KUVO (89.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

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 ...

broadcasting mainly

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

music in a

public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

format. Licensed to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, KUVO is owned by Rocky Mountain Public Media Inc. KUVO's mission is to "provide distinctive music, news and informational programming reflecting the values and cultural diversity of their listener community."

History

In the 1980s Hugo Morales, a radio station executive sought to establish a Hispanic radio station in the Denver area as part of his organization

Radio Bilingüe Radio Bilingüe is a non-profit public radio network with Latino control and leadership, is the only United States national distributor of public radio programming in the Spanish language. It is based in Fresno, California. This satellite netw ...

. Florence Hernández-Ramos (born 1950), a graduate of Lamar High School and the

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, helped establish the station. Hernández-Ramos had attended the Colorado School of Law to follow her passion for civil rights. She met Morales while working as a paralegal in the Colorado attorney general's office in 1982. Given her law background in civil rights and interest in increasing Hispanic representation, Hernández-Ramos was drawn into Morales’ cause. She conducted research on how such a station could be put on the air and secured the grants necessary to fund it. She also arranged the purchase of the broadcasting and recording equipment, getting the board of directors, and establishing an orientation and training program. On August 29,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, KUVO 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 of its first airing, it was owned and operated by Denver Educational Broadcasting. Since 1994, The station has been broadcasting from the Five Points Media Center at 2900 Welton Street in the Five Points neighborhood of Denver. While it is best known for its jazz format, KUVO remains a Hispanic controlled station and ensures that news, public service announcements, and accomplishments of Hispanic and other local minority communities are shared on air. On January 16, 2013, it was announced that KUVO would merge into

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member network

Rocky Mountain PBS Rocky Mountain PBS is a network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Colorado. Headquartered in Denver, it is operated by Rocky Mountain Public Media, Inc., a non-profit organization which holds the licenses for most of th ...

. In 2019, KUVO signed a 10-year LMA with the

Open Media Foundation Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Got ...

to launch Denver Open Media on KUVO-HD3. This partnership includes broadcast of the HD3 signal on K225BS (92.9 FM), an FM translator owned by OMF. Denver Open Media is Denver's first all-local station featuring music and shows exclusively from artists in the Denver Metro region.

Programming

The station's local programming consists primarily of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave (rhythm), clave, and Afro-Brazil ...

music, but it also includes programs devoted to other musical genres such as

acid jazz Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

, and

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

. The station also carries selected

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and other syndicated programs such as: Jazz Night In America, hosted by Christian McBride and

WFMT WFMT (98.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, with a classical music radio format. It is part of Window to the World Communications, Inc, in the same company as Chicago's PBS member station WTTW. WFMT seeks donations ...

'
Jazz Network
The station has its own performance studio and on occasion broadcasts live performances and interviews by local and national recording artists. KUVO broadcasts to 89,200 listeners in the Denver Metro Area each week. After the launch of their mobile app on June 10, 2013, KUVO gained a worldwide listener community. In addition to their local audience, KUVO draws an additional 19,900 listeners from outside the metro area.“KUVO_BTN-02.2018-1.Pdf.” Accessed February 3, 2020. https://www.kuvo.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/KUVO_BTN-02.2018-1.pdf. KUVO, which commonly refers to itself on-air as "The Oasis in the City," won the "Major Market Jazz Station of the Year" award in 2005 and 2006 from ''

JazzWeek ''JazzWeek'' is a jazz magazine that was co-founded by Ed Trefzger in August 2001. ''Jazzweek'' publishes industry news and a weekly top 100 ranking of music played by jazz radio stations. Collection Method Originally, the company gathered its ...

'' magazine.

Community engagement

Since its inception, KUVO has emphasized local partnerships and investing in its community. KUVO is one of the only radio stations to have its own performance studio. In 2007, they received a grant from Dr. Robert Greer, in memorial of his wife Phyllis A. Greer, to expand the studio into its current iteration. It accommodates an audience of 30 people.KUVO. “FAQs.” Accessed February 3, 2020. https://www.kuvo.org/faqs/. Here they host local artists for small live shows, broadcasting on the station, or recording for later distribution. KUVO also partners with high school and collegiate bands and after-school jazz programs throughout the year, giving students a chance to put on shows in front of an audience in the Phyllis A. Greer Performance Studio. Over 3,000 students have performed in the studio. KUVO also has an ongoing partnership with Dazzle, an independent jazz venue in Denver. Here they host performances for a larger audience.KUVO. “Events Archive.” Accessed February 5, 2020. https://www.kuvo.org/events/.

Funding

As a public radio station, KUVO relies on donations for funding and does not broadcast advertising. 63% of the station's income comes from individual member pledges and donations. In February 2018, they had more than 7,400 supporting members.

References

External links