Weekends feature shows on money, real estate, home repair, food, law, a public affairs show called "Front Range Focus," a political talk show with
Ben Ferguson, a syndicated home improvement show with
Gary Sullivan and two tech shows with
Kim Komando and
Leo Laporte. Some weekend shows are paid
brokered programming. Most hours begin with world and national news from
ABC News Radio.
History
1925 — KFXF licensed as a new station on September 2 to the Pikes Peak Broadcasting Co., located at 226 Hangerman Building in Colorado Springs.[2] Call sign was randomly assigned from an alphabetical roster of available call letters. William Duncan Pyle was the principal owner.
1927 — Station moved from Colorado Springs to Denver.[3]
1934 — Call letters changed from KFXF to KVOD ("Voice of Denver") in July.[4]
1958 — Call letters changed from KVOD to KHOW on July 27.[5]
1974 — Ray Durkee began Sunday at the Memories on KHOW. In 1976 he syndicated the show nationally.
1976 — Hal Moore and Charley Martin become a morning team on KHOW.
1978 —
Alan Berg joined KHOW and became "the most popular (and most disliked) radio personality in Denver."
August 1979 — Uncomfortable with his outrageous style (e.g., insulting or hanging up on callers), KHOW management fired Berg.[6]
1984 — Don Martin, KHOW Sky Spy Traffic Reporter, was awarded the Broadcast Achievement Award from the Colorado Broadcasters Association.
January 3, 1996 — The Rocky Mountain News reported that Charley Martin's contract was not renewed.[7]
c. 2010 — Clear Channel's attempt to install an
HD transmitter was thwarted by an incompatibility with the station's four-tower antenna array[citation needed].
Cultural reference
The longtime morning team of "Hal & Charley" can be heard in the 1980
Stanley Kubrick film The Shining when
Dick Hallorann is attempting to reach the Overlook Hotel in
Estes Park, Colorado. The station is identified as "63 KHOW" during the sequence. A jingle from the "Class Action" package from
JAM Creative Productions is also heard in scene.
History of ownership
July 1958 — The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the sale of KVOD (as the station was known at the time) to Western Broadcasting Enterprises Inc., for $300,000 plus employment deal, by Colorado Radio Corp.[8]
1964 — KHOW was purchased by Trigg-Vaughn of Dallas.
February 3, 1967 — The FCC announced approval of the sale of the Trigg-Vaughn group of radio and TV stations to
Doubleday and Company for $14,125,018. Doubleday Broadcasting Company Inc. was formed;
Nelson Doubleday, Jr. served as chairman of this new subsidiary, and Cecil L. Trigg, who had been head of Trigg-Vaughn, continued as president and
CEO.[9]
1981 —
Metromedia Inc. bought KHOW from the Doubleday Broadcasting Company for $15 million.
1986 — Metromedia's radio stations, including KHOW, were spun off into a separate company named Metropolitan Broadcasting.
April 1988 —
Robert F.X. Sillerman agreed to acquire KHOW's owner, the Metropolitan Broadcasting Holding Company, for $302 million in cash and debt.
June 1988 — Carl C. Brazell Jr. agreed to pay $20 million for two of Legacy Broadcasting's stations—KHOW and
KSYY-FM—with the intent to make them part of a new entity named Command Communications Inc. Sillerman was a "major investor" in Legacy, and Carl E. Hirsch was the "controlling shareholder."[10][11]
November 9, 1989 — Command Communications Inc. said it had agreed to sell
KJOI-FM, KSYY-FM and KHOW to
Viacom Broadcasting Inc. for $101.5 million. Viacom saw "high growth potential" in these properties.[12]
November 9, 1992 —
Variety reports that Noble Broadcast Group has agreed to acquire KHOW-AM-FM from Viacom Radio of Viacom International Inc.[13]
1996 —
Jacor Communications purchased Noble Broadcast Group, owner of 10 stations including KHOW, for $152 million.[14]
Peter Boyles left the station in June 2013 following a scuffle with his producer.[15] Boyles' former slot was filled starting on August 19 when Mandy Connell moved from fellow iHeartMedia (then Clear Channel) station
WHAS in
Louisville.[16] Connell and Brown moved to co-owned 850 KOA.