Public media in Colorado are hoping to find strength in numbers.

Rocky Mountain PBS on Tuesday signed a merger agreement with the investigative reporting service I-News and with public radio station KUVO (89.3 FM), designed to “redefine public media” in Colorado, RMPBS president and CEO Doug Price said.

The three organizations will share newsgathering and other resources.

While the state’s largest public TV entity had previous partnerships with KUVO and I-News, this merger formalizes the relationship and extends the reach of each across TV, radio and online platforms.

For the public, the result is expected to be three to five deeply researched journalism projects a year, Price said. An example is the “Losing Ground” study of Colorado’s black and Latino residents, which will be released Sunday.

For the I-News Network, the merger means a ready infrastructure at RMPBS so the reporting team can focus on journalism, rather than the business model, said I-News executive director Laura Frank.

For jazz, blues, news station KUVO, the merger means access to the business acumen of RMPBS, already evident in clearing hurdles to technical improvements for the station, and stability in an uncertain era for terrestrial radio. Conventional tune-in radio has lost audience to satellite and Internet radio, as well as MP3s and iPods.

For RMPBS, the deal provides access via KUVO to the growing Latino audience, and a weightier newsroom with the five I-News staffers.

The deal makes RMPBS “the fastest growing public media operation in the country,” Price said. The membership of RMPBS has grown from 47,000 in 2010 to 63,000 now and, counting KUVO’s numbers, will reach 70,000 post-merger.

Representatives from other public radio and TV stations have been watching closely as the plan has taken shape over the last year, Price said.

“Ubiquity matters” in the new media age, Price said. The ability to present content across print, TV, radio, online, e-books and town hall platforms allows the merged group to meet the needs of modern media consumers.

The ambitious plan is rooted in last summer’s $1.3 million Gill Foundation gift of the Gill building in Colorado Springs to RMPBS. The building, known as the Tim Gill Center for Public Media, is home to more than 20 small southern Colorado media groups, including college and community radio stations.

It’s possible Colorado’s other famously independent public media outlets – CPT12 (KBDI-Channel 12 in Denver) and Colorado Public Radio (KCFR in Denver) – eventually could join the partnership. As the long-rancorous history of the competing entities testifies, that may not be easy.

Still, “the collaborative spirit has increased,” Price said, as each faces financial pressure.

“There have been conversations, but there are no explicit plans for moving forward,” CPT12’s president and CEO Wick Rowland said. “There’s some real potential for good.”

As the media nationally struggle to adapt and endure downsizing, the merger will result in added jobs rather than layoffs, Price said.

Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp