Colorado Public Radio will expand its news coverage and broadcast coverage with the addition of a pair of signals that extend its service into Colorado Springs.
CPR bought 1490 AM and an FM translator in Manitou Springs, Colo., for $550,000 from Latino Communications last month. The stations will carry CPR’s news service.
Sean Nethery, VP of programming, told the Denver Post that CPR reaches 90 percent of the population of Colorado. This move helps the station get closer to its goal of “fulfilling our promise of being a statewide network.” CPR’s headquarters are in Centennial, a city that’s part of the Denver metro area.
In addition to the signal buy, CPR will hire two reporters, one to be based in Colorado Springs and the other in Grand Junction. These two positions are the first news staffers to be based outside CPR headquarters.
CPR is hiring three additional news staff — an investigative reporter, a digital producer and a curation editor — to work from the newsroom at its headquarters in Centennial.
Once all the new positions are filled, CPR will have 30 staffers on its news team.
“Adding these positions will enable CPR News to produce more Colorado-focused news,” Nethery said in a press release. “This will include providing local perspectives on the most important issues facing the state, giving Coloradans context and insight into what’s happening all across Colorado, not just in the Denver-metro area.”
With the expansion into Colorado Springs, CPR will be in competition with KRCC, which airs a mix of news and music programming.
The deal is pending FCC approval.
CPR isn’t the only Colorado public media organization bolstering its newsroom. Rocky Mountain PBS has been increasing statewide news coverage with its RMPBS News venture.