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| Broadcast area | Denver–Boulder–Colorado Springs |
| Frequency | 850kHz |
| Branding | KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM |
| Programming | |
| Format | News/talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KBCO,KBPI,KDFD,KHOW,KDHT,KRFX,KTCL,KWBL | |
| History | |
First air date | December 15, 1924; 100 years ago (1924-12-15) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 29738 |
| Class | A |
| Power |
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| ERP |
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Transmitter coordinates | |
| Translator(s) |
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| Repeater(s) | 97.3 KBCO-HD3 (Boulder) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | koacolorado |
KOA (850kHz) is acommercialAM radio stationlicensed toDenver, Colorado. Owned byiHeartMedia, it serves theDenver-Bouldermedia market. KOA broadcasts anews/talkradio format, and is also theflagship station of theDenver Broncos,Colorado Rockies andColorado Buffaloes. KOA has its radio studios in Southeast Denver, while thetransmitter site is off South Parker Road inParker.
KOA is aClass A,clear-channel station, broadcasting at 50,000 wattsnon-directional, the maximum power permitted by theFederal Communications Commission for AM stations. By day, the station provides city-grade coverage to most of Colorado's densely populated area, including cities such asColorado Springs,Pueblo andFort Collins. It provides at least secondary coverage to most of eastern Colorado, along with portions ofWyoming. Under the right conditions, it reaches portions ofNebraska andKansas. With a good radio at night, the signal can be heard over much of the Central and Western United States, and parts of Canada and Mexico. KOA is nicknamed "the Blowtorch of the West".[2] It is Colorado's primary entry point station for theEmergency Alert System.
As of November 1, 2015, KOA is also heard on 94.1MHzK231BQ, which is licensed toGolden, Colorado, as anFMtranslator ofKBCO-HD3. In addition, KOA also simulcasts on translatorK231AA (also on 94.1 MHz), licensed toBoulder.[2][3]
KOA was first owned byGeneral Electric and began broadcasting on December 15, 1924.[4] The station started with 5,000 watts, and in 1927, increased to 12,500 watts. KOA became anNBC affiliate in 1929, and the network took over operation of the station from GE shortly thereafter. On July 7, 1934, power was raised to the current level of 50,000 watts.[5] In 1941, NBC, which had been operating KOA andKGO in San Francisco for GE since October 1, 1929, also took over ownership of the stations. NBC continued to own KOA until June 1953 when it sold the station to Metropolitan Television Company, whose principal stockholder wasBob Hope. That same year on Christmas Eve, KOA started a sister TV station, KOA-TV on channel 4; like its radio cousin, it was affiliated with theNBC Television Network.KOA-FM was added in June 1961, which in 1974 became Top 40 KOAQ (Q103). GE repurchased the stations in 1968 and continued to own them until 1983 (keeping the aforementioned channel 4, which was subsequently rechristened asKCNC-TV), when it sold KOA and KOAQ toBelo Corporation. In 1987Jacor Communications purchased KOA and KOAQ; Jacor was purchased byClear Channel Communications in 1999. The company rebranded to iHeartMedia in 2014.
FormerRocky Mountain News columnistMike Rosen, who retired at the end of 2015, was the long-running host of the 1 to 3 p.m. show. Rosen is a fiscal conservative and social libertarian who occasionally was a substitute host for Rush Limbaugh. Common Rosen-isms are "tell me where you sit before you tell me where you stand" and "a politician asks what you want, an economist asks what you want more". Rosen's philosophy is reflected in his recommended reading list which includesAyn Rand,Adam Smith,Paul Johnson andThomas Sowell.
Other well-known local voices previously heard on KOA include Bob Martin, Don Zimmer, Gus Mircos, and Alex Stone.Rollye James andGeorge Weber. The late Rick Barber was heard for 30 years on KOA. Consumer advocateTom Martino and formerFEMA officialMichael D. Brown were KOA hosts until they switched tosister stationKHOW.
Radio hostAlan Berg broadcast his talk show from the station, but was shot and killed by members of thewhite supremacist groupThe Order on June 18, 1984. Another host from an earlier era wasLeigh Kamman, who hostedjazz programs duringWorld War II. Kamman returned to his home state ofMinnesota after the war.The Sports Zoo withDave Logan andScott Hastings ran for 12 years until Hastings left in April 2005 for theAltitude Sports and Entertainment network. Hastings resumed sports radio broadcasting onKKFN in January 2006 alongside formerDenver Broncos linemanAlfred Williams.Ken Hamblin, "The Black Avenger", also hosted a popular and long-running show during the 1980s.
Also in the 1980s, during the weekend evening hours on KOA, Larry Cox, and his dog Wilbur, would host the radio programThe National Recovery Act, a listener-friendly call-in show. A certain topic was announced and people from all over the nation, picking up the KOA signal at night, would call in with their memories.Big band music from the 1930s and 1940s was also played. The program would always end with the song "And So To Bed". In December 1987, Cox began a new radio program,No Place Like Home, broadcast from his home on Chicago Creek. Listeners would often hear the fireplace crackling and Cox's dog, Wilbur, snoring.[citation needed]
With the launch ofconservative talk sister stationKDFD "Freedom 93.7" in 2019,The Rush Limbaugh Show moved exclusively from KOA to KDFD in September 2019, and the station launched the new afternoon drive showBig Al & JoJo (co-hosted by former Denver Broncos player andKKFN hostAlfred Williams), resulting in its existing sports showLogan & Lewis moving to late-mornings.[6][7]
In June 2022, longtime co-anchor ofColorado's Morning News April Zesbaugh retired.[8][9][10]
KOA was one of ten stations honored at the 2007NAB Crystal Radio Awards for public service awarded by theNational Association of Broadcasters.[11] Winners were honored at the radio luncheon on April 17, 2007, during the NAB Show inLas Vegas.
KOA was named "Large Market Station of the Year" at the 2008 National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Awards.[12]
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