Colorado Radio Station K-HIGH Is All Pot Talk, All The Time
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) -- Looking to capitalize on legalized marijuana in the state, a Colorado radio station promises all pot talk, all the time.
Colorado Springs radio station K-HIGH 1580 is a radio station for cannabis-centric conversations throughout the day. The station features a morning program dubbed "Wake 'N Bake," followed by a midday show, "High Noon," and an afternoon rush hour program called "High Drive at Five."
K-HIGH describes the station on its website as "The first publicly-licensed radio station entirely devoted to the education and entertainment factors of marijuana 24 hours a day."
K-HIGH was a Fox Sports affiliate, but its station owners pushed to try something different after failing to gather a larger audience with the sports format. Self-described conservative Republican owner Mike Knar explained his embrace of pot talk radio to CBS News. He was among several at the station who decided to capitalize on the growing popularity of marijuana after the state legalized recreational use last January.
"If you were to ask me about pot a year ago, or a couple years ago, I probably would have been like 'no way, no how, nowhere,'" Knar told CBS News.
But after his son started having violent reactions to chemotherapy during his treatment for leukemia , doctors recommended the boy use medicinal marijuana – and Knar had a change of heart about marijuana usage.
"I'm talking within 12 hours this kid was stopped," said Knar.
He dumped sports talk for pot talk and ad revenue from legal pot shops "has been amazing," according to Knar. "We probably in the last 30 days have done what this station did in the last 12 months."
And while smoking marijuana may get you fired elsewhere, pot is promoted at K-HIGH's studios.
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Asked if he is high in the studio, joint jock 'Bubba Kushman,' responded, "Oh, yeah. I smoke pretty much throughout the day… while stoned I can carry on a decent and intelligent conversation. I don't know can you repeat the question – short term memory-loss that's a side effect."
Kushman, who describes himself as a "functional stoner," explained that he welcomes all guests to call in or speak on his Wake 'N Bake show.
"Anybody and everybody who is for or against the legalization of marijuana. I welcome the naysayers," said Kushman.
Conversing in all things cannabis, the station's program director says there is plenty of pot talk to pass around.
"A lot of us went into it with a little bit of apprehension that first day," said Len Williams, K-HIGH's program director. "But after it was explained and after we saw some of the positives benefits from it, we thought 'we're going to take the keys to this Ferrari and we're going to rev it up.'"
"Within a month we had 110,000 hits on the website alone," he said of the new online format for the station.
"Some people think: It's marijuana, so there's not a lot to talk about. But if you think that, all I can say is, you deprived child, you," Williams told Westword. "We can go from legalization in our state to legalization in other states, stuff from magazines like High Times and a lot more. It's our goal to let the masses know it's okay to talk about these things in public. You can have intelligent conversations about it — and at other times, you can sit back and laugh. We want to bring all facets to it."
