When it popped up on social media on Tuesday night, there was a collective groan. At a time when the league should be uniting its audience, it traffics in fragmentation and causes frustration.

Want to fully appreciate Nikola Jokic’s pursuit of a second championship? In your streams.

There is no more compelling first-round series than Nuggets-Timberwolves (Sorry, Lakers’ fans, it is true). This is a rivalry born out of thrown chairs, tossed heating pads, trash talk, breathtaking performances and a Game 7 meltdown.

It is must-watch TV. If you can figure out how to watch.

The first four games are a maze of Amazon Prime, NBC/Peacock and ABC. I’m looking forward to calling my wife and explaining how to toggle back and forth between Prime and cable. And my parents have no chance of figuring it out.

The tanking has already compromised the league this season. Now, streaming is tainting the postseason.

Where is the line when chasing every last dollar doesn’t make sense?

Who goes through more hoops? The basketball or the fans?

In September, commissioner Adam Silver seemed detached from reality when asked about the rising cost of watching a season of NBA games. He said there are enough free games on broadcast TV, and noted that the league is a snackable product that can be digested through highlights.

Is this the advice to the audience? Watch dunks on your phone while you doomscroll?

So, it should come as no surprise that the disconnect continues in April.

The NBA is taking a victory lap over its best TV ratings in 24 years. What the league fails to explain in the fine print is that it took all of its cable contests and . Of course, they were going to get a spike.

Arguing that the league is healthy through this lens is a mistake. It should be a warning flag, especially when Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, two of the most recognizable players, are nearing the end of their careers.

All of the sports leagues continue to expand playoff fields to add games because it creates TV inventory to package. The NFL now plays on every day of the week, but Tuesday, farming out games to Netflix and YouTubeTV.

Gambling, fantasy sports and a remarkably loyal audience leave football immune from the consequences of greed.

The NBA is not in this position.

The league’s nightly product, featuring a third of the franchises rolling out G-League show ponies and another third resting stars, was embarrassing. Bam Adebayo scored 83 points. Any questions?

The playoffs offer a life raft. Good on good. Teams are motivated to win. And yet you need an IT guy and a credit card to find them.

It is ridiculous. When is enough enough?

A bells-and-whistles Amazon Prime membership runs $14.99 per month. Don’t want free shipping for packages? Then the cost is $8.99.

The second Nuggets game will be televised nationally on NBC. Thank goodness. The NFL forced my hand to purchase Peacock a few years ago. Outside of “Ted,” the inventory was uninspiring, especially given that “Dateline” is available on multiple cable channels. There was no reason to keep Peacock, even with the Olympics coverage, for $16.99 (premium plus) or à la carte at $7.99.

Game 3 returns to Prime. Send yourself a vat of Goof Off to remove paint from your living room and the memory of paying for the subscription.

Game 4 is on ABC. Right on. Oh, wait, Xfinity dropped the channels owned by E.W. Scripps when the agreement expired on March 31. Denver 7 is on the list. What fun. As if the Altitude blackout on Comcast for nearly six years didn’t suffice.

That was a punch to the throat. What is another kick in the (bleep)?

Yes, there are ways to bypass this with a digital antenna. But those cost between $20 and $60. Should this be necessary, especially for families already getting pinched at the grocery store and gas pump?

Covering sports for a living, I understand how TV operates as the hub of the professional sports universe. The mind-boggling revenue matters. But consumers are growing sick and tired of searching for games, only to reach for their wallets.

And somehow, this April, it has gotten worse.

This represents the first time that local regional sports networks are no longer permitted to broadcast the opening round. This was the safety net. As the Nuggets and Clippers bounced around from ESPN and TNT a year ago, the local constant was Altitude.

The RSNs are relegated to pre- and postgame shows.

Mike Breen, the voice of the NBA Finals, expressed his disappointment with the national exclusivity when he signed off on his main job during the Knicks broadcast last weekend.

“I personally think it’s a poor decision,” Breen said. “Fans want to hear their teams’ announcers, at least in the first round. Because, for so many of us, and all of my favorite teams growing up, the home team announcers, they become part of the family, such a big part of why you root for the team.”

