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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

12 Days & No Mile High Sports Radio..

Mile High Sports Radio target day of a June 1st re-launch after 10 days off-air came and went.  Listeners, sponsors and the on-air talent are now on Day 12.  Fortunately some of the more well known on-air guys are toeing the company line and talking about a bigger and better Mile High Sports coming around, but the people that should be on the front of this should be President James Merilatt and Station Manager Josh Pennock.  Mile High Sports Radio should have a twice a day update and a social media account like Twitter should do the same.  We shouldn't have to wait for a host to respond back to "Where the hell is Mile High Sports?  It's June 1st and no info?!" 


I am assuming the following were the main issues heading into this transition that I am sure Mile High Sports is trying to work through:
  • Signal Strength: The old stations of 93.7 FM and 1510 AM were both average signals that took years to get up to snuff.  After not being able to stay at home there with a contract situation ending and no renegotiation, Mile High Sports had to switch to 94.1 FM and eventually add 1550 AM.  The station had issues from going down constantly to battling 94.1 FM-Boulder and the weak signals strengths across much of the Denver area where things would go from clear to scratchy noise just around a corner.  The station had fixed many of the scratchy signal issues that it had to deal with since its inception, only to once again have to change signals.  I am not sure about the reasoning whether it be contract ran out or what, but I assume no matter what they were seeking a better signal that they wouldn't have to try to improve through FCC compliance on a quarterly basis.  Which brings us to:
  • The FCC-The FCC doesn't just hand out violations but controls improvements and changes to what you tune in to your radio dial.  This is never a quick process and I am assuming paperwork and the back and forth they are dealing with is taking more time than they had hoped.  It's never easy to plan out what another company will do for you. 
Based off the responses from the on-air talent, it appears that they aren't sure exactly where they will be either and when they will get started, still waiting to get the go ahead.  Long time sponsors of many shows are probably having to eat money or question whether to support the on-air guys that depend on their sponsorship in order to pay for their air time.  Fans of the Colorado Rapids don't have their usually scheduled programming on Mile High Sports.  As a listener from the inception of Mile High Sports and a long-time fan of some of their longer running talent (Danny & Cello, Eric Goodman and occasionally the Geezer Power Hour) as well as some of the new guns, like Joe Morgan and Benjamin Allbright, I am solely trying to be a big voice for fellow listeners and voice our frustrations, while also trying to keep them in the loop.


Look, I totally appreciate what two guys from Northglenn High School have done in keeping a long running successful local sports magazine (celebrated 150 magazine covers this week) and radio station going through some lean years money wise and battling podcasts, satellite and the local music and sports scene.  They have been the voice of reason (Sorry Sandy Clough but Joe Williams was the initial voice of reason in town and is at MHS) and have changed the script that has become the monotonous, factless bore that D-Mac and Big Al have become as the staple of 104.3 The Fan and kept a bunch of talent on air unlike ESPN Denver with only two being displayed proudly on their website in Cecil Lammey and Nate Kreckman (though Drew Spevak and Raj Sharan are talented young voices as well).


They may have more local shows and talent that has gone to bigger and better things, but the two things Mile High Sports could learn from those two stations is how to keep their listeners informed and how to stay on-air.  We are all waiting to hear what's next Mile High Sports but right now we can't even find a clue on it.  So, quit messing with your loyal listeners, inform us all of what things you are dealing with and do so before they eventually take their listening pleasure elsewhere.

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