KVOR

KVOR
City Colorado Springs, Colorado
Broadcast area Colorado Springs-Pueblo Metropolitan Area
Branding Colorado's 740 KVOR
Slogan Depend On It!
Frequency 740 kHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date September 22, 1922
Format News/Talk
Power 3,300 watts (daytime)
1,500 watts (nighttime)
Class B
Facility ID 35869
Callsign meaning K Voice Of the Rockies
Affiliations Westwood One Network
Premiere Networks
Air Force Falcons
CBS Radio News
Owner Cumulus Media
(Radio License Holding CBC, LLC)
Sister stations KATC, KCSF, KKFM, KKMG, KKPK
Webcast Listen Live
Website kvor.com

KVOR (740 kHz, "AM 740 KVOR") is a commercial AM radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado, serving Colorado Springs and Pueblo. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a news/talk radio format.

KVOR is powered at 3,300 watts by day, but because AM 740 is a clear-channel frequency reserved for Class A CFZM Toronto, KVOR must reduce power at night to 1,500 watts.[1] It uses a directional antenna at all times, with a north-south pattern that covers Pueblo, even though the station's transmitter is located north of downtown Colorado Springs, near Thompson Road. Studios and offices are located on Corporate Drive in Colorado Springs.

The KVOR weekday schedule begins with Colorado Springs' Morning News followed by a local late morning talk show hosted by Richard Randall. (A repeat hour of Randall's show also airs at 10pm.) The rest of the weekday line up is made up of nationally syndicated talk shows: The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Savage Nation, Glenn Beck Program, The Mark Levin Show, Red Eye Radio, First Light and America in the Morning. Weekends feature shows on money, food, computers, law and religion with hosts Larry Kudlow, Leo Laporte, Bill Handel and Jim Daly. KVOR partners with local TV stations KXRM (Fox affiliate) and KKTV (CBS affiliate) for news and weather coverage. Most hours begin with world and national news from CBS Radio News.

KVOR broadcasts the Air Force Falcons football and basketball games.[2]

History

Early Years

On September 22, 1922, Colorado Springs' first commercial radio station, KFUM ("Known For Unsurpassed Mountain scenery"), was licensed. Its call sign changed to KVOR (Voice Of the Rockies) when the station was purchased by the Reynolds Radio Co., founded by Denver radio pioneer Dr. William "Doc" Reynolds.[3] As of 1933, the studio and transmitter were both located at the Mining Exchange Building.[4]

During the Golden Age of Radio, KVOR was a CBS affiliate, airing its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts. It broadcast on 1270 kilocycles, at 1,000 watts of power, with studios in the Antlers Hotel.[5] In the 1940s, it moved to 1300 kHz. In 1960, it added an FM sister station, 92.9 KVOR-FM (now KKPK), simulcasting the AM station's programming.[6] In 1968, 1300 KVOR received permission from the Federal Communications Commission to boost its daytime power to 5,000 watts.

Middle of The Road

In the 1960s, as network programming shifted to television, KVOR switched to a middle of the road format of popular music, news and sports, still as a CBS affiliate. By the 1980s, as music listening switched to FM, KVOR began adding talk programming to its line up, using NBC's Talknet service at night.

Switch to Talk

By 1984, KVOR had completed the switch to all-talk programming, with its FM station moving to an adult contemporary music format as KSPZ, "Z93." KVOR picked up talk shows from the ABC TalkRadio network and added ABC Radio News, replacing CBS as its network.[7]

In 1996, KVOR and KSPZ (now KKPK) were acquired by Triathlon Broadcasting Of Colorado Springs, which also owned 99.9 KVUU and 740 KSSS (later KTWK). During this time, advertising time on these stations was controlled by Citadel Broadcasting through a local marketing agreement (LMA), while the actual broadcast operations were under the control of Triathlon.

In 1999, Citadel Broadcasting fully acquired KVOR, KSPZ and KTWK by exchanging 106.3 KKLI with Triathlon (now merged with iHeartMedia, Inc.) thus ending the LMA. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[8]

Move to 740 AM

In order to provide extended coverage to the growing Colorado Springs and Pueblo media markets, in 2000 KVOR switched frequencies with sister station 740 KTWK. KVOR continued its news-talk format on AM 740 while AM 1300 became adult standards outlet KTWK, carrying the Music of Your Life radio network. (Today it is CBS Sports Radio station KCSF.)

KVOR's transmitter was temporarily offline during the 2013 Black Forest Fire. The station was known previously as "News/Talk 740," "Newsradio 740," and most recently "Colorado Springs' Talk Station."

References

  1. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/KVOR
  2. ↑ InsideRadio.com/KVOR
  3. ↑ Bernicky, Norm. "Colorado Springs Radio History". Pikes Peak Radio & Electronics Museum. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  4. ↑ Pierre Key's Radio Annual (PDF). P. Key Pub. Corporation. 1933. p. 345.
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1936 page 40
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 page 123
  7. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 page B41
  8. ↑ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.

Coordinates: 39°05′02″N 104°42′41″W / 39.08389°N 104.71139°W / 39.08389; -104.71139

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