Altitude bagged a trophy in Vic Lombardi

Kroenke Sports Enterprises probably won’t see any of its Colorado sports teams earn a major trophy anytime soon but its regional sports network, Altitude Sports and Entertainment bagged a big one in Vic Lombardi. The soon-to-be-former sports anchor at Denver’s CBS4 will join the Altitude broadcast team on January first.

Vic’s contract with channel 4 expires at the end of 2015. Rather than negotiate a new deal with 4 he shopped his services about town, ultimately inking a deal with the broadcast home of the Avalanche and Nuggets. The addition of Lombardi signals a shift in Altitude’s approach. Lombardi will reportedly be replacing not one but three current personalities.  Julie Browman, Maya Starks and Blake Olsen will make their departures as Lombardi walks in the door according to my sources. Kyle Keefe will presumably remain as a studio host, along with Mark Rycroft, Bill Hanzlik and Todd Romero. The play by play and color crews covering Avs and Nuggets games should remain unchanged.

It remains to be seen how CBS4 will replace Vic Lombardi. It’s very possible that the station will approach former Root Sports’ Rockies broadcaster Tom Helmer. Helmer recently served a brief stint at the station and still resides in the Denver area. He is one candidate that could hit the ground running for the station. They could also turn to Reggie Rivers, Mark Haas, Eric Christensen, Kelly Werthmann or Jeff Todd to take over as lead anchor.

It will be interesting to see how Altitude utilizes Vic Lombardi. It’s difficult to see the network not changing its approach to local sports coverage. In addition to acting as an in-studio host during game broadcasts it’s possible that Lombardi will host an “all access” type talk program similar to the one he currently hosts for CBS4.

Speaking of talk shows, another mystery surrounding the Vic Lomabardi story is whether he will continue to contribute to the 104.3 the Fan morning show. Being that the Fan is the radio home of the Avs and Nuggets it’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t.