KCSF (1300 AM "Xtra Sports 1300") is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

serving the

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

area with a

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

format. It is under ownership of

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

. The station features CBS Sports Radio, as well as Dan Patrick from Fox Sports Radio, Denver Nuggets,

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

, and

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E Ra ...

History

Early years

On September 22, 1922, Colorado Springs' first commercial radio station, KFUM ("Known For Unsurpassed Mountain scenery"), was licensed. Its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

changed to KVOR (Voice Of the Rockies) when the station was purchased by the Reynolds Radio Co., founded by

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

radio pioneer Dr. William "Doc" Reynolds. As of 1933, the studio and transmitter were both located at th
Mining Exchange Building
During the Golden Age of Radio, KVOR was a

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

affiliate, airing its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports,

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

s and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

broadcasts. It broadcast on 1270

kilocycle The cycle per second is a once-common English name for the unit of frequency now known as the hertz (Hz). The plural form was typically used, often written cycles per second, cycles/second, c.p.s., c/s, or, ambiguously, just cycles (Cy./Cyc.). The ...

s, at 1,000 watts of power, with studios in the Antlers Hotel. In the 1940s, it moved to 1300 kHz. In 1960, it added an FM sister station, KVOR-FM (now KKPK),

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

ing the AM station's programming. In 1968, KVOR received permission from the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

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 The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

'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 Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

format as KSPZ, "Z93." KVOR picked up talk shows from the ABC TalkRadio network and added

ABC Radio News ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-pas ...

, replacing CBS as its network.Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 page B41
/ref> In 1996, KVOR and KSPZ (now KKPK) were acquired by Triathlon Broadcasting of Colorado Springs, which also owned

KVUU KVUU (99.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pueblo, Colorado, and serving the Colorado Springs-Pueblo radio market. It airs a Hot AC radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station is known by its moniker My 99.9. Stud ...

and 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.

Citadel Broadcasting ownership

In 1999, Citadel Broadcasting fully acquired KVOR, KSPZ and KTWK by exchanging

KKLI KKLI (106.3 FM), also known as Sunny 106.3'','' is a commercial radio station licensed to Widefield, Colorado, and serving the Colorado Springs- Pueblo metropolitan area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts an adult contemporary ...

with Triathlon (now merged with

iHeartMedia, Inc. iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

), thus ending the LMA. In March 2000, KVOR switched frequencies with then-KTWK on AM 740. The format became Classic country in December 2000, when the station changed calls to KUBL (standing for 'The Bull'). The station adopted a progressive talk format in 2002, and adopted the call letters KBZC, calling itself 'The Buzz 1300'.

Switch to Sports

In 2004, the format changed again to a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

format, calling itself "Sports Animal 1300" and adopting the call letters KKML. The station signed on as an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio then signed on with ESPN Radio in 2007.

Return to Classic Country

In July 2008,

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

abandoned the sports format in favor of a 'Classic Country' format as "KCS 1300 AM" to complement its sister Mainstream Country station

KATC-FM KATC-FM (95.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The station has been broadcasting a country music format since 2006 and its on-air moniker is Cat Country 95.1. The station is owned and operated by Cumulus Media, ...

and to pay homage to the former "KCS Country" station (see KCS History). This format change also brought

Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. (July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known mononymously as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show, '' Imus in the Morning'', was aired on various sta ...

into the Colorado Springs Market, and used Jones Radio Networks Classic Country Satellite Programming as its lineup. The Jones format was changed in mid-2009 to Citadel Media's in-house

Real Country Real Country is a 24-hour radio format produced by Westwood One. Real Country is marketed at the demographic of men aged 35 to 64. Its programming consists of a fairly broad playlist of "Today's Stars and the Legends." Classic country is the ...

format, featuring a mix of classic country and country currents.

Return to Sports/Cumulus ownership

The most recent change of 1300's format back to

took effect on November 5, 2009, with returning 'Sports Animal 1300' to Colorado Springs. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.

KCS history

KKCS-FM went on the air in Colorado Springs on September 12, 1979, broadcasting a country music format. The station was known as "The Most Country KCS 102." KKCS remained a major competitor in the market for country until purchased by Bustos Media in 2005. After being purchased, KKCS moved frequencies from 101.9 FM to 104.5 FM (taking that frequency from Canon City, Colorado country station KSTY). With the 104.5 transmitter being located in Canon City, the signal of KCS was severely limited to Colorado Springs. In 2006, the station let go of all personnel and played all music before going dark in 2007. The country format on that frequency has since returned to Canon City with KSTY.

References

External links

* * * {{Cumulus Media CSF Sports radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1979 1979 establishments in Colorado CBS Sports Radio stations