Denver’s Most Popular Radio Stations

Over the course of 2025, Denver radio ratings have been on the move. The latest audience survey shows that Christmas remains king on the local airwaves at this time of year, but the results as a whole have proven to be much more fluid.

The Nielsen ratings service tracks numbers for radio outlets in the U.S., including Denver, the nation’s eighteenth-largest market based on a population estimate of 2,853,400, with 174,300 of those residents identified as Black and 602,600 classified as Hispanic (the company lists no other demographic categories). All three sums are up substantially since 2023, but remain unchanged from January 2025.

As for listenership data, Nielsen only shares one number publicly: total listeners aged six and older who tune in to local stations from 6 a.m. to midnight.

By that measure, the ratings winner in November 2025, the most recent month for which figures are available, was KOSI, the Mile High City’s longtime adult-contemporary kingpin. But that dominance carries an asterisk: For the 24th consecutive year, the station switched to an all-Yuletide-favorites playlist well before Thanksgiving. (This year’s flip took place at 5 p.m. on November 13.) This move boosts listenership figures thanks to businesses that put the channel on lock throughout holiday shopping season.

KOSI’s listenership supremacy, which duplicates its performance during the previous holiday season, is no surprise. But the rest of the latest top ten proved to be far less predictable.

Classic rocking KRFX/The Fox landed in the second slot circa November, an enormous leap from eleventh place in December 2024. KQMT/The Mountain, the Fox’s main competitor when it comes to old-school rock, experienced a similar boost, moving up from seventh to third. Other legacy stations slid down the roster over the previous eleven months, including KALC/Alice (third to fifth) and KXKL/KOOL 105 (second to eighth). But the most precipitous tumble was experienced by KCFR, the flagship station of Colorado Public Radio. Last December, it had the fifth-highest ratings. By this November, it wound up eighteenth.

The biggest changes at major Denver stations of late have involved KOA and KHOW, a pair of news/talkers in the portfolio of iHeart, the largest owner of radio broadcasters in America. In November, KOA replaced the vast majority of its venerable Colorado Morning News program with an opinion-based show helmed by Ross Kaminsky; the station then convinced veteran yapper Michael Brown to move from KHOW to KOA to fill Kaminsky’s previous time period. It’s too soon to tell how this pivot will affect the sibling stations, but KOA remains in tenth place, the same position as last December, thanks largely to bumps from Denver Broncos gamecasts. As for KHOW, the stats are contradictory: It dipped from 24th to 25th place even as its ratings share increased just barely.

General Nielsen data and other market research indicate that radio remains a viable communications medium. An October 2024 report from Westwood One contends that “over the last five years, AM/FM radio has overtaken linear TV in ratings. As of 2023, AM/FM radio’s 18-49 ratings were 12 percent greater than TV. Among 25-54s, the gap between TV and AM/FM radio ratings has been steadily closing. Based on TV and AM/FM radio audience forecasts, 2025 will see AM/FM radio overtake TV in the all-important 25-54 demographic by 13 percent and widen its ratings lead over TV among 18-49s by 47 percent.”

Audience measurements are expressed as shares, which translate to the percentage of people listening to the radio in the market at a given time. Other key metrics include the unique number of listeners, time spent listening and average quarter-hour share. Westword has compiled the Nielsen ratings for Denver in November, ranked from largest to smallest share of listeners. (Note that some stations are also represented by HD and AM sister signals. The rundown is followed by Nielsen’s definitions of key radio terms.)