The NBA thinks global, not local. It wants a worldwide audience, while making it tougher for those in the States to consume the product.

It should not cost fans another $800 or $1,500 a year to watch their favorite sports teams in the NFL, NBA and MLB.

It is expensive and exhausting.

The NBA doesn’t care that it makes it more difficult to see the Nuggets.

That is why the criticism of the viewing experience must remain so loud and clear.

Re: “Anti-car approach bad for downtown Denver businesses,” April 3 commentary

Having lived in Vienna, Austria, where there is a complex public transportation system and a very large pedestrian area void of all cars, I can agree completely with the authors Steve Weil and Jake Linzinmeir that eliminating parking and car access to the downtown areas will really affect the business and the arts within the central downtown of Denver.

In Vienna, you can catch a tram, bus or the underground within a few steps of the huge pedestrian mall. These modes of public transportation also run about every 5-7 minutes. Denver cannot approach this type of public transportation without enormous and disruptive investments.

I use the RTD for baseball games, but the rail runs every 30 minutes. So, I have to agree with the writers, Denver downtown will suffer greatly by banning or working to eliminate cars. As the population grows and the suburbs expand, downtown becomes more likely to suffer. Eliminating cars is not the solution.

Dennis C. Jackson, Broomfield

Speed cameras about safety or revenue?

Re: “More speed cameras and fines are coming,” April 2 news story

Why don’t CDOT and the other government entities involved in instigating traffic speed cameras just admit that this “solution” is mostly geared to raising revenue from Colorado (and other) citizens? It has been widely reported that when third-party contractors propose furnishing such systems at various governmental and committee meetings, much of the discussion focuses on financial projections for yields and revenue sharing.

Camera proponents who cite traffic accident frequency and deaths never seem to factor in such things as numbers of cars in traffic, disruptions from confusing construction lanes and barricades, miles driven, cell phone and integrated “car play” devices on board most new vehicles, or the like.

Sending out tickets to the 4,000 drivers who were pictured speeding in tests this March on rural Interstate 25 would evidently raise almost $300,000 in ticket revenue, but would we really be any safer?

Peter Ehrlich, Denver

Proposed legislation would keep dialysis patients connected to care

As someone who has been on dialysis for over two decades, I know that access to consistent, affordable care is not optional; it����ap life or death.

Kidney disease almost cost me my life. I spent over a month in the hospital when I was first diagnosed, and dialysis is what allowed me to rebuild my strength and survive. A previous kidney transplant eventually failed, and today I’m back on dialysis and at the top of Colorado’s transplant list.

Dialysis takes a massive physical and mental toll. Some days, simply getting through treatment feels like a full-time job.

Despite the challenges, I try to stay positive. After recovering, I was able to return to my music, a reminder that life doesn’t stop with a diagnosis. Still, keeping a regular work schedule is nearly impossible, which is why strong patient protections and coverage are so important.

That����ap why I’m grateful Colorado Reps. Jason Crow, Joe Neguse and Brittany Pettersen support the . This bipartisan legislation protects people with kidney disease from private insurance pushing dialysis patients off their plan prematurely. This bill ensures patients can keep their private health coverage for the full 30-month period, so they are medically and financially prepared. I urge Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and the rest of Colorado’s congressional delegation to also stand with dialysis patients by cosponsoring this important legislation.

Michael Peoples, Aurora

Seeking a refund for the loss of Denver7

Re: “Xfinity drops Denver7,” April 3 news story

Will Comcast reduce fees to customers due to the loss of programming that they paid for?

Robert Alter, Westminster

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Holy Blackout, Batman! Unless a Dark Knight swings in to save the day at the 11th hour, Denver sports faithful appear to once again be on the wrong side of a Comcast/Xfinity dispute that threatens their ability to watch championship-level teams in action.

�ݴھ��Ծ��ٲ���dropped channels owned by E.W. Scripps earlier this month in a contract squabble. Denver’s KMGH-TV (Denver7) is one of those Scripps stations — and, as an ABC affiliate, will be carrying some of the NBA Playoffs and Stanley Cup Playoffs.

