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Radio 1190’s return to the AM band after the pandemic was a labor of love, as classes of dedicated students committed to bringing the station back to the halls of CU Boulder.

In just the last year, the station—formally known as —captured numerous awards for radio reporting, while growing its news team and listener base.

Now, 1190’s mix of student-curated music and news is getting play in a much bigger market.

On Thursday, the student-run station returned to Denver, where it can be heard at 92.9 FM on translator K225BS. ��

“If there’s one question we’ve kept answering again and again over the last few years, it’s ‘When are you going to be back on the air in Denver?’ If there’s another, it’s, ‘When are you going to be on the FM?’” said Iris Berkeley (Jour’01), the station’s general manager. “We’re looking forward to making up for lost time.”

The station’s journey since the pandemic forced it into automated programming hasn’t been a straight line. After a year as an online-only station, it returned to AM in February 2023.

Jack Armstrong (StratComm’24), who served as news director before graduating in the winter, said building up the staff involved pitching the station to student volunteers, which he did by visiting classes and asking for opportunities to speak.

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Now, more than 100 regular student participants contribute to the station, which offers news broadcasts each weekday during the academic year, daily student-curated music programming, and a revamped website featuring news, blogs and podcasts showcasing student-created visuals and music.

Another part of 1190’s success has been philanthropy, especially from the Stewart Family Foundation, which has supported a number of projects at CU Boulder and the College of Media, Communication and Information. Unsurprisingly, the foundation—which honors the legacy of Colorado broadcast pioneers Lila and Bill Stewart, who owned and operated Longmont’s KLMO until 1998—has been a key supporter of Radio 1190.

“We wouldn’t be at this point of celebration if it weren’t for the generosity and benevolence of the Stewart Family Foundation … as well as our friends and partners in CU Boulder Student Government and the College of Media, Communication and Information,” said Berkeley, who was involved with 1190 as a student. “Thank you for believing in the power of student media.”

The next step for the station’s volunteers, like Juanita Hurtado, a junior majoring in journalism and the current news director, is to ensure students’ contributions help them stand out when they graduate and look for work.

“We want to make sure students develop not only the skills to earn them jobs, but also awards that prove to recruiters the quality of their work,” Hurtado said. ��

It’s a vision she shares with Armstrong. ��

“I have a very distinct goal—that when people see Radio 1190 on a resume, it will attract recruiters,” Armstrong said. “We do have some national distinctions already, but I want to get to the point where people get an interview or a callback because Radio 1190 has that recognition.”