It was the best of times. There were no bad times.
The Denver Broncos’ run to the Super Bowl, which, boo-hoo, ended with the defeat to Pittsburgh on Sunday, was nothing but good news for KCNC-Channel 4.
When all the numbers were tallied on Tuesday, they showed that 39 million viewers saw the AFC Championship game, making it the most-watched program of the season, beating out the Rose Bowl and the premiere of “American Idol.”
“The numbers were very, very big,” Walt DeHaven, Channel 4’s general manager, said with a smile on Wednesday. “Pittsburgh’s were slightly higher but we were right behind them.”
Like that famous rising tide, the Broncos helped the station’s programming in general. “Our ratings were up on all (Bronco-related) shows during the regular season. Across the board, newscasts were up. It was a real nice thing for us. It allowed a lot of people to sample our products.”
The final tabulation on Sunday’s game showed that it drew a 71 share in this market, meaning almost three-quarters of the television’s turned on were tuned to the game.
Even better news for DeHaven: The station’s contract with the Broncos runs another three years.
Bloom speaks up
Outspoken extreme skier and former CU football player Jeremy Bloom resumes his battle against the NCAA’s rules on “One2One” (7 p.m. Sunday, CSTV, Comcast digital cable channel 412).
In a one-hour interview, Bloom says, among other things, “You have huge growth in alternative sports that are individually funded through corporate endorsements, so I’m not going to be the first or last to go through the system to end up playing a traditional sport and an alternative sport.”
Oddball no more
“Winter X Games 10,” which has managed to become “mainstream” after years as a marginal collection of oddball sports and participants, launches 15 hours of live coverage (noon Saturday, KMGH-Channel 7).
Snowboarding, Super Pipe, and trick skiing are among the sports spotlighted in ESPN and ABC coverage of the games’ 10th anniversary through Tuesday.
Around the dial
ESPN and ABC Sports have added play-by-play man Dave O’Brien for the U.S.-Norway soccer match in Los Angeles (3 p.m. Sunday, ESPN2). He’ll likely do the World Cup games in June too … CU hosts Kansas State in Big 12 basketball from Boulder (7 p.m. Saturday, FSNRM) … “Super Bowl at XL,” ESPN’s tribute to the game’s best players, premieres at 7 tonight. So far, no Broncos among the 31 announced for the 40-man squad. The skill players are revealed tonight. … Quotable: “What’s the worst thing that can happen to a quarterback? He loses his confidence.” Terry Bradshaw.
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
