Altitude TV launched a campaign to "pressure Comcast to return the regional sports network back to its subscribers," according to Saja Hindi of the DENVER POST. The network will "display the message 'Why Did Comcast Dump Us?' on a digital billboard on the side of a truck that will move along Interstate 25" and around Denver. The billboard also will "count the days since Comcast has not responded to the latest offer from Altitude TV to end the blackout." KSE Media Ventures CEO Matt Hutchings said the company wants to “give a message to our fans, remind them of what we’ve been doing, what our efforts are and to reinforce the fact that we’ve made a very fair and simple offer to Comcast to put us back on the air.” They also asked customers and fans to "contact Comcast Customer Service" and "sign an online petition demanding Comcast carry Altitude Sports." The dispute between the companies "goes back to 2019." State lawmakers even "got involved in the blackout this year, proposing and then killing a bill" that would have allowed the attorney general to "mandate nonbinding mediation for any renewal disputes that have lasted at least six weeks after a contract expired." One of the bill’s sponsors from last year, state senator Kyle Mullica, said discussions are likely for next year’s legislative session “if we’re not able to air those games on the largest platform in the state" (DENVER POST, 10/11).
PUBLICITY STUNT: In Denver, Mark Kiszla wrote the new Altitude offensive in a TV war that has "caught fans in the crossfire might seem pathetic and desperate if it wasn’t so ridiculous and absurd." But this is "not a drill or a 'Saturday Night Live' skit." It is a "publicity stunt when we all know what executives of Altitude and Comcast need to do is lock themselves in a room until a deal is hammered out." Kiszla's proposal is to "find a way to merge Altitude with AT&T SportsNet into a regional sports outlet that could provide games nearly 365 days per year, by adding the Rockies to fill summertime gaps in the broadcast schedule" of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment's "hockey, basketball, soccer and lacrosse empire in Colorado." Kiszla: "We were all sick and tired yesterday of talking about loyal Avs and Nuggets fans being left in the dark" (DENVER POST, 10/11).