ESPN/ABC is slated to air roughly 18 NBA postseason games during the first two rounds, and likely one of the two conference finals series this spring. ESPN/ABC will air the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals exclusively.

While specific games and network assignments have yet to be announced, it doesn’t take a VPN to see where this could be going.

And, frankly, it breaks the hearts — yes, we still have them — of the hoops nerds on the Grading The Week crew. Especially as it was only 15 months ago that Nuggets and Avs fans finally got Kroenke Sports & Entertainment’s Altitude channel back on Xfinity after nearly six years of darkness, public sniping and lawsuits.

Comcast/KMGH blackout — D

OK, we hear you. Enough sobbing. So, what are fans’ options for Nuggets and Avs playoff games that they can’t get on Xfinity? You’ve got a few, although none are perfect:

1. Buy a digital antenna. Easy to purchase, easy to install. Signal strength, however, may vary depending on your location.

2. Go full digital.

3. Pay for a streaming option such as Hulu, YouTube or Fubo, for example. (Full disclosure: The higher-ups in the GTW offices have been streaming for ages.)

4. Go full pirate, baby! Yarrrr!

The latter isn’t legal, mind you. But unfortunately, most Nuggets and Avs fans in the metro long ago learned — and frankly, had to learn, thanks to the blackout — how to find their games via more nefarious means.

Rockies making purple cool again? — B

We can’t believe we’re typing this any more than you can believe reading it,  but the Rockies — your Rockies, baseball punching bag, national punchline — had a heck of a week.

Friday morning’s news, as broken by The Post’s Patrick Saunders, brought smiles from FoCo to Castle Rock with the announcement that Broncos owners Carrie Walton-Penner and Greg Penner are purchasing a 40% ownership stake in Colorado’s Major League baseball club.

If nothing else, it probably means a nice cash boost for the Rox as the sport heads into potential labor uncertainty with the expiration of its agreement with the union looming in December. While the Monforts retain control of the team, everything Walton-Penner and Penner have touched with the Broncos so far has turned to gold — or pretty pristine silver, at any rate. It speaks well of the family’s investment in Front Range sports and the Rockies’ long-term prospects, financially and (hopefully) competitively.

Meanwhile, look who’s winning? The Rockies were 2-6 on April 4, you know, same as it ever was. The Phillies rocked Michael Lorenzen in a disastrous 10-1 laugher in the home opener on April 3.

The Rockies went 4-1 over their next five games, with a four-game win streak snapped at San Diego late Thursday night.

Fan fave Mickey Moniak from April 3-8 stirred the drink with three home runs, five RBI and a .714 slugging percentage to lift the middle of the order, while Willi Castro hit .412 and slugged .647 over that span.

Schedule the parades? Not yet. And small sample size, yes. But the last time the Fightin’ Monforts notched at least six wins from their opening 13 games was 2022 (8-5). Their record was 3-10 after a baker’s dozen contests a year ago. They opened 3-10 in ’24; 5-8 in ’23.

The ’22 Rox, by the way. wound up 68-94. If Warren Schaeffer coaxes a 25-win improvement from last year’s 43-119 nadir, give that man your Manager of the Year vote.

The cable provider, owned by media giant Comcast, said Scripps’ demands would have raised TV prices significantly for subscribers.

“Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to reach a new agreement,” the company posted on its website.

The following Colorado stations have been impacted: 

• Colorado Springs-Pueblo – KOAA: NBC, Court TV HD, Grit
• Denver – KCDO: IND, Grit
• Denver – KMGH: ABC, Laff TV, ION Mystery
• Denver – KPXC: Bounce TV HD, ION+

In an email statement to The Post, a Scripps spokesperson said Comcast has removed their local stations from its Xfinity service in 19 markets, cutting off viewers from “essential local news, weather and fan-favorite sports that Scripps stations provide Xfinity customers daily.”

“Scripps takes our public service responsibility to serve our communities seriously. Our stations provide on-the-ground reporting, real-time severe weather updates and live sports coverage that keep people safe and connected to what matters most in their daily lives,” the company added.

