Altitude Sports and Entertainment
 | This article relies too much on references to primary sources. (January 2010) |
 Altitude logo | |
| Type | Regional sports network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Colorado Idaho Kansas Montana Nebraska northeastern Nevada northern New Mexico western South Dakota Utah Wyoming Nationwide (via satellite) |
| Headquarters | Centennial, Colorado |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Kroenke Sports & Entertainment |
| Sister channels | Outdoor Channel Sportsman Channel World Fishing Network |
| History | |
| Launched | September 4, 2004 |
| Founder | Stan Kroenke |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Cable | |
| Available on most cable systems in broadcast area | Consult your local cable provider or program listings source for channel availability |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 681 681-1 (Altitude 2) |
| Streaming media | |
| AltitudeNOW | www (U.S. cable internet subscribers only; requires login from participating providers to stream content; some events may not be available due to league rights restrictions) |
| DirecTV Stream | 681 |
Altitude Sports and Entertainment (usually referred to as simply Altitude) is an American regional sports cable and satellite television channel owned by Stan Kroenke's Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The channel, which serves the Rocky Mountain region of the United States (specifically the Denver metropolitan area), features a mix of professional, collegiate, and high school sporting events as well as some entertainment-based programming.
Launched on September 4, 2004, Altitude is headquartered in the Denver suburb of Centennial, Colorado. Altitude also operates Altitude 2, a secondary overflow channel that is used in the event of scheduling conflicts with games simultaneously set to air on the main Altitude channel.
History[]
Altitude Sports and Entertainment was launched on September 4, 2004.[citation needed] The channel was launched as a team-owned competitor to FSN Rocky Mountain (now known as AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain). It became the official broadcaster for both of Kroenke's teams on launch.
Altitude agreed to carry some games from the first season of the Fall Experimental Football League in October and November 2014.[1]
Programming[]
The channel holds broadcast rights to the four Denver-based professional sports teams that are owned by Kroenke – the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids, and the National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth. Altitude features in-depth coverage of the four teams, including holding broadcast rights to the majority of Avalanche, Rapids and Nuggets games. The channel's logo bug changes colors depending on the team being broadcast (powder blue and gold for the Nuggets, burgundy and dark blue for the Avalanche, maroon and black for the Mammoth and burgundy and sky blue for the Rapids).
Altitude also holds television rights to Major League Lacrosse's Denver Outlaws and the AHL's Colorado Eagles (an affiliate of the Avalanche). Altitude also broadcasts live college athletics from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. They also simulcast select college football games from Montana, Montana State, New Mexico State and the Southland Conference. The channel previously broadcast Southeastern Conference, Western Athletic Conference, Big East Conference, and Big 12 Conference games from ESPN+.
It also airs entertainment programming including live theatrical productions and concerts, as well as a simulcast of veteran basketball referee Irv Brown's weekdaily radio program. Former Colorado governor Bill Owens hosted a talk show on the network during the final two years of his administration.
As the team is principally owned by Kroenke, Altitude serves as production partner for the Los Angeles Rams' NFL preseason games.
Broadcast Regions[]
Altitude covers a 10 state area and due to restrictions imposed by the NBA and NHL, Avalanche and Nuggets games are not available in all areas. To comply with these restrictions Altitude has divided its broadcast area into 8 zones.[2]
| Region # | Area covered | Avalanche | Nuggets | Rapids |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northeastern Colorado including Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Pueblo |  |
|
|
| 2 | Western Slope, Southeastern Colorado, Albany & Laramie counties in Wyoming | |
|
|
| 3 | Northern New Mexico, Wyoming (except Albany & Laramie counties) | |
|
|
| 4 | Kansas (except Johnson & Wyandotte counties), Nebraska | |
|
|
| 5 | Utah | |
 |
|
| 5 | Western South Dakota, Johnson & Wyandotte counties in Kansas | |
|
|
| 6 | Montana, Idaho (Magic Valley, Southwestern Idaho, & northern Idaho Panhandle), Northeastern Nevada | |
|
|
| 6a | Central Idaho, Eastern Idaho, southern Idaho Panhandle | |
|
|
Distribution[]
On August 28, 2019, Altitude was dropped by Dish Network.[3] Three days later, the channel was dropped by Comcast and DirecTV.[4] All three providers are accusing Altitude of demanding significant annual price increases for the channel's content, which they deemed unacceptable. On October 31, 2019, Altitude was restored by DirecTV after the two sides reached a multi-year agreement.[5] The disputes with Dish Network and Comcast remain unresolved.
On June 1, 2021 Altitude waived its exclusive local rights to broadcast game 5 of the NBA playoff game between the Denver Nuggets and the Portland Trail Blazers so that Comcast and Dish Network subscribers could watch the game on NBA TV (which would normally be subject to blackout restrictions).[6] Altitude is the only major regional sports network that Comcast refuses to carry, where as Dish has dropped almost all rsns as part of their business strategy.
Unlike other regional sports networks, Altitude is unavailable on live streaming services such as FuboTV, Hulu, Sling TV or YouTube TV.
On-air staff[]
Current on-air staff[]
- Kyle Keefe – host
- Todd Romero – secondary host
Colorado Avalanche[]
- Marc Moser – TV play-by-play [7]
- Peter McNab – TV analyst
- Lauren Jbara – TV studio analyst (rotating)
- Mark Rycroft – TV studio analyst (rotating) and radio analyst
- Kyle Keefe – TV studio host (rotating)
- Conor McGahey – Radio play-by-play/analyst
- Mark Bertagnolli – Radio studio host
- Alan Roach – Public address
Colorado Rapids[]
- Richard Fleming – play-by-play
- Marcelo Balboa – analyst
- Alan Gordon – analyst
- Lauren Jbara – reporter
Denver Nuggets[]
- Chris Marlowe – play-by-play
- Bill Hanzlik – studio analyst
- Scott Hastings – analyst
- Todd Romero – host
- Katy Winge – reporter
- Chris Dempsey – reporter/analyst
- Vic Lombardi – host
Altitude HD[]
Altitude HD[8] is a high definition simulcast feed of Altitude Sports and Entertainment, that broadcasts in the 1080i resolution format. The HD feed broadcasts Denver Nuggets[9] and Colorado Avalanche[10] games in HD. Colorado Rapids soccer matches are not available in HD. The channel also operates a high definition simulcast feed of Altitude 2.
References[]
- ^ "FXFL To Be Carried on ESPN3" (Press release). New York: FXFL. PR Newswire. October 1, 2014. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014 – via NBC Right Now.
- ^ "Channel Finder - Altitude Sports". www.altitudesports.com. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "Altitude Sports dropped from DISH Network lineup as 15-year partnership expires". The Denver Post. August 29, 2019.
- ^ "Altitude Sports dropped from major TV distributors Comcast, DIRECTV". The Denver Post. September 1, 2019.
- ^ "Altitude Sports reaches deal with DirecTV, ending two-month standoff with distributor". The Denver Post. November 10, 2019.
- ^ "Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers Game 5 to Air on Both Altitude Sports and NBA TV in 10-State Region". www.altitudesports.com. Altitude Sports. June 1, 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Altitude Sports Announces New Avalanche Play-By-Play Announcers". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
- ^ :: Altitude Sports & Entertainment :: Archived August 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ :: Altitude Sports & Entertainment :: Archived April 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ :: Altitude Sports & Entertainment :: Archived August 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
- English-language television stations in the United States
- Sports television networks in the United States
- Television stations in Denver
- Television channels and stations established in 2004
- Television networks in the United States
- 2004 establishments in Colorado