CSU-Pueblo Celebrates 20 years of The Revolution this weekend

While KTSC-FM received its license to broadcast from the Federal Communications Commission in October of 1970, on July 4, 1995, KTSC listeners woke up to “The Revolution, Rev 89,” Southeastern Colorado’s first modern rock station This was the first time in its 25-year history that the station had an actual name, rather than being known by its call letters and frequency. 

KTSC 89.5 has seen a variety of changes in formats, branding, logos and slogans. During its inception, the station served as a sterile media lab that had an eclectic mix of block programming cumulating in a combination of blues, rock, jazz and classical music. The 80’s added artists like The Cure,  Metallica, and Public Enemy to the mix exposing Southern Colorado to Alternative, Metal, and Hip-Hop for the first time. By 1992, listeners were hearing U2, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Nirvana every hour - KTSC was beginning to evolve into one of the best rock stations. The alternative rock mix was warmly received both by students and the Pueblo community. Within six short months, the station was reaching over 12,000 audience members in a city of just over 120,000.

During the mid-90’s, Rev 89 was instrumental in breaking out the careers of several new artists. Before the inception of music videos, before the tour, dozens of modern rockers including Blink 182, Weezer, and Beck got their start in Southern Colorado on Rev 89.  

As The Revolution, the station has received a number of awards, including being crowned first place in the Best of Radio and Radio Excellence categories from the Rocky Mountain College Media Association in 1998 and again in 2002. Most recently, the Broadcast Education Association selected Rev 89 as being the best out of 471 college radio stations and named it the Signature Radio station for 2014. Station students and staff have also been nominated and received awards from the Southern Colorado Press Club.