“Scripps has been negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that reflects this value and is fair for both parties and viewers. We hope Comcast recognizes the critical value we play for our communities and restores our stations’ signals so we can continue to serve their customers.”

In a statement to The Post, Comcast said, “Scripps is demanding all of our customers pay for sporting events that only a very small number of them will watch. Our intention is to provide our customers with these stations, and we are working very hard to reach a fair agreement with Scripps.”

Scripps owns and operates nationwide in the Comcast footprint, and they’ve acquired the rights to show games for four professional hockey teams, including the Utah Mammoth, the Nashville Predators, the and the .

Xfinity customers can still find Scripps’ local news and sports programming for free over-the-air, on its station websites, streaming apps and on other locally available cable and satellite providers.

This isn’t the first time Xfinity has removed channels over contract disputes. Previously, the company pulled Bally Sports regional networks, which were before returning, as well as through Imagicomm and channels.

According to the company, programming changes happen.

“We pay other media companies, like TV station owners and operators, networks, and streaming companies, to bring their content to you. We negotiate regularly for top programming at affordable prices. When an agreement with a programmer ends and we cannot reach a new agreement that����ap fair for our customers, it can mean that their content is no longer available through Xfinity,” the company posted on its website.

Malone, 84, will become chairman emeritus at Liberty Media, based in Douglas County, and advise management and the board after he steps down on Jan. 1. Liberty Media Board Vice Chairman Robert Bennett, who goes by Dob, will become chairman of that company, while Mike Fries, CEO and vice chairman of Liberty Global, will take on the chairman duties at that company, which is based in London but has executive offices and a large presence in Douglas County.

“Founding Liberty Media and serving as its Chairman has been among the most rewarding experiences of my professional life,” Malone said in a statement. “With the successful simplification of our portfolio in recent years and our operating businesses in positions of strength, I believe it is an appropriate time to step back from certain of my obligations, and I am very pleased to have Dob Bennett, my partner and colleague of 35 years, stepping into the Chairman role.”

Malone added that Bennett has been involved in all the key decisions throughout Liberty Media’s history and said that he plans to remain actively engaged in an advisory role.

“I want to thank John for more than three decades of partnership and mentorship. His legacy as a visionary business leader is without parallel and I am deeply grateful for his confidence,” Bennett said in the release.

Bennett has served as a director on the company’s board since 1994 and served as Liberty Media’s president and CEO between 1997 to 2005. After Malone’s resignation, the Liberty board will have eight directors, five of whom will be independent.

Fries, who has been CEO of Liberty Global since it formed in 2005, said Malone was willing to invest in what was a “small but ambitious” international cable operation in the mid-1990s. It now employs 30,000 people and operates cable systems in six countries.

“I often remind my team that we stand on the shoulders of giants in this industry, and none broader than John’s. His extraordinary wisdom and strategic guidance have been invaluable, and personally, I could not have asked for a better mentor and friend,” Fries said in a statement.

An electrical engineer by training, Malone moved to Colorado in the early 1970s to run TCI, a fledgling cable company founded by Bob Magness in 1968. Malone instilled financial discipline and honed dealmaking skills that brought TCI back from the brink and built it into the country’s largest cable television provider. He earned the nickname “Cable Cowboy” for his pioneering moves and aggressive dealmaking.

Malone’s success helped establish metro Denver as a hub for the cable industry and drew other cable companies and content providers to the region, generating thousands of jobs. He also shaped a cooperative and collaborative model that still guides the cable industry to this day, said Phil McKinney, CEO of CableLabs in Louisville, which Malone founded in 1988 to promote industry innovation.

Malone brought together the leaders of all the major cable companies to work together on new technology and improve the customer experience.

“At that time, he recognized that the industry would strongly benefit from a sustained, long-range integrated approach to research and development — a central organization to monitor, evaluate, report and collaboratively develop technology for the industry.  Today, half a billion people use at least one CableLabs technology every day,” McKinney said.

CableLabs, which was originally based in Boulder, played an important part in establishing that city as a tech hub. The collaborative continues to draw cable industry CEOs serving on its board to Colorado three times a year.

