WHO IS THE COOLEST STATION IN COLORADO: OpenAir or The Colorado Sound?

Ryan Adams • Photo Credit: Gary Miller/FilmMagic

Last May singer/songwriter Ryan Adams gave 105.5 The Colorado Sound the ultimate radio treat. 

He wrote and recorded a tribute song praising his favorite state (Colorado) and his favorite radio station (105.5 The Colorado Sound).  

The Colorado Sound was glowing with cool-kid pride.

Adams was in Denver preparing for a sold-out show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Adams first stop wasn’t heritage AAA KBCO or Colorado Public Radio’s AAA channel OpenAir, it was KJAC in Greeley, where he stopped to see his friends Benji and Margot, two popular hosts at The Colorado Sound.

(You can hear Adams' song here. During the same trip, Adam’s also did a guest appearance at Denver’s ABC-TV affiliate where did the weather.  You see that here.

Such is life along Colorado’s northern Front Range where two excellent AAA stations compete. Spark News has reported on several head-to-head situations involving NPR News/Talk stations such as WBUR & WGBH in Boston and WDET & WUOM in Detroit. But this is the only battle between two progressive rock, noncommercial stations we are aware of.

These are two evenly matched competitors.  Both are owned by organizations with excellent track records and ample cash on hand to make good things happen. Both put strong signals in Denver and Fort Collins, plus have boosters covering Boulder. Both stations have great hosts and people with music and audio programming savvy.

According to Nielsen Audio’s Fall 2018 PPM and Diary ratings, 105.5 The Colorado Sound has 40% more estimated weekly listeners than OpenAir. 

The chart on the left is a hypothetical comparison between the two stations that is a mash-up of PPM data from Denver and Diary data from Fort Collins. 

Because the two methodologies are different, the data shouldn’t be combined as we have done here. But, it does provide a rough estimate of market penetration.

OpenAir EVOLVED OVER THE PAST DECADE

OpenAir [link] is the older of the two stations. It started slowly in 2011 as CPR’s third programming channel. For a while is was on an AM signal, then CPR acquired KVOQ 102.3 FM.

As you can see in the chart on the right, KVOQ’s signal is transmitted from Golden, a pretty town in the foothills west of Denver.

In Colorado, terrain is always a factor. 

Boulder, an important part of the metro area that is sheltered in a canyon. 

So, CPR added an on-channel booster to reach the area.

Then in 2016 CPR switched KVXO 88.1 FM from repeating CPR’s Classical channel to having it repeat OpenAir. 

Of course, both of the stations we are discussing today offer streaming audio to anyone, anywhere.

UPDATE 1/18/19 3pm CT

Colorado Public Radio (CPR) has announced that Willobee Carlin as the new Program Director of CPR’s OpenAir channel. Willobee is a well-known radio and music insider. He has will over three decades in the biz. He was PD of noncommercial NV89 in Reno prior to accepting the gig at OpenAir. Willobee started in radio at WLIR, Long Island’s legendary album rock station.

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND STARTED WITH A FLURRY

In 2016, KUNC in Greeley wanted to switch its dual format to 24/7 to NPR News/Talk. To accomplish this, KUNC needed to add a second station. KUNC’s management and Board discovered that a commercial oldies station KJAC was for sale. KUNC went for it and bought the license for $3 million.

On the right is the chronology of KJAC’s signals. 

The primary signal, 105.5 broadcasts from a mountain top northwest of Fort Collins. It is almost 9,000-feet above ground. 

KJAC [link] also added a booster signal to reach Boulder. Plus, FM translators have been added to bring KJAC to Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs.

Then consultant Mike Henry entered the picture. Henry had an outstanding AAA track recorded consulting The Current in the Twin Cities, WXPN in Philadelphia and KXT in Dallas. 

Henry has lived most of his life in Colorado. He saw the opportunity to create a remarkable new radio voice in his home area.

Henry built the air staff with folks who had been at KBCO, widely considered to be one of the most respected AAA music stations in the nation. Benji McPhail and Ron Bostwick, KBCO veterans joined the team as did Margot Chobanian from Atlanta.

Then, on February 29m 2016, 105.5 The Colorado Sound signed on. Where their was once dead air, in an instant The Colorado Sound appeared like magic, fully-formed and ready to fly.

Nielsen Audio’s Fall 2018 ratings for the Fort Collins-Greeley market are on the left plus data from Fall 2016.

KUNC is the market leader in both AQH share and estimated weekly listeners. 

CPR News consistently performs well in the ratings.

CPR’s Classical channel had the largest ratings gains. 

This was due to a new local translator signal at 90.9 FM that CPR acquired in May 2018.   

We reported on the Classical upgrade then [link].