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Altitude Enters The Denver Sports Radio Picture

Jason Barrett

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The worst kept secret in Denver sports radio circles is finally out of the bag! A fifth sports radio station is entering the mix.

KSE Media Ventures, which is owned by Rams, Nuggets and Avalanche Owner Stan Kroenke, is diving in, and doing so with an impressive array of local talent and play-by-play.

Before we get into the specifics of the lineup which were first reported by BSN Denver, let’s take a look back at what’s transpired over the past year to bring us to where we are.

In 2015, the Denver market featured a number of sports talk stations. 104.3 The Fan led the pack, but 105.5 ESPN and Mile High Sports Radio 1340AM were also operating the format with local talent, and 1600AM was on the air and carrying national programming from Fox Sports Radio.

By years end, 105.5 ESPN ceased operations, leaving 104.3 The Fan, Mile High, and 1600 as the market’s remaining sports radio brands.

The Fan which consistently led the ratings race, was then sold by its owner Lincoln Financial to Entercom Communications who then spun it off to Bonneville as part of an exchange which helped them gain entry into the Los Angeles market. Entercom also acquired 950AM (KRWZ), which previously served as home to The Fan before the brand moved on to the FM dial in 2008, and sold the AM radio station to KSE Media Ventures, a group owned by Rams, Nuggets and Avalanche Owner Stan Kroenke.

Still with me?

After seizing control of 104.3 The Fan’s day to day operations, Bonneville made a number of big changes. They parted ways with Program Director Nate Lundy and cut ties with on-air hosts Vic Lombardi, Scott Hastings, and Joel Dreesen. The station replaced Lundy with Armen Williams, and ESPN NFL Analyst and former Bronco Mark Schlereth joined Mike Evans in mornings, filling the void left behind from Lombardi and Dreesen’s departures.

The Fan also acquired the ESPN Radio affiliation after 105.5 folded, and turned KEPN 1600AM into ESPN Denver. They’ve since made a few additional weekday lineup changes but we’ll touch on that later in this story.

As 2016 began, iHeart made the decision to flip 760AM to sports. Broncos play by play man Dave Logan, Susan Wargin, Andy Lindahl, and Ed McCaffrey were hired as local talent, market veteran Brandon Krisztal joined the station as Executive Producer, and the remainder of the lineup was filled by Fox Sports Radio’s programs. It appeared that 760 would become The Fan’s main competition.

But then news of a potential fifth sports station began to trickle out. KSE which had purchased a few music stations from Wilks Broadcasting and the 950AM signal from Entercom, was rumored to be exploring a move into the sports format. The only questions were, when would they launch and would there be an AM/FM simulcast or would it strictly be built on the AM dial.

KSE, which also owns and operates the television company Altitude Sports, started having discussions with talent inside and outside of the market about potential on-air opportunities. Job postings went up on All Access and every source I spoke with said the company was targeting a late-March or early-April launch.

Now we’ve learned today through BSN’s report, that the station plans to go LIVE on Friday April 8th, which is the day of the Colorado Rockies home opener.

The move into the sports format for Altitude makes sense on a number of fronts.

First, KSE controls the radio rights of the Avalanche and Nuggets and can use those two brands to drive listening to the radio station’s programming. That should help with attracting advertisers and marketing the new station inside the Pepsi Center. The company also has the option of promoting the sports talker on their other three local radio stations should they choose to do so.

Secondly, to launch a station you need good local on-air talent. Given that there were a ton of radio free agents available due to changes at The Fan and the termination of 105.5 ESPN, plus popular local television personalities were also out there for consideration, that presented an opportunity for KSE to come out of the gate with a strong local lineup.

Weeks ago I was told that Ryan Spilborghs, who spent 7 seasons with the Rockies, and works as a television analyst for Root Sports, was going to be a part of the morning show. That plan though has since changed.

Per BSN’s report, Spilborghs is out of the picture, and the morning show will launch with Tom Helmer, formerly of CBS 4 and Root Sports. No word yet on who his co-host will be. Middays will feature former Fan personality and current Altitude TV host, Vic Lombardi alongside Kyle Keefe, also of Altitude’s TV channel. Wrapping things up in afternoons will be Nate Kreckman and Tom Nalen. The two men previously teamed up on 105.5 ESPN, and also worked part time at The Fan.

If other needs exist, the station still has other local options they can explore. Scott Hastings and Joel Dreesen remain available, plus with The Fan stabilizing their midday shows recently with the additions of Cecil Lammey, and Brandon Stokley, personalities such as Shawn Drotar, Ryan Edwards, James Gomez, and Josh Dover could also be explored, assuming The Fan doesn’t find a way to utilize them in the future.

To program the radio station, Altitude has called upon James Merilatt, who has been involved with running Mile High Sports Radio AM 1340. In addition to assembling the weekday lineup and offering Avalanche and Nuggets games, Merilatt is expected to add some brokered programs to help the company’s bottom line.

What will be interesting to watch in the future is whether or not KSE looks to bring in Nate Lundy, the Fan’s former Program Director, in some capacity. Lundy still lives in Denver, maintains relationships with a number of local talent, and has had success in the market, both as a programmer and on-air talent. That would seem to make him an attractive candidate for a company that is brand new to the space and looking to make a splash.