Malone had the same level of vision as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk did in their fields, said McKinney, who was the chief technology officer at Hewlett-Packard before joining CableLabs. But he also was “amazingly humble.”

“It is not a game of trying to be the smartest person in the room,” he said.

In 1991, TCI spun off Liberty Media, which focused more on the content of what moved through the cables rather than the hardware. The bulk of TCI was sold to AT&T Broadband in 1999, with other systems ending up with Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Cablevision.

Liberty Media became a holding company that acquired stakes in numerous companies over the years and spun many of them off. Current and past investments include the Atlanta Braves, Formula One Group, Quint, Starz, Sirius XM Holding, LiveNation Entertainment, QVC and HSN or the Home Shopping Network.

Liberty Global, which focuses on acquiring, building and operating cable systems outside the U.S., was another spinoff in 2005. That company in turn spun off Denver-based Liberty Latin America, which provides cable services in 20 countries, and Sunrise Communications AG, which is Switzerland’s second-largest telecom provider.

Malone emphasized cash flow over profits and generated a tremendous amount of wealth for his investors, including himself, across decades. TCI shares had an annual compounded return of 30% between 1973 to 1998, while Liberty Media returned 24% a year on average between 2006 to 2018. Returns have slowed since then.

Malone’s long-term record has triggered comparisons to Warren Buffett, although Malone, who describes himself as having high-functioning autism, has preferred to keep a much lower profile. While he has long helped shape what is in the media spotlight, he has avoided stepping into it.

Liberty Media now primarily consists of two branches: Formula One Group, ticker FWONA, which has a market value of $23.6 billion and Liberty Live Group, ticker LLYVA, which has a value of $8.3 billion.

As of Aug. 31, the company said Malone had 49.5% voting control of the Formula One common stock and 48.9% of the Liberty Live common stock. Forbes estimates Malone has a net worth of $11.1 billion. He owns about 2.2 million acres of land, making him the country’s second largest private land owner, with holdings concentrated in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Florida and Maine.

Unlike his business holdings, his land holdings are more focused on conservation and preservation rather than extracting a financial return.

Last month, Malone released an autobiography, “Born to be Wired” that details his years spent transforming television, helping wire the country for the internet, and growing multiple companies under the Liberty Media umbrella.

The company, one of the largest private sector employers in the state, said it would close its West Division headquarters at 9401 E. Panorama Circle in Centennial as part of a larger streamlining that will remove all three divisional headquarters.

“The West Division operating division will cease to exist beginning in 2026, after which the facility will be closed. These organizational changes will result in the permanent layoff of approximately 302 employees,” Elizabeth Peetz, Comcast’s vice president of state government affairs, wrote in a letter submitted to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Positions cut include 72 financial analysts, 25 vice presidents, 24 finance managers and several communications and government relations positions. The company plans to maintain its regional and operational presence, which represents the lion’s share of its workforce, and said that customers shouldn’t notice any difference.

Peetz said Comcast will work to relocate affected employees to other positions within the company. Those who can’t be placed elsewhere and who remain through the closure date will be entitled to severance benefits.

Comcast����ap CEO Dave Watson and Chief Operating Officer Steve Croney announced on Sept. 18 that the company would eliminate its three divisions, which were sandwiched between corporate headquarters in Philadelphia and 13 regional offices.

The Centennial office was prominent in that divisional system, overseeing activities in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming and Montana. Going forward, metro Denver will remain the hub for the Mountain West Division, supervising Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

Starting next year, regions will report directly to Amy Lynch, who holds the newly created title of President of Regional Operations, and Lynch will report to Croney.

“With this change, our HQ teams will design strategy, while our field teams will execute – grounding the work in local insights and customer experience. This model will enable faster decision-making, better use of data and technology, and stronger execution in a highly competitive environment,” Watson and Croney said in their letter last month.

They also said the cuts weren’t a “reflection of anyone’s contributions,” but a “simplifying how we work so we can compete more effectively and position the company for the future.”

“Comcast continues to value its partnership with the community and has invested more than $1.2 billion in technology and infrastructure in Colorado in the past three years,” Peetz said.

