KXPK (96.5 FM "La Tricolor 96.5") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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

Evergreen, Colorado Evergreen is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated town, a post office, and a Census-designated place, census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, U.S. The CDP is a part of th ...

, and serving the

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 ...

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

radio market. The station is owned by

Entravision Entravision Communications Corporation is an American media company based in Santa Monica, California. Entravision primarily caters to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community and owns television and radio stations and outdoor media, in several o ...

and it airs a

regional Mexican Regional Mexican music refers collectively to the regional subgenres of the country music of Mexico and its derivatives from the Southwestern United States. Each subgenre is representative of a certain region and its popularity also varies by ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. Its studios are located in Denver near Empower Field at Mile High, and 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 on Squaw Mountain in

Idaho Springs, Colorado The City of Idaho Springs is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. Idaho Springs is a par ...

. KXPK's main transmitter has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. Programming is also heard on a 500–watt booster station in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, KXPK-FM1, also on 96.5 MHz.

History

Adult alternative (1994–1998)

On June 8, 1994, KXPK 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 ...

. It was owned by Evergreen Communications and began with an

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

format, calling itself "96.5 The Peak", and aimed to compete with heritage station

KBCO KBCO (97.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station in Boulder, Colorado. It serves Boulder, the Denver metropolitan area, and Northern Colorado. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) format. Its studios are locat ...

, which often leads the Denver market's ratings for 25-54-year-old men. But while KBCO's ratings remained strong, KXPK failed to catch on with adult rock listeners.

Alternative (1998–2000)

On October 12, 1998, KXPK changed to a younger-skewing

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

format, and added the syndicated "

Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

" in morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

, while still retaining the "Peak" moniker. In April 1999, the station gained some brief notoriety when Stern made controversial comments on the

Columbine High School massacre A school shooting and attempted bombing occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 13 students and one teach ...

, with hundreds of complaints filed to the station. In 2000, the station was bought by

Emmis Communications Emmis Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for "Truth" (''Emet'') was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, along with

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

station KKFR in Phoenix. The price tag for both stations was $108 million.

80s hits (2000–2002)

On September 5, 2000, KXPK moved to an All-'80s Hits format, retaining the "Peak" moniker. Howard Stern was dropped at this time. Original

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Nina Blackwood Nina Blackwood is an American disc jockey and music journalist, who was the first of the original five MTV VJs (along with Mark Goodman, J. J. Jackson, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn). She has been an actress and model noted for her raspy voice ...

was the afternoon DJ during this period. In 2001, Entercom (now

Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...

), which owns several Denver-area stations, acquired KXPK. The company quickly moved to sell the station to

for $47.5 million.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2003-2004 page D-74
/ref> Entravision specializes in

Spanish music Spanish music may refer to: *Music of Spain, music of the Spanish people in Spain *Latin music, though note that not all Latin music are in Spanish ''Spanish music'' may also refer to the music of Spanish-speaking countries: *Music of Argentina * ...

formats and saw the Denver market with its large

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

population as needing a new Spanish FM station.

Regional Mexican (2002–present)

The Peak's English-language format officially ended on April 18, 2002. KXPK then began stunting with a two-week simulcast of Entercom-owned KALC, advising KXPK listeners to move to the now former

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

and its Modern AC format. After the simulcast ended, Entravision took control of KXPK and began airing Entravision's "Radio Tri-Color" Regional Mexican music format.

References

External links

La Tricolor Denver website

Original The Peak Denver website
{{coord, 39.676, N, 105.486, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States Jefferson County, Colorado XPK Entravision Communications stations