KBPL (107.9 FM, "107.9 KBPI South") is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

licensed to

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

, and serving the

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

–Pueblo

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

. Owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...

, it broadcasts an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

format. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is located on

Cheyenne Mountain Cheyenne Mountain is a triple-peaked mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The mountain serves as a host for military, communications, recreational, and residential functions. The underground operations c ...

amid other TV and FM towers for stations in the Colorado Springs-Pueblo market.

History

The station first

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

as KRYT on March 3, 1987. It was the FM counterpart to

AM 1350 The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1350 kHz: 1350 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. Because 1350 kHz is a multiple of both 9 and 10, the frequency is available for use by broadcast ...

KGHF (now KUBE). The

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 as ...

reflected the station nickname "K-Right", as 107.9 is at the far right end of the FM dial. On December 1, 1988, the station changed its call sign to KRYT-FM. On January 1, 1993, the station was bought by the McCoy Broadcasting Company. It became KDZA-FM. The KDZA call letters had previously been on AM 1230 which had been sold to

Pueblo Community College Pueblo Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Pueblo, Colorado. PCC operates branch campuses in Cañon City and Mancos, as well as an academic site in Durango. History Known now as Pueblo Community College (PCC), the school ...

. KDZA-FM had an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format. On June 24, 2008, it switched to classic hits, calling itself ''Jet 107.9''. In 2000, it was sold to

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...

, the forerunner of today's

. On July 13, 2009, Clear Channel flipped KDZA-FM to

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM broadcasting, FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of Rock music, rock albums and is currently associated ...

and moved the studios and offices to Colorado Springs. KDZA-FM switched to

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

as ''Z107.9'' on November 30, 2011. A few years later, KDZA-FM got a boost in its coverage area when it was allowed to relocate its tower to

. The

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT) increased from . On December 11, 2017, KDZA-FM flipped to

as a repeater of KBPI in

Fort Collins A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

, and joined as part of a trimulcast with KPAW in Fort Collins and K300CP in Denver. KDZA-FM changed its call sign to KBPL on January 23, 2018. On January 28, 2019, KBPL broke away from the trimulcast and began to operate autonomously from KBPI, carrying a separate playlist and adding local hosts during the afternoon and nighttime dayparts (while otherwise continuing to share hosts with KBPI). The station is being referred to on iHeartMedia's digital platforms as "KBPI South".

References

External links

{{IHeartMedia BPL Radio stations established in 1986 1986 establishments in Colorado IHeartMedia radio stations Active rock radio stations in the United States