Meanwhile, the brand is expected to be positioned as “Altitude Radio AM950”. Numerous sources have told me that CBS Sports Radio will be the network affiliate. That fits since ESPN airs 24/7 on 1600AM and overnight on The Fan, 760 partners with Fox Sports Radio, and Yahoo Sports Radio runs overnights on Mile High’s 1340AM.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past twelve months, it’s that when it comes to Denver sports radio, there’s never a dull moment. The Fan remains the market’s top rated brand and with their recent additions they’re well positioned to handle a competitive battle. However, based on the news, it’s clear that Altitude is ready to take their shot and give The Fan a run for their money.

Let the games begin and may the best sports station emerge victorious.

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Jason Puckett Launches PuckSports.com

“I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

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Logo for PuckSports.com

Jason Puckett, who decided to walk away from a contract offer from iHeartMedia’s KJR in Seattle after finding out his partner Jim Moore had been laid off, has launched a new venture – PuckSports.com. ‘Puck’ has a baseball opening day show posted on the Puck Sports YouTube page and also posted an introductory message about his new venture and what led to creating it.

“I wanted to talk to you guys, the listeners out there, the viewers out there, sorry for all of this,” an emotional Puckett said. “Sorry for what has happened and what has taken place. Thank you for all of the comments and the well-wishes and what you have said about myself and Jim.

“It has been a whirlwind of a last few days, for sure and I do want to say that I feel for the people that we used to work with. “I know it’s not easy to go through that, I have been on that side of it many, many times in this industry when someone is let go and you have to sit there and answer all the questions about them and for them…It’s unfortunate and it shouldn’t be that way, but the reality of this business is it’s like that.”

Puckett then told his fans that PuckSports.com and YouTube are where you will be finding his content along with Moore. “I am going to take what I have learned over the years and apply it to a new age of media,” he said and noted this was a direction he had been thinking about for a while.

As for what took place that led to his decision to not sign his contract and talk away, he said, “I just want to take you briefly back to last week. I don’t want to get too much in the weeds, I’m not here to lay any blame or point any fingers at anybody…there’s too many good people that I have worked with that I don’t want to drag into this. It was a process that was at times handled fine, handled perfectly, and at other times it got to a point where it just went on too long. But that’s corporate media and that’s what happens.”

Continuing on Puckett said, “…I had been without a contract since about January…when I was away from the station that was something that we and the station agreed upon…to see if we could get something done and we were all hopeful that we would…I was only supposed to be gone a couple of days…unfortunately as these things sometimes happen, it just went a little bit longer…We received the deal and it was what we wanted, but unfortunately with that news a few hours later came the news from corporate that Jim had lost his job. Obviously there was a mix of emotions with that from me.

“I wrestled with that and the decision and what I would do. It was hard for me to move forward…I couldn’t fight the perception more than anything that I had received a new deal while at the same time, my partner and good friend, guy I love to death, who I grew up reading…it was a hard reality…The loyalty I have, I couldn’t live with myself even though Jim knew what the truth was.”

Puckett said he was aware Moore was planning to step away from the radio show at the end of the year and was looking forward to the nine months they would have left to work with one another. Then, when iHeartMedia made the decision to make Moore a casualty of their latest round of layoffs, Puckett knew he needed to revisit the idea of starting his own venture.

He said, “It has kind of changed my timeline as far as what I wanted to do and where I felt I was at…I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

Puckett said several of the show’s regular guests would stay with the show and he thanked several sponsors who he said would remain supporters of the show with the new venture. ‘Puck’ noted that starting next week, “…We get underway in full force…I’m going to continue to try and make people laugh and entertain you and talk about sports…and all of the other things you have become accustomed to with this show.”

As he started to wrap up, Puckett said, “I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool and I am going to see if I can swim or sink.”

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Kirk Minihane: WEEI is “Going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in Afternoons”

“It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful.”

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Photos of Kirk Minihane and Rich Shertenlieb

As the speculation continues on where Boston sports talker Rich Shertenlieb will end up, one former WEEI host said he has the scoop on what is going to happen. Kirk Minihane, now with Barstool Sports, said, “What I heard was, initially, was they were moving Rich Keefe from nights to middays, moving Adam Jones from afternoons to middays and keeping Fauria there, and moving Andy Gresh to afternoons…But now it appears Rich Shertenlieb is going to do afternoons with Andy Gresh.”

On Wednesday, Boston Globe sports and sports media columnist Chad Finn put out a post on X, saying, “Didn’t think Rich Shertenlieb would end up at WEEI after leaving Sports Hub. I do now, most likely in afternoon drive. Audacy management has been telling people to expect changes.”

Minihane continued commenting on the matter, saying, “It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful. Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin…we haven’t done that in a while, we are going to take that show down…Once that show starts, we are just going to blitz them with phone calls because Gresh can’t handle that.

“What they don’t understand, because they are so dumb, is that…Rich Shertenlieb has no fan base…no fan of [Toucher and Hardy] in the morning is going to be like ‘I’m not going to listen to Felger in the afternoons, I’ll now listen to Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb.’ It’s going to be dreadful.”

Recapping what he has heard the rest of the WEEI lineup will be, Minihane said, “…And then in middays you have Adam Jones, failed afternoons. Rich Keefe who has now failed middays, drivetime, nights and is now going to fail again in middays… and Christian Fauria who has never drawn a rating in his life.”

WEEI has not commented on any of the speculation. BSM will have more as the story unfolds.

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Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

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Photo of Tommy Williams
Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was heard for a decade on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

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