Sunday worship at the Broncos’ altar began at 7 a.m. on Altitude with Scott Hastings conducting an hour-long broadcasting roundtable.
Altitude continued at 8 a.m. with “Pregame With Ron Zappolo,” a two-hour show featuring three former Broncos — Mark Jackson, Karl Mecklenburg and Brandon Stokley. While the panelists covered other NFL teams, it was basically a Broncos show.
At 9 a.m., Broncos worshipers could have moved to KUSA- Channel 9 for “Pregame Live” with Rod Mackey, followed by “Broncos Sideline Memories” featuring Drew Soicher and Jim Saccomano.
KCNC-Channel 4 premiered its regular fall series, “Countdown to Kickoff,” headlined by Vic Lombardi, at 9:30 a.m.
Saccomano, a longtime Broncos public relations executive now retired, is anything but a professional broadcaster.
But his “Sideline Memories” series, picking up where it left off last season, provides viewers with a lively change of pace from what is offered by the “experts.”
Saccomano’s vivid memory, plus archival film and videotape, provide an entertaining trip down an orange-and-blue memory lane.
I’ve been covering Broncos Sunday worship hours for many seasons. The altar has never been this crowded.
Is there room for more?
Root Sports should provide a 6 a.m. show presenting a concise history of the NFL team’s roots.
Most dedicated Broncos fans are aware of the heroics of long-ago stars such as Frank Tripucka and Gene Mingo. But how many fans are aware of Jacky Lee, a 1964 quarterback the team “leased” from Houston?
Match point for CBS. Tennis superstars Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic won’t be meeting Monday in the U.S. Open men’s championship match in New York.
The match — featuring Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic — will be the final U.S. Open telecast for CBS Sports, which began televising the tournament in 1968, when Arthur Ashe won the men’s title.
ESPN, which began televising early rounds of the U.S. Open in 2009, takes over the entire tournament next year. That will give the cable network exclusive TV rights to the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
CBS passed on a new U.S. Open contract for financial reasons. Network coverage produced lower ratings in recent years partially because of the lack of American stars in the men’s bracket.
The men’s title match in 2002 — Pete Sampras defeated Andre Agassi — drew 9.4 million viewers. Recent men’s title matches have averaged about 3.5 million.
Brown part of ESPN lore. ESPN premiered Sept. 7, 1979, when it televised a slow-pitch softball game live. ESPN aired its first college football game the next day — a tape-delayed telecast from Boulder, where Oregon beat Colorado 33-19. The color commentator was local sports broadcasting icon Irv Brown.
The CU game was on tape delay because the NCAA controlled the TV rights in contracts with colleges and conferences.
Longtime Denver journalist Dusty Saunders writes about sports media each Monday in The Denver Post. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net.
Altitude television prep football
Mark down Oct. 17 as an important football date in the Denver area.
The Broncos won’t be playing that day. But a high-profile high school game will have a distinct Broncos angle. Cherry Creek, coached by Dave Logan, will be playing against Valor Christian — led by quarterback Dylan McCaffrey, one of Ed McCaffrey’s football-playing sons.
Logan and Ed McCaffrey team together on the Broncos’ radio coverage on 850 AM and 103.5 FM. They are former Broncos wide receivers.
Two days after the Cherry Creek-Valor Christian game, radio coverage of the Broncos-49ers game Oct. 19 in Denver could produce some interesting high school commentary.
Cherry Creek vs. Valor Christian is among seven Class 5A games scheduled on Altitude. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. Friday: Douglas County meets Thunder Ridge.
