While we and Mile High Sports Radio deal with this lent, the extended delay is for a multitude of reasons, and rather than keeping their studio talent in limbo, they wanted to give them a set date. It is nice to hear this instead of the it could be any day now stuff that was being reported after June 1st came and went. It was reported to be that many on-air talent got calls the night before or the day of the station being off-air on May 21st and had waited to hear anything until a follow up e-mail on May 29th saying they were waiting on an impending FCC approval and thus showing that the June 1st date was not going to be hit. They remained in limbo until the e-mail that was sent out last night, June 4, 2015. In that e-mail the Mile High Sports Radio team was provided with the following information:
-Re-launch Date is set to be Monday June 29th to ensure everything is set up and there is not another snafu of saying next week or anytime or soon
-Signal will be AM1340 until an FM translator is given FFC approval and can be put on-air. The station president spins it as follows:
"In nine of the top-20 markets, the highest-rated all sports radio station is on AM, so the short time when we are on AM-only shouldn't be an issue. The fact that we will be on a consistent signal, one that is heard equally well in all part of town, will be a huge step for MHSR. And the addition of the FM in the coming weeks will provide us with another boost."
(NOTE: I look at this as polishing a turd. Many of those areas probably don't have two other local sports radio stations. After listening to Mile High Sports on AM1510 or 93.7 FM, I always chose the FM signal. It was cleaner, it had a better sound quality. I tuned into 1340 AM this morning and just shook my head at the sound quality of it. While the signal was strong both up north near 104th and Highway 2 and down south near Cherry Creek, it was not the sound quality radio listeners have come to expect. That FM signal is going to have to come quickly for me to stay tuned in long.)
-The off-air time will allow them a makeover of the station from interior changes to make the on-air talent more comfortable to the mass public from makeover of the things listeners and sponsors will hear and see over the airs and on their website
I have to agree with the statement made in the e-mail, "While there is never a good time to be off the air, June is certainly the easiest month to miss; it's the slowest time on the local sports calendar." However, I look to changes that 105.5 FM ESPN Denver made from moving from 87.7 FM years ago to 102.3 FM to then fully 105.5 FM ESPN and the change from all AM that The Fan made of 950 AM to 104.3 FM years ago where they provided you adequate on-air time to let you know of these changes and updated their websites and let you know for days or even weeks of the switch. Heck, I remember a full week of hearing 950 AM play that they had switched to 104.3 The Fan. Similar changes for 106.7 KBPI from 105.9 and KS107.5 from KS104.3 are other transitions I remember growing up that you were informed and this was before you were able to give a ton of information online about it since the internet wasn't in the palm of your hand for those latter moves. So I take umbrage with the idea any time off-air is smart business and acceptable for listeners and that instead of making a transition and giving fans notice on-air, you just go silent and people are completely left in the dark. The fact MHSR has social media and a website that people can go to in order to get the information they need and they have not kept listeners update is weak, bush-league or whatever other negative connotation you may want to use for not getting information out. Today's modern radio game is an even bigger battle to stay on-air and relevant with podcasts, music streams, phones being used as music player, satellite radio, online streaming and many other options and to go silent is a good way to lose out to someone/something else and potentially die off.
Additional frustration comes from this being the second time in less than fifteen months that Mile High Sports took a hiatus on-air because the station they operated on was sold off from under them by 4K's LLLP. Mile High Sports radio has operated under 4K's LLLP which is owned by none other than a Merilatt Family contingent of Gregory, Jeffrey and James. So, MHS President James Merilatt was part of selling his radio station's signal off and rather than getting the ducks in a row ahead of the switch, his Mile High Sports Radio team is left waiting. I understand the reason for the sale, 4Ks LLLP is making nearly $325,000 as indicated by Radio Insight. Still, a plan should have been in place like the ones highlighted above.
The long-time listeners will slowly come back but even they may find other options they choose to look elsewhere. I won't lie, after the first change that came with being off-air or fuzzy air and the constant line-up changes and losing some quality on-air talent my radio isn't locked onto Mile High Sports but looks elsewhere often. Additionally my online streaming has decreased because of it. Even if your heart is in a good place, sometimes your mind tells you enough is enough and maybe that's what I have been going through with regards to Mile High Sports. I know from talking to other listeners that I am not alone.
But ultimately, the people who are getting hurt the most are the in-studio/on-air talent. These hosts have to pay for their on-air time. This is usually done by billing a sponsor for their radio "spots" of either advertisements or sponsorship of segments. They will lose out on a large majority of that income. Some of the sponsors may pull the plug on their relationships with hosts because of something the hosts have no control of and for the most part were unable to give due notice about the changes and hiatus.
It is nice to finally be out of the dark as a long-time supporter of Mile High Sports radio, but still the way this change was handled left many people at the station in the dark for the past three weeks with little to tell the sponsors that keep money in their pocket. It is nice they have a plan and date they can give but there is still three weeks to go to try to hold onto relationships with listeners and more important for themselves sponsors. What this also does is make a potential future sponsor question whether it is worth the issues they have seen come from the dealings of Mile High Sports Radio. I wish the best for the re-launch of Mile High Sports Radio and hope that some of the guys I have interacted with on-air for awhile keep their sponsors and their shows and the station are the better for this break, but I am concerned about this break.
This situation feels similar to the stories of friends I have known that took a break from their significant other and once they tried to get back together they found out all the stuff that bothered them before was even worse now. While their time apart was to improve their bond, it had the opposite effect and changed them into someone that was even worse than before and showed why there was issues before and why a break was needed. Hopefully Mile High Sports Radio comes back "bigger and better than ever" but they are going to have to prove to listeners, sponsors and even their on-air talent that they used this hiatus to improve and make things stronger. I keep in touch with on-air guys and listeners and no one is happy from that contingent. I am sure the sponsors are feeling the same way.
So I will depart this blog with this suggestion to Mile High Sports Radio. Mile High Sports Radio; the on-air talent is not happy and has a lot of relationships to repair that is due to mishandling this situations, so make it right to them and the people they have to please by doing things the right way. MAKE THIS CHANGE A HUGE DEAL and let the masses know about it daily. Put together a huge party the weekend before the launch of June 29th. Invite sponsors, potential future sponsors and long-time listeners to a party where you serve food and drinks and let the on-air talent and everyone mingle. Play it up on social media by giving an update a couple times a day talking about it so people see it for three weeks straight with giveaways. Put it on your site on the front page of Mile High Sports at the top about the changes and where you are moving to (not just the radio page). Repair relationships you broke and make it a big deal for the people that keep your talent on-air; the sponsors that foot the bill for their air time and the listeners that give business to you and those sponsors by listening to those people on-air. Turn this situation from a negative to a big positive by doing things beyond aesthetics in-studio and on your site but get your on-air talent (lead singer), sponsors (kick ass drummer and bass) and listeners (lead guitarists) on a personal level and repair those relationships to bring the band back together and booking Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium rather than the local county fair by leaving someone out.
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