The Man Who Would Be King of Taos Radio

DMC Broadcasting owner Darren Cordova. Photo by Rick Romancito


Technology is an amazing thing. In its unassuming offices along Camino de la Merced, behind Wal-Mart, DMC Broadcasting is in the enviable position of operating four radio stations for Taos listeners.

That’s right — four.

Collectively, they target with spot-on accuracy niches that almost guarantee a loyal listenership for each. Two already have a proven track record — even amid a slight rearrangement of call letters and frequencies.

Its KKIT-FM (“The Mountain”), now at 95.9 on the dial, soaks up listeners who crave adult contemporary rock of the 1970s through to the present. Hitting the wide open Hispano music and language market is the highly popular KXMT-FM 99.1 (“Radio Exitos”), which features regional and international Spanish music along with local news, commentary and information.

Joining them on the airwaves is the new KKTC at 100.7 Taos and 99.9 Angel Fire, which features “the best in true country music,” and the sure-to-be-controversial KVOT-AM 1340 (“The Voice of Taos”), which broadcasts a feed from Air America, liberal talk radio’s answer to the Rush Limbaughs of the airwaves.

The feat of having these four stations operating from one place in Taos was celebrated in an invitation-only ceremony held Nov. 11, 2005, during which members of the Taos County Chamber of Commerce and the Taos Hispano Chamber of Commerce jointly cut a ribbon inaugurating owner Darren Córdova’s ambitious new venture.

Asked if owning Federal Communications Commission licenses for four stations was part of a grand scheme, Córdova said, “I only wanted one radio station. Because I was very passionate about serving the Hispanic community (with KXMT). I felt there was a voice. How I ended up with four is beyond me (laughs). It happened and before you know it I’m like ‘Wait a minute, I own four radio station licenses here.’ ”

Córdova, also a popular local musician, said he “really didn’t have a choice,” because when the FCC put certain frequencies up for auction a lot of big name corporate entities started looking at how they could expand their dominance into this market. “I saw a lot of these outside people coming in,” he said. “I knew they were really going to target my advertisers and, rather than losing it out the backdoor and not getting it, I put a business plan together and convinced our banks to look at it as a kind of stability type of thing, because I really don’t think the FCC will ever grant another license available to Taos, because there’s already five.”

There is another aspect to the choice of demographics Córdova has targeted with each of these stations, which may not be readily apparent. Each happens to focus on a specific area of interest that, very closely in theory at least, favorably blankets a wide segment of voters that any politician might envy if he or she was in the same position to influence.

Córdova, of course, explains this as nothing but business. He says he is only providing what Taos listeners want. KTAO-FM 101.9 is Córdova’s only serious competitor now that he’s dealt a blow to Albuquerque stations by stealing their thunder. Even then, Córdova claims he isn’t competing with “K-Taos,” because he says KTAO owner Brad Hockmeyer “has his niche and he does it well.”

Putting an even more interesting spin to this is Córdova’s political aspirations. Although a previous run for the Taos Town Council ended in defeat, Córdova more than hinted during an interview Wednesday (Nov. 2) that he is planning to take another shot at it. And this time, he may have a better chance. In theory.
Key to this notion is his choice to include Air America in his lineup, something, which is considered both refreshing to liberal listeners fed up with conservatives crowding the talk radio landscape and puzzling given Córdova’s past stance regarding anti-Bush administration protest in Taos.

His KXMT personalities joined the conservative outcry last March over a planned toppling of an effigy of part-time Taos resident United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Many conservatives in the community felt that the protest would dishonor a monument on the plaza dedicated to war veterans. Not surprisingly, this position has helped solidify a listener base of staunchly pro-traditional Taoseño supporters who look to DMC to give their side of the story.

“I want to make it clear to the community that I’m very concerned with local issues, government issues, along with global and national issues,” he said. “I know that we did have some issues with the protesting and the stance that we took, but I really felt that there’s a big voice in the Democratic liberal left, and there’s a lot that I believe in that too. I think the issue at hand (regarding the effigy) got kind of out of hand by the radicals on both sides, and we were like ‘What’s going on?’ But, I know, sometimes people have said ‘Well, Darren doesn’t like the protesters.’ And, I say, ‘I do, I actually respect a lot of the words that they said because it involves the truth.”

For now, Córdova is like the man who would be king of the Taos airwaves, and that’s a good thing if you take into account what an amazing feat it really is. As Córdova likes to say, “I’m a great communicator,” and having accomplished so much is quite a testament.