Courtesy Fort Collins Coloradoan

(April 2, 2010) Local Fort Collins sports radio station KJMP has suspended its local programming because of a dispute with White Park Broadcasting, which owns its signal, one of the station’s owners said Thursday.

The station is continuing to broadcast ESPN national programming, co-owner Tony Davis said.

“There’s a dispute with regards to the lease agreement with the licensing, and we’re trying to rectify it,” Davis said.

Davis, a former University of Nebraska and NFL football player, co-owns the station with Mark Knudson, a former major-league baseball pitcher and Coloradoan sports columnist. They started broadcasting the Colorado Ice’s indoor football games last summer and added a local talk show from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Aug. 1, 2009, hosted by Davis alone at first and later bringing in actor John Ashton as a co-host.

Guests included Colorado State University and University of Northern Colorado coaches and athletes, local high school coaches, television and radio broadcasters and sports writers from local newspapers.

The station also broadcast local high school football and basketball games this past season, as well as UNC women’s basketball games.

Davis started the station in an effort to provide sports programming geared to the Northern Colorado region as an alternative to the many Denver-based sports talk shows.

Davis said KJMP suspended local programming Monday as a result of the dispute with the owner of the signal, who he would not identify for fear it would hinder the ongoing negotiations. A Federal Communications Commission database listed the owner of the signal as White Park Broadcasting of Bedford, N.H. A message left with White Park’s answering service just after 5 p.m. EDT was not returned.

“We’re in negotiations right now to resolve the issue,” Davis said.

KJMP has three full-time employees, Davis said.

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