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Aspen entrepreneur enters the Glenwood Springs radio market

John ColsonGlenwood Springs correspondentAspen, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS – The radio market here just got a little hotter, with the purchase of three local stations by entrepreneur Marcos Rodriguez of Aspen.Rodriguez, who owns stations KUUR-FM and KSNO-FM in Aspen, has signed purchase agreements for the stations known as The Moose, The Vault and Magic – which air on frequencies 93.9 FM, 96.3 FM and 102.3 FM in Glenwood Springs.The stations, Rodriguez said, were owned by former Pitkin County engineer John Dady, and have been carrying piped-in “simulcast” music from a parent company in Grand Junction, offering country, rock and “dance and rap” styles of music.But Rodriguez reportedly is planning to staff the three stations locally and have them operate as independent outlets.”I’m so pleased to be able to serve Glenwood Springs advertisers by developing radio stations that will be run by people who live here,” said Rodriguez in a prepared statement. He is founder & CEO of the parent company, Colorado Marketing LLC, behind the purchases.Rodriguez said he is now developing the formats for the three stations, and hopes to launch the first early in the new year, perhaps in February.Among the changes Rodriguez is planning will be local news and information programming, he said.He said the new stations will broadcast over the KUUR transmitter tower on Sunlight Mountain, which can broadcast both digital and analog signals.”It will be popular music,” Rodriguez explained. “We’re not going to reinvent radio in the valley.”In the meantime, he said, the stations will continue to broadcast piped-in programming.Marianne Virgilli, president of the Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce, commented in the prepared statement, “I’m delighted to hear of this new business venture for Glenwood Springs, and that these radio stations will be providing local employment in a creative field is particularly welcome since we have so many arts minded people in our community.”Rodriguez, 51, said he was born in Cuba, where his father was manager of a radio station in 1959, the year Fidel Castro took over the country.Fleeing to Miami, the family ultimately ended up in Texas, where the elder Rodriguez went to work at a Spanish-language station and ultimately bought the business.Marcos Rodriguez worked at his father’s station, he said, and used it as leverage to embark on a career of buying and selling stations “until I made enough money to move to Aspen.”Besides the media outlets, Rodriguez owns TV Aspen (Channel 19) and four Aspen real estate brokerages.He is married with four children.jcolson@postindependent.com