KSUN History
History
In January 2000 the Federal Communications Commission, (FCC), created a frequency allotment for non-commercial community low-power FM radio stations with a maximum power of 100 watts.
During the fall of 2000, Tom Beard, then Manager of Battlement Mesa Company (the developer of Battlement Mesa, Colorado) and Jimm Seany, a broadcast journalism instructor at Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) in Grand Junction, Colorado, discussed the concept of forming a new station under the new FCC low-power FM radio station rules. Shortly thereafter, local residents Harlan Hanson and Jim Warren learned about the discussions and became involved. These discussion lead to the formation of KSUN Community Radio, Inc., a Colorado non-profit corporation, for the purpose of operating a low-power FM radio station to serve Battlement Mesa and Parachute, Colorado.
Tom Beard and Harlan Hanson contacted Bill Atkinson, a retired licensed radio engineer and requested his assistance with the proposed station engineering. Following a couple of informal meetings, On November 22, 2000, Tom Beard, Harlan Hanson, Jim Warren, Bill Atkinson and Linda Berry conducted the first official KSUN Radio board meeting. During the meeting, Harlan Hanson was elected President, Jim Warren was elected Vice President/Treasurer, and Linda Berry was elected Secretary. The meeting was also attended by Francis Rose who represented The Sun, the community's local paper.
At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 18, 2001, an application for a low-power FM radio station license what filed, on-line, with the FCC. Subsequently, the board met weekly to discuss how to finance the station and to discuss equipment needs. The FCC regulations are onerous even for a low-power FM station, thus progress was slow.
In order to gain the additional knowledge needed to acquire and install the equipment necessary to begin broadcasting, during August 2002, Jimm Seany arranged three meetings between Bill Atkinson and Ken Pilling, then Operations Manager at KSTAR Radio, Grand Junction, Colorado.
Four months later, on December 11, 2002, several KSUN board members, a couple of technical volunteers (Larry Huber and John Chapman), Fran Storm, (a former employee of the Battlement Mesa Activity Center, now the Grand Valley Recreation Center), and Anne Huber all crowded into the KSUN studio and turned on the transmitter.
At first nothing happened. Larry Huber and John Chapman, the technical volunteers, made some changes to the connections and finally, after more than two years of work, KSUN Community Radio began broadcasting using the call letters, KSBP which stand for Sun, Battlement and Parachute.
Early programming included "The History of Country Music 101" produced by Floyd McDaniel, a run of old-time radio shows including "The Carmel & Fish Show" airing popular music, "Fric and Frac" hosted by Mary Lee Mohrlang and Terry Lynott which eventually evolved into "Community Connections," a live Friday morning interview program, and "Blessing Up," a live one-hour Sunday morning program that has aired for the past several years. Additionally, for many years, Floyd McDaniel has hosted "The Morning Show" live every weekday morning.
Between 2002 and 2007, KSUN broadcasted on 101.1 FM. Unfortunately, low-power FM licenses are 'junior" to a normal station license thus in 2007, a representative from a Grand Junction, Colorado Cumulus Radio station visited KSUN and explained that Cumulus had purchased a nearby frequency (101.3) only two digits away from KSUN's 101.1 meaning that the signals conflicted. As the "junior" license, KSUN was required to move to 103.9 in order to continue to operate.
In the early summer of 2013 the KSUN board of directors learned about an opportunity to acquire their former 101.1 FM frequency and associated license. With the financial help of Alpine Bank, a long-time KSUN supporter, the board was able to negotiate and purchase the license, plus some needed equipment and obtain the required FCC approval for the license. As required by the FCC, as a condition of issuing the new license, KSUN Community Radio, Inc. turned in their low-power license and stopped broadcasting as KSBP 103.9 FM at 8 a.m. on June 27, 2013.
On July 1, 2013, KSUN Community Radio acquired the KDBN license from Townsquare Media along with some equipment. Within a few days, after completing the installation and testing of some upgraded equipment, KDBN began broadcasting on 101.1 FM utilizing an epic pop rock format complimented by most of the local programming and public interest programs that were enjoyed by listeners of 103.9.
KDBN 101.1 FM is a commercial license which allows KSUN Community Radio to accept commercial advertising. KSUN Community Radio, Inc. will continue to be a 501(c)3, non-profit entity providing quality programming which has been selected based upon input from our members and the communities that we serve.
When asked why KSUN's board decided to make the changes, Mary Lee Mohrlang, board president stated, "During the past thirteen years, KSUN has served the Battlement Mesa, Parachute and nearby area with quality programming, including eight weekly locally generated programs. In addition, KSUN broadcasts all of the local Grand Valley High School football and basketball games. We want to continue to serve our local listeners, but by moving to the 101.1 FM frequency and with the ability to broadcast at a higher frequency we will be able to reach and serve many more listeners in the Grand Valley. We are excited about the change and look forward to becoming the 'station of choice' in the Grand Valley."
Click Here to read the KDBN purchase press release.
KSUN's mission is to keep listeners informed about the local community and to provide a voice to other non-profit and other community organizations in the Grand Valley.