KVCU
| |
---|---|
Ownership | |
Owner | The University of Colorado Foundation, Inc. |
History | |
First air date | November 1, 1973 | (as KADE)
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | The Voice of CU |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 48965 |
Class | D |
Power | 6,800 watts daytime 5,000 watts critical hours 110 watts nighttime |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | 1190 |
KVCU AM 1190, branded Radio 1190, is a
History
As a commercial station
The Brocade Broadcasting Company (later changed to Brokade Broadcasting), owned by Enid C. Pepperd and Dona B. West, obtained a construction permit from the FCC for a new daytime-only radio station in Boulder on November 6, 1972, nearly four years after filing for the station in February 1969.[2] The station signed on November 1, with middle of the road music and news programming.[3] The format was short-lived, the station lost money, and the owners wanted out; a sales manager, Dan Skibitsky, persuaded Brokade to change the format to progressive rock.[4] Though the format flip brought more interest, a sale was still in the cards. Two years after launching, Brocade sold the station to the Greenlee and Gawne families, trading as Centennial Wireless, for $220,000.[5] In 1979, the station was approved to increase power to 5,000 watts.[2] Two years later, the Greenlees then acquired KRNW (97.3 FM), which they relaunched as freeform rocker and adult album alternative format pioneer KBCO.[6]
KADE became KBCO in 1985, and two years later, the Greenlees sold the pair to Noble Broadcast Group in a $27.25 million transaction.[7] Up until then a low-rated simulcast of the FM, the station changed to talk in 1995 as "KHOW2", a brand extension of co-owned KHOW (630 AM).[8] Noble owned the stations until it was purchased by Jacor in 1996.[9]
Donation to CU
In mid-1997, Jacor offered the 1190 AM facility to the University of Colorado—as a donation. CU had not owned a broadcast station in nearly 75 years; from 1922 to 1925, the university had operated KFAJ, which conducted experiments and supported instruction in radio communications,[10] but which was unlistenable at any time KOA was broadcasting and was thus closed.[11] At the time, the university's carrier-current station could not even be heard in all campus dormitories. Jacor had good reason to make the donation: it needed to divest a station if it wanted to acquire KTCL in Fort Collins, another FM station the company was already programming in the region, as it owned a full complement of eight stations in the Denver market.[12]
The station went off the air in January 1998 to prepare for the transfer,[13] and under the new call letters KVCU, it signed on November 4 of the same year.[14] The new outlet aired a combination of student output and programs from volunteer DJs[15]—60 of them by 2001.[16]
For the first time since breaking from its simulcast with KBCO-FM in 1995, 1190 AM's programming began being heard on FM in 2016, when the station debuted on an FM translator (K255DA at 98.9 MHz, now K251CV on 98.1) in Boulder.[17] As of March 2021, K251CV relays the HD3 sub-channel of KQKS. The station ceased broadcasting on FM translators by the spring of 2023, when it voluntarily went off the air temporarily for modernization and general improvements.[18]
2022 silent period and 2023 relaunch
In 2011, Mikey Flanagan left the station as general manager,[19] and CU-Boulder’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication shuttered,[20] leading to a shakeup in station administration that eventually resulted in the professional general manager position being eliminated and replaced by a CMCI faculty oversight position.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 also hit Radio 1190 hard, with a near-total station shutdown and shift to automated programming for several months. While student DJs were allowed to return to the studio later the same year, operational continuity suffered; the station lost control of its FM translators, and the quality of both the AM and streaming services was erratic.
In May 2022, Radio 1190 voluntarily ceased terrestrial broadcast while a professional chief engineer was brought on board to improve the station’s technical infrastructure. Broadcasts continued online, and the station returned to the AM airwaves on February 16, 2023.[21]
References
- ^ Fantz, Christy (October 29, 2008). "A decade from the depths - CU's Radio 1190 turns 10 next week". The Daily Camera.
- ^ a b FCC History Cards for KVCU
- ^ "New in Boulder" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 26, 1973. p. 32. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ^ Roberts, Michael (May 24, 1994). "TODAY, BOULDER. TOMORROW, THE WORLD". Westword. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 13, 1975. pp. 60–61. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ^ Heltsell, Dallas (2018). "Boulder County Business Hall of Fame: From rock to restaurants, beat goes on for Greenlee" (PDF). BizWest. p. 3. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ^ "Noble Rocks Into Denver For $27 Million" (PDF). Radio & Records. August 28, 1987. p. 13. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ^ Saunders, Dusty (July 14, 1995). "FOX PUTS FAITH IN 'PARTY OF FIVE' FOR ANOTHER SEASON OF QUALITY TV". Rocky Mountain News. p. 44D.
- ^ "Jacor, Triathlon Hit New Market Limits" (PDF). Radio & Records. February 9, 1996. p. 4. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ^ Waits, Jennifer (August 1, 2016). "Radio Station Visit #110 – Radio 1190 at University of Colorado, Boulder". Radio Survivor. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ISSN 0001-2890.
- ^ Kowalski, Robert; Ostrow, Joanne (September 2, 1997). "KHOW2 offered to CU: Gift of radio station studied by officials". The Denver Post. p. B1.
- ^ Ostrow, Joanne (January 6, 1998). "Just don't ask too many questions about "Harriet'". The Denver Post. p. E01.
- ^ Hamilton, Jennifer (November 5, 1998). "CU STUDENTS JOIN RANKS OF COLLEGE RADIO: AM STATION TO BROADCAST MUSIC, SPORTS, TALK SHOWS". Rocky Mountain News. p. 36A.
- ^ Booth, Michael (October 28, 1999). "Antennas salute KVCU: CU's alternative station rocks through first year". Rocky Mountain News. p. B2.
- ^ Moore, John (April 15, 2001). "KVCU wages radio revolt: Rebel deejays pit eclectic cuts against "safe, staid' airwaves". The Denver Post. p. E1.
- ^ Eun Cho, Grace (November 9, 2016). "Radio 1190 hits the FM airwaves". CU Boulder Today. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
- ^ "Radio 1190's History". Radio 1190. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ Klickstein, Matthew. "Radio 1190 finds new Mikey: CU radio station hires general manager". Colorado Daily. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ Anas, Brittany. "CU-Boulder journalism school to shut down after 5-4 vote by regents". Boulder Daily Camera. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ Berkeley, Iris. "Radio 1190 Returns to the AM Airwaves". Mixcloud.
External links
- KVCU in the FCC AM station database
- KVCU in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- Radio 1190 website
- University of Colorado Student Government
- University of Colorado College of Media, Communication and Information