KXWA (101.9 FM) 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

Centennial, Colorado Centennial is a home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,418 at the 2020 United States census, making Centennial the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Centennial is a principal ...

, United States. The station serves the Denver metropolitan area and is currently owned by the

WAY-FM Network The WayFM Network is a national, non-profit radio broadcasting network in the United States, primarily playing Christian adult contemporary music. While WayFM is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it operates stations in 12 states (), with co ...

. Its studios are located in

Longmont Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Its population was 98,885 . Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. It is named after Longs Peak, a prominent mountain th ...

, and the transmitter is near Castle Rock.

History

In Colorado Springs

On January 14, 1965, William S. Cook obtained a construction permit to build a new radio station in Colorado Springs. ( Guide to reading History Cards) It went on the air January 28, 1967, as KRYT-FM, a companion to daytime-only KRYT (1530 AM). On December 6, 1976, the KRYT name moved fully to AM, and the station adopted an

adult contemporary 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format as KINX, with KRYT AM going to

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife, particularly in African-American, Italian-American, Gay and Latino communities. Its sound features four-on-the-floor ...

. In 1979, the two stations (then KXXV and KINX) were acquired by Mountain Center Broadcasting Company, part of Texas-based Center Group Broadcasting, for $765,000. Walton Stations acquired both stations in separate transactions in 1982, with the FM going for $1.02 million. Under Walton, the station broadcast country music and became a major player in the market, being the top-billing station from 1989 to 1997 and the highest-rated local station in much of that time period. Walton sold KKCS-FM to Superior Broadcasting in 2003 for $18 million.

Denver market move-in

Superior sold KKCS-FM to

Bustos Media Bustos Media L.L.C. is a media corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Bustos Media specializes in operating Spanish-language, and other ethnic, radio stations in the United States. Most of its stations broadcast in Spanish; however, two ...

for $16 million in 2005, retaining the intellectual property and moving it to Cañon City's 104.5 MHz, which it leased. Meanwhile, Bustos moved KKCS-FM north from Colorado Springs to

Centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

, with a transmitter on Monument Hill, to target the Denver market. In Denver, it changed its format to

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 ...

as KGDQ "", the third Spanish-language FM station in the region. Bustos sold KKHI in 2010 to Way-FM Communications for conversion to its Christian radio network. The call sign was changed to KXWA that December.

References

External links

* XWA XWA Centennial, Colorado WAY-FM Network Radio stations established in 1967 1967 establishments in Colorado Christian adult contemporary radio stations in the United States {{Colorado-radio-station-stub