She added that Comcast is working with the state to provide $7 million in matching funds under the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, which seeks to expand high-speed internet access in underserved areas.

Widely received as a glib rebuttal to concerns about the rising cost of watching games, the commissioner’s quote will undoubtedly linger in the NBA discourse as a new season begins. A new media rights deal goes into effect for the league in 2025-26, with national television networks sharing the live broadcast space with multiple streaming services. Watching your favorite team is about to get more complicated and more expensive.

Long story short: Subscriptions galore.

If you want to watch all 82 regular-season Nuggets games, you’ll need a minimum of three subscriptions: one to Peacock (the NBC-affiliated streaming app), one to Amazon Prime Video, and one to a TV provider that includes access to NBC, ABC, ESPN and the team-owned regional sports network Altitude Sports.

Alternatively, you could go the streaming-only route with four subscriptions instead of three: ESPN Unlimited, Peacock, Prime Video and , the streaming platform that Kroenke Sports and Entertainment debuted last year.

Either option is costly. But how much, exactly?

Start with the league’s new streaming partners. You can do some cost-cutting with these by not keeping a subscription year-round. For instance, Denver will play nine regular-season games on Peacock. While seven of them are also available on various combinations of NBC, Altitude and local stations KTVD-20 and KUSA-9, two of those games are exclusive to Peacock — Oct. 27 at Minnesota and Jan. 5 at Philadelphia. That makes a non-negotiable if you want to catch every game. The subscription is $11 per month or $110 for a year.

To reduce expenses, you could choose the monthly rate and cancel after the January game, leaving you with a $33 bill before tax. Of course, that requires canceling and renewing and canceling and renewing as you encounter this issue every year when the NBA releases its schedule. If you want to avoid that hassle, your most cost-effective option is the annual subscription. That gives you a volume discount and allows you to watch a handful of other Peacock-exclusive games throughout the season, though you’ll also be paying for four months without the NBA.

The Nuggets play five games on Amazon Prime Video, four of them exclusive to the streaming platform: Nov. 7 against Golden State (NBA Cup), Nov. 21 at Houston (NBA Cup), March 2 at Utah, and April 10 against Oklahoma City.

If you already pay for Amazon Prime, your subscription fee includes access to Prime Video. But for the sake of this math project, if all you care about is watching the Nuggets, a stand-alone Prime Video subscription costs $9 per month. Your six-month total comes out to $54. Prime also has the exclusive rights to the Play-In Tournament — relevant in April if Denver finishes between seventh and 10th place in the Western Conference standings.

Now that you’ve scraped together a minimum of $87 to watch six games, it’s time to make sure you’re covered for the other 76. The simplest way is to purchase a TV package that carries Altitude in your region and the three national networks with broadcast rights. (.) Three of the most common options are DirecTV, Xfinity (Comcast) and FuboTV.

DIRECTV Stream: Approx. $104 per month for including an RSN fee; $589 for six months (with $35 off for the first month).

Comcast Xfinity: Approx. $86 per month for , including More Sports and Entertainment add-on to access Altitude; $516 for six months (or a higher monthly rate for non-subscribers to Xfinity internet).

Fubo TV: Approx. $101 per month for including ; $576 for six months (at $30 off for the first month).

The rough average here is $560 for six months. Throw in streaming — let’s assume you’re sticking to a tight budget by canceling Peacock after the January game — and the cost of getting through the regular season ends up in the ballpark of $650.

If you want to avoid the typical TV providers, you can use Peacock to gain access to all of Denver’s NBC games (but you won’t want to cancel in January) and the to cover the remaining national broadcasts. The Nuggets play six games exclusive to ABC and/or ESPN.

Amazon Prime Video: $9 per month; $54 for six months.

�ʱ𲹳��dz���:��$11 per month; $66 for six months.

Altitude Plus: $20 per month; $120 for six months.

ESPN Unlimited: $30 per month; $180 for six months.

That gets you down to a thrifty $420 — if you’re cancelling all four subscriptions at the end of the regular season.

