartMedia made KDZA-FM part of a three-signal KBPI simulcast along the Front Range. The station took the KBPL calls in January 2018 and was marketed as KBPI South. In January 2019 it split from the simulcast to run a distinct playlist, keeping some shared programming and the KBPI South identity.

    Who owned it

    • 1987 to 1993: original owners still being tracked down
    • 1993 to 2000: McCoy Broadcasting Company
    • 2000 to 2014: Clear Channel Communications
    • 2014 to today: iHeartMedia

    The signal

    KBPL runs 32,000 watts from 674 metres above average terrain. The FCC facility ID is 40848, and the licensee is iHM Licenses, LLC. Online, it’s at 1079kbpi.iheart.com.

    Where the studios have been

    After Clear Channel changed the format in 2009, the offices moved from Pueblo to the Colorado Springs cluster at 2864 S. Circle Drive. Today it’s at 5725 Mark Dabling Boulevard, Suite 120, Colorado Springs, CO 80919.

    Awards

    • 2025: Award of Excellence for Best Evening Show, “Big Bad BPI Night Show with Danger Dean,” Dean Nedens.
    • 2024: Award of Excellence for Best On-Air Contest for a Station, “Snip or Treat” (Dean Nedens, Aaron Kinnischtzke and Molly Markley).

    Sources