The Denver Post's pop music critic, Ricardo Baca stopped by OpenAir to witness the backstage magic in the final days before our October 31st launch. He sat down with a few staff members to get the full story on Colorado Public Radio's new-music station.
With OpenAir, Colorado Public Radio puts its own spin on indie rock
Ricardo Baca
A funny thing is happening to Denver radio this week.
As terrestrial radio struggles with dwindling audiences, lagging advertiser interest and widespread layoffs, Colorado Public Radio is launching a new indie rock radio station — almost out of nowhere.
You heard right — there's a new public radio station in town. OpenAir will debut at 6 a.m. Monday on 1340 AM and online at openaircpr.org.
A full- time staff of five (soon to be six) will launch the station with mostly new music rarely heard in the metro area outside of Radio 1190 or KGNU.
It's a gutsy play by Colorado Public Radio, but based on the success of the nationally branded NPR Music and like-minded local stations KEXP in Seattle and the Current in Minneapolis, it's one CPR believes will pay off.