Denver Radio Nielsen Ratings

1. KOSI-FM (101.10)
Format: Adult Contemporary
Owner: Bonneville International
November 2025 ratings share: 6.9

2. KRFX-FM The Fox (103.5)
Format: Classic Rock
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 5.7

3. KQMT-FM The Mountain (99.5)
Format: Classic Rock
Owner: Audacy
November 2025 ratings share: 5.5

4. KYGO-FM (98.5)
Format: Country
Owner: Bonneville International
November 2025 ratings share: 5.4

5. KALC-FM Alice (105.9)
Format: Adult Contemporary
Owner: Audacy
November 2025 ratings share: 5.0

6. KTCL-FM (93.3)
Format: Alternative
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 4.8

7. KKFN-FM The Fan (104.3)
Format: All Sports
Owner: Bonneville International
November 2025 ratings share: 4.6

8. KXKL-FM KOOL 105 (105.1)
Format: Classic Hits
Owner: KSE Radio Ventures
November 2025 ratings share: 4.5

9. KBCO-FM (97.3)
Format: Alternative
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 4.1

10. KOA-AM (850)
Format: News/Talk
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 4.0

11. KQKS-FM (KS 107.5)
Format: Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio
Owner: Audacy
November 2025 ratings share: 3.8

12. KDHT-FM (95.7)
Format: Contemporary Hits Radio
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 3.6

13. KXPK-FM La Tricolor (96.5)
Format: Regional Mexican
Owner: Entravision
November 2025 ratings share: 3.5

14. KKSE-FM Altitude (92.5)
Format: All Sports
Owner: KSE Radio Ventures
November 2025 ratings share: 3.4

15. KIMN-FM Mix 100 (100.3)
Format: Hot AC
Owner: KSE Radio Ventures
November 2025 ratings share: 3.2

16. KLDV-FM K-LOVE (91.1)
Format: Christian
Owner: CHR Educational Media Foundation
November 2025 ratings share: 3.1

17. KWBL-FM The Bull (106.7)
Format: Country
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 3.1

18. KCFR-FM Colorado Public Radio (90.1)
Format: News/Talk
Owner: Public Broadcasting of Colorado
November 2025 ratings share: 3.0

19. KBPI-FM (107.9)
Format: Rock
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 1.8

20. KJMN-FM José (92.1)
Format: Adult Hits
Owner: Entravision
November 2025 ratings share: 1.8

21. KUVO-FM (89.3)
Format: Jazz
Owner: Rocky Mountain Public Media
November 2025 ratings share: 1.7

22. KVOQ-FM (102.3)
Format: Alternative
Owner: Public Broadcasting of Colorado
November 2025 ratings share: 1.6

23. KVOD-FM (88.1)
Format: Classical
Owner: Public Broadcasting of Colorado
November 2025 ratings share: 1.5

24. KDFD-AM Freedom (93.7)
Format: News/Talk
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2023 ratings share: 1.3

25. KHOW-AM (630)
Format: News/Talk
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 1.2

26. KJAC-FM The Colorado Sound (105.5)
Format: Alternative
Owner: Community Radio For Northern Colorado
November 2025 ratings share: 1.5

27. KQKS-FM-HD2 (103.1)
Format: Comedy
Owner: Audacy
November 2025 ratings share: 0.8

28. KUNC-FM Northern Colorado (91.5)
Format: News/Talk
Owner: Community Radio for Northern Colorado
November 2025 ratings share: 0.5

29. KUVO-FM-HD2 (104.7)
Format: Urban
Owner: Rocky Mountain Public Media
November 2025 ratings share: 0.4

30. KKSE-AM Altitude (950)
Format: All Sports
Owner: KSE Radio Ventures
November 2025 ratings share: 0.3

31. KQMT-FM-STR
Format: Classic Rock
Owner: Audacy
November 2025 ratings share: 0.1

32. KTCL-FM-HD2
Format: Alternative
Owner: iHeartMedia
November 2025 ratings share: 0.1

33: KYGO-FM-HD2
Format: Classic Country
Owner: Bonneville International
November 2025 ratings share: 0.1

34. KEPN-AM ESPN Denver (1600)
Format: All Sports
Owner: Bonneville International
November 2025 ratings share: N/A

35. KRCC-FM Southern Colorado (91.5)
Format: Public Radio
Owner: Colorado College
November 2025 ratings share: N/A

36. KXDP-LP
Format: Regional Mexican
Owner: Syncom Media
November 2025 ratings share: N/A