Bret Saunders is leaving KBCO 97.3 FM after nearly three decades on Denver’s airwaves, the radio DJ announced Wednesday, amid widespread layoffs by the station’s parent company.
“Thank you for 28+ years. I’ve loved every day with you, and being a small part of your lives has been my greatest honor and pleasure,” Saunders wrote in a post to his Facebook page. “I will miss the laughs, the countless people I’ve met, and being a part of the community.”
Saunders declined to comment on the reason for his departure, but in reflecting over the past three decades, said he hoped to find a way to continue working in the state.
“I don’t have anything lined up, but I love Colorado,” Saunders told The Colorado Sun. “I hope that I can figure out a way to stay in the place that I really love that truly is my home.”
KBCO parent company iHeartMedia did not immediately return a request for comment. However, reports indicate that the media corporation is in the process of a nationwide restructuring and layoffs to save $50 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“While we will be creating new roles to support our future needs, we also recognize that some colleagues and existing positions will be impacted as part of these changes,” executives told employees in a memo obtained by the magazine.
“We have given this a great deal of thought and do not take this step lightly; we are deeply grateful for the contributions of those affected, and we’re committed to supporting them through this transition.”
Saunders had anchored mornings at the “world class rock” station since the late 1990s. His “much too early for a question, question” segment was a staple during the morning rush-hour drive as was his “Stump the Sage” spot. Through the years, he sent thousands of lucky trivia-guessing Coloradans to concerts for free.
The early hours never seemed to bother him. So conditioned to the schedule — and so excited to get behind the microphone each morning — Saunders said he often didn’t even need an alarm clock.
“I am famous for saying that I think seven years have gone by without my alarm clock going off,” Saunders said. The trade-off for his 8:30 p.m. bedtime was missing plenty of concerts, shows and evening events. That was difficult at times, he said, but he always got to hear about them the next day.
“I could hardly wait to get into the studio every morning to just see what’s going on in the city and what we could comment on what people were thinking about and the whole music thing,” he said.
Since he began working at KBCO in the summer of 1997, he’s watched Denver’s music scene transform.
“We had Red Rocks, the Bluebird Theater and the Ogden, but now we just have venue after venue and it’s absolutely amazing. And I’m really proud to have been a part of that,” Saunders said.
His path to Colorado began long before he arrived. Growing up in Detroit, Saunders said he always dreamed of working in radio and somehow knew he would eventually call Colorado home.
He landed his first radio job while still in high school at a 10-watt station in Michigan and earned his broadcast license two years before he got his driver’s license.
“I loved the medium since I was a little boy and the funny thing is, growing up in Detroit, I always knew that I wanted to be here,” Saunders said. “I can’t even tell you why, but I always knew that I was going to live in Denver, Colorado, someday.”
Over the years, he got to talk with some of the biggest names in music, politics and entertainment. Among the most memorable conversations was Lou Reed, one of Saunders’ heroes and the late songwriter for the rock band The Velvet Underground, who stopped by the station in 2003 and spent several hours talking with him.
In 2008, while broadcasting from the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Saunders interviewed Barack Obama, though the conversation focused less on politics and more on their shared appreciation for jazz legends Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Comedian Norm Macdonald also left an impression, Saunders remembered, describing him as “really funny and very sweet and very strange.”
Nearly three decades later, that enthusiasm for radio hasn’t faded.
“I love the spontaneity of the work. I love the energy and the challenge of the work very, very much,” Saunders said. “Those are the things that made me want to keep doing it and I still do.”