Keep in mind, though, none of these numbers even account for the playoffs. Denver is a team with high expectations, and if you care enough to watch the first 82 games, that means you’ll probably want to budget for another month or two of high-stakes basketball.

When it’s all said and done, you’re almost guaranteed to have spent more than $500 on watching the 2025-26 Nuggets, no matter which combination of companies you pay.

Then you can cancel for the summer and cross your fingers that monthly prices don’t increase before next season.

Altitude will continue to produce the broadcasts shown on Denver’s KTVD-20 and KUSA-9, according to a news release from Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Nuggets, Avalanche and Altitude.

All 40 games included in the renewed deal will air on My20 (KTVD-20), while five of the 20 Nuggets games and five of the 20 Avalanche games will also appear simultaneously on KUSA-9, the Denver-area NBC affiliate.

The initial deal, announced last September, coincided with KSE’s introduction of a paid-subscription streaming service called . The streaming option costs $19.95 per month or $199.99 per year and allows access to all Nuggets and Avalanche games not televised exclusively on national networks.

“Last season’s overwhelming community response to this partnership reinforced our commitment to ensuring that the fans who support the Nuggets and Avs can cheer on their favorite teams even when they can’t be with us at Ball Arena,” KSE president of team and media operations Kevin Demoff said in a statement Monday.

Here’s the full list of games that will be available over-the-air for free.

Nuggets games free to watch over the air: 2025-26 TV schedule

• Suns at Nuggets, 7 p.m. Oct. 25 (KTVD-20)

• Pelicans at Nuggets, 7 p.m. Oct. 29 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Nuggets at Trail Blazers, 8 p.m. Oct. 31 (KTVD-20)

• Heat at Nuggets, 7 p.m. Nov. 5 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Nuggets at Timberwolves, 6 p.m. Nov. 15 (KTVD-20)

• Nuggets at Grizzlies, 6 p.m. Nov. 24 (KTVD-20)

• Mavericks at Nuggets, 7 p.m. Dec. 1 (KTVD-20)

• Magic at Nuggets, 7 p.m. Dec. 18 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Jazz at Nuggets, 7 p.m. Dec. 22 (KTVD-20)

• Nuggets at Celtics, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 7 (KTVD-20)

• Wizards at Nuggets, 7 p.m. Jan. 17 (KTVD-20)

• Nuggets at Wizards, 5 p.m. Jan. 22 (KTVD-20)

• Nets at Nuggets, 7 p.m. Jan. 29 (KTVD-20)

• Knicks at Nuggets, 7 p.m. March 6 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Nuggets at Thunder, 5:30 p.m. March 9 (KTVD-20)

• Mavericks at Nuggets, 8 p.m. March 25 (KTVD-20)

• Nuggets at Jazz, 7 p.m. April 1 (KTVD-20)

• Trail Blazers at Nuggets, 7 p.m. April 6 (KTVD-20)

• Grizzlies at Nuggets, 7 p.m. April 8 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Nuggets at Spurs, 6:30 p.m. April 12 (KTVD-20)

Avs games free to watch over the air: 2025-26 TV schedule

• Stars at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Oct. 11 (KTVD-20)

• Bruins at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Oct. 18 (KTVD-20)

• Avalanche at Oilers, 8 p.m. Nov. 8 (KTVD-20)

• Sabres at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Nov. 13 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Rangers at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Nov. 20 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Avalanche at Islanders, 5 p.m. Dec. 4 (KTVD-20)

• Predators at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Dec. 13 (KTVD-20)

• Jets at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Dec. 19 (KTVD-20)

• Senators at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Jan. 8 (KTVD-20)

• Maple Leafs at Avalanche, 8 p.m. Jan. 12 (KTVD-20)

• Predators at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Jan. 16 (KTVD-20)

• Red Wings at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Feb. 2 (KTVD-20)

• Wild at Avalanche, 7 p.m. Feb. 26 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Avalanche at Kings, 8:30 p.m. March 2 (KTVD-20)

• Avalanche at Kraken, 8 p.m. March 12 (KTVD-20)

• Avalanche at Blackhawks, 6:30 p.m. March 20 (KTVD-20)

• Avalanche at Jets, 6 p.m. March 26 (KTVD-20)

• Flames at Avalanche, 7 p.m. April 9 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

• Avalanche at Oilers, 7:30 p.m. April 13 (KTVD-20)

• Avalanche at Flames, 7 p.m. April 14 (KTVD-20 and KUSA-9)

Yes, they’re both Dallas Stars now. Yes, they’re both the enemy, as far as Avalanche fans are concerned. Yes, you have every right to boo their tails off on Sunday afternoon at Ball Arena when the Stars come to town in the Moose’s return to Denver, where he helped the Avs lift the Stanley Cup.

