After more than 21 years as a community fixture, “the oasis in the city” jazz station KUVO is growing up.
KUVO, along with public TV station KBDI Channel 12, recently took over the mortgage at the office building at 29th and Welton streets for $471,000, said Bill Lysaught, a spokesman in Denver’s Office of Economic Development. For decades, the two stations paid rent to the nonprofit Five Points Media Center Corp., which was formed to run the building’s finances.
Now, KUVO owns the second floor, about 30 percent of the 55,000-square-foot building; KBDI owns the first and third floors, or the rest of the building. The TV and radio stations are not affiliated other than by their proximity.
“We’re putting our roots down in the community,” said Michael Marez, new chairman of KUVO’s board of directors. “Now that we’re owners (we can) control our own destiny.”
The purchase is an important psychological turning point for the jazz, blues and world-beat station, which ran a deficit in recent years, Marez said.
But it hasn’t been easy. KUVO is now scrambling to “take it up a notch” with fundraising to keep up with changes in the industry, including the availability of new digital radio channels and more music and listeners going online, said Jeff Martinez, a KUVO board member.
“We have to raise more money to have the station meet the needs it has in the marketplace,” Martinez said. “The marketplace is too competitive, and people have too many options for their entertainment.”
With a 2007 budget of $1.3 million, KUVO has big plans, Martinez said. Listeners gave more than $600,000 to the station in 2006; the board wants to boost that number by 8 percent, or $50,000, he said. The station is also looking for more corporate donations and grants.
That will put things on a more solid financial footing for emergencies and future growth, Martinez said.
“The goal is to make sure we’re meeting our budget and putting money away for a rainy day. We’ve had a difficult time over the last few years doing both,” Martinez said.
“A pretty good year”
Some workers were laid off in 2005 and 2006 to meet budgetary constraints, said Carlos Lando, acting station manager. Station founder Florence Hernandez-Ramos left as general manager but continues to host the Sunday show Cancion Mexicana.
“We have had our ups and downs and bumps, but this year has been a pretty good year,” Lando said.
Hernandez-Ramos called the current period a “transition” and referred station questions to Marez and other board members.
“Literally and figuratively, Flo put KUVO on the dial and turned it into a viable station that today has thousands of loyal listener/members worldwide,” Marez said.
More local news
Competitor Colorado Public Radio – which operates classical music station KVOD-90.1 FM and KCFR-1340 AM in the metro area – also knows the difficulty of surviving on listener largesse. It has been successful in getting more listeners by adding more local news, including the popular “Colorado Matters” program, said Erica Stull, vice president of community outreach. KCFR also runs numerous National Public Radio programs. KUVO airs NPR national news at the top of the hour.
“We’ve done pretty well. We’re not relying on one place for support,” Stull said. “(KUVO) is jazz, and we’re classical music and news. There’s enough room for all.”
Owning the building should boost KUVO’s fundraising credibility, Lysaught said. “We’re so pleased that they now own it. They have a tremendous amount of equity to show to contributors,” he added.
Neighboring KBDI is also confident that KUVO can grow and prosper, said station president Wick Rowland.
“They’re a great little station and I really hope they’re going to be able to weather this and get through it,” Rowland said, referring to the financial situation. “We are continuing to work with them, regardless, and we’re delighted and excited to have this building as our asset.”
