Broncos Broadcaster Rick Lewis on Russell Wilson, Odds of Calling a Winning Season

Fans of the Denver Broncos are more amped up than they've been for years regarding the upcoming NFL season, thanks to the team's acquisition of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson. But local radio legend Rick Lewis, who recently signed a new contract to keep broadcasting Broncos games as well as remain at the helm of the morning-drive program at classic-rocking 103.5 The Fox, has a special reason to be excited.

"I've been calling the games with Dave Logan for five seasons," Lewis says of his gig with the Denver arm of iHeartMedia, which airs Broncos games on KOA's AM and FM signals, as well as the Fox. "This will be my sixth season coming up, and as all Broncos fans know, it's been the worst five years since the mid-’60s, probably. It's been rough. But I think I'm finally going to get to call a winning season."

Lewis has been a Denver radio mainstay since 1990, when he teamed up with Michael Floorwax for a show that took the local media scene by storm. More than three decades later, he's still on top of his game despite plenty of changes along the way — including a huge shakeup at KOA last year. Lewis had been doing double duty on the Fox and KOA, helming the Fox morning show with partner Kathy Lee and partnering with Logan during afternoons at KOA. But in September, iHeartMedia executives decided to pair Logan with former CU Buffs and Broncos star Alfred Williams on KOA, leaving Lewis to concentrate on the Fox.

Given the size of Williams's contract, some radio-scene observers wondered if the move meant that Lewis had been deemed expendable. But no: On the last day of 2021, he agreed to stay with the Fox and to continue collaborating with Logan on Broncos broadcasts for the next three years, with an option for a fourth.
The reasons Lewis is so important to iHeartMedia have everything to do with dollars and cents. "I've been told I'm the top revenue generator in the market," he notes, "and this is a business. If you can make them money, they'll find some way to keep you."

Indeed, the Fox morning show remains a ratings juggernaut in its target demographic — men between the ages of 18 and 54 — and as Lewis points out, "We get enough female listeners for us to do big numbers with everyone."

This achievement is particularly notable given the widespread perception in the industry that rock music is a thing of the past — not that Lewis ever believed it. "I remember in the late ’80s people predicting that classic rock, in particular, was dead, gone, buried," he says. "But it was such a great era for music — I'm talking the late ’60s through the ’70s and even the ’80s. And the younger generation can really relate to the music, too. That's a big reason why the Fox has got to be, if not the top classic-rock radio station in the country, certainly one of them."

Does Lewis have a lot more free time now that he's not an afternoon regular on KOA? That question earns a rueful chuckle. Lewis points out that he joins Logan and Williams at least twice a week during the football season and fills in when one of them is gone — which is often for Logan, who also coaches the Cherry Creek High School football team. Lewis also continues to lead a band, the Rick Lewis Project, that recently opened for ZZ Top, is slated to do the same for Sammy Hagar, and has a very busy performance schedule this summer.
And then there are the Broncos games, which he loves calling no matter the outcome. "I don't want to make it sound like it isn't fun when they're having a losing season," Lewis emphasizes. "It's one of the favorite things I do in broadcasting, and I look forward to every single game, even if they lost the game before. But Dave Logan says it's a whole different animal when you show up at the stadium and everyone is expecting them to win. He says we're going to have some fun this year, and I can see a window for the next three, four, five years where the Broncos should be not only relevant, but be Super Bowl contenders again."

That's all because of Wilson, whose introductory press conference he and Logan hosted. "I got a chance to meet him," Lewis says, "and I've got to tell you, he's one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive, person I've ever met — and considering all the people I've met over the years, that's saying a lot. He's so intelligent, so articulate. He knew everybody's name and had a little story about everybody — and I'm talking about guys who are on the Broncos now. He really did his homework before he decided he wanted to come here, and afterwards, he went around the room and shook hands with everybody in the room. There were probably 50 to 75 people there, and he looked everyone in the eye, said their name and tried to make a personal connection with every single person. I couldn't have been more impressed, and just the fact that the Broncos will have him in the locker room will make them a better team."

And Lewis is ready to play again. "I never take anything for granted in this business," he says. "Radio's like the NFL: It's a highly competitive, performance-driven business, and nobody cares if you're a nice guy and a hard worker without ratings and revenue."

Lucky for him, Lewis has both — as well as a better chance than ever to call more Broncos victories than defeats.