Double Dipping for Mile High Sports and Altitude?

It has been a while since I talked sports radio in Denver and I apologize because it is a damn mess and full of stories, so without further ado let's get to it.

Altitude Sports Radio 950 AM joined the Denver Sports Radio market in turn ending any possible opportunity for 760 AM to get out of the cellar of sports talk in the Denver market. So, once again any reference to 760 AM is pretty much ignored.  The real story is at Mile High Sports 1340 AM and Altitude and the conflict surrounding them.  104.3 FM The Fan continues to just put out the same crap that  the dense radio listener seems to enjoy.  They don't have a good show, simple.  They all have little life and are a constant motion of talking about the same Broncos football stories.  Armen Williams ruined that station for me.

So on to the subject at hand first, double dipping from Mile High Sports and Altitude.  James Merilatt is the President of Mile High Sports while also being the program director of Altitude Sports Radio.  Okay, fair enough but James is running a station as program director where his job is to pay talent to get ratings away from other competitors in the market.  This in turn is taking listeners away from radio talent that pays Merilatt for air time on the station he owns.  What makes this worse is that Merilatt appears to be a contributing member to the new line-up on Altitude from 7-10 am with Vic Lombardi.  He in turn has two shows paying him on Mile High Sports to compete during the timeframe he will be assisting Vic in trying to get listeners over there.  This almost feels a bit Nate Lundy taking the co-host seat with Mike Evans and the revolving bigger talent.

If I were paying good money to talk sports, I sure wouldn't want the guy I am paying to in turn drive down Speer Blvd and head to Colorado Blvd and try to take listeners away from me.  Fireworks are set to ensue if it is me and knowing how  hard the group at Mile High Sports works to try to get their brand out there and potentially earn more money/sponsorship money I don't doubt it will.  As a potential sponsor, the thought process for me would be why go with the guys paying to operate their show when I can pay a little extra to be with a brand known across the state with names people are familiar with in Vic Lombardi, Tom Helmer, Scott Hastings, Tom Nalen and Nate Kreckman and with a guy choosing to better that station while letting his hosts fend for themselves at the other station?

Mile High Sports doesn't have their station on billboards and full of advertising because that is not how it is ran.  It is ran by the employees paying their "employer" to build their brand and share their sports takes.  To pay for the luxuries other stations have like a picture next to a urinal or an I-25 billboard, the guys would be paying for that out of their pocket.  No other station in Denver is operating that way. It is nearly impossible to compete on a consistent basis when people I talk to are like, I don't even know that's a station.  Add to that that Mile High Sports has marketed itself as 104.7 FM for months but you can't even get the station on the dial due to a contractual conflict.  It sounds like two radio stations battling for air time like District 13 and Panem (The Hunger Games reference).

The mockery has become ridiculous with Merilatt flat out selling 950 AM by being on there making money while extending his gadget arms to Lincoln to take money out of the coffer from "his guys" at Mile High Sports.  As a person that finds conflict resolution fascinating, I wish I could by a fly in the wall in these conversations because I would be losing my shit right now, so to speak.  May the odds forever be in your favor Mile High Sports.  Let the Radio Hunger Games begin!