But this whole, “Mikko is Duchene all over again” thing? Sorry, but the puckheads up in the Grading The Week offices can’t see a like-for-like. Not exactly. Consider:

• Duchene scored three goals with six assists in his final 33 games with the Avalanche.

• The Moose scored 16 goals and logged 27 helpers in his final 33 appearances in burgundy and blue.

• Duchene said this after being traded from Colorado to Ottawa: “Asking for a trade out of Colorado, from Joe Sakic, who was my idol, was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

• Rantanen said this to Dallas reporters last week: “Colorado was always where I wanted to stay, but I understand it’s business and they made a decision.”

• When Duchene was dealt in 2017, Avs defender Erik Johnson said this of the ex-Av: “He didn’t want to be a Colorado Avalanche anymore. The fact that he didn’t want to be a player for the team anymore, I think guys in the room were kind of waiting for it to happen too. We all want to play for this team and win in Denver, and he wanted to go somewhere else. That’s his right.”

• When Rantanen was dealt by Carolina earlier this month, Avs coach Jared Bednar said this of the Moose: “I’m happy for Mikko that he got signed and got a deal and a place where he obviously wanted to go. … He’s a great teammate. He’s been a great player for us. And we were able to win together. And I’ll never forget that … and I wish them the best there. Just not against us.”

Calling Rantanen the “new Duchene” — D

So, yeah, not the same. Not quite. True, both players were traded. True, both players had agendas. Duchene wanted to win now. Mikko wanted to get Leion Draisaitl dollars.

But remember this, too: Duchene forced Joe Sakic’s hand. By all accounts, Avs GM Chris MacFarland’s hand in late January was forced more by Rantanen’s agent and his management team. If the Moose was, indeed, bluffing, then the Avs called him on it. What’s done is done.

Fun fact: The Avs are 12-5-1 since the Rantanen trade. Carolina went 6-7-0 with Moose in the lineup, while Dallas is off to a 1-2-0 start in the Rantanen Era, with all three appearances coming on the road so far. Mikko’s basically 7-9-0 since leaving town.

Do the Avs miss Moose on the ice? That’s a TBD. Thanks to a flurry of trades (Rantanen wasn’t the first move, just the biggest), Colorado has a better team for a Cup run (on paper) than it did at Christmas. Now will the Avs miss him more if free agents such as Brock Nelson and Ryan Lindgren walk this summer? No question.

Knowing the hockey gods’ wicked sense of humor, they’ll probably figure out a way for Mikko and Matt to hook up for at least one goal against the Avs on Sunday. And if not Sunday, then probably in the postseason — where it’ll sting even more.

Mikko in Stars green is … well, it’s complicated. . He’s not Duchene.

Xfinity messing up Nathan MacKinnon’s 1,000th point  — F

Geez. All those lawyers. All those dollars. All those years. All those moments missed. And only a month into Avalanche games returning to Xfinity viewers, in one of the biggest moments since KSE and Comcast kissed and made up, everybody dropped the ball. Or rather, the puck.

Instead of being able to watch Nathan MacKinnon record his 1,000th career point vs. Chicago this past Monday night, the feed during the third period unexpectedly cut to a documentary on Nikola Jokic, which KSE then blamed on a “software malfunction.” MacK deserved better. Avs fans deserved better. When it comes to Xfinity and Denver customers, at least the disappointment and darkness felt sadly familiar.

Smith added, “a programming error occurred that ended the live broadcast early for some viewers.” Instead, a documentary on Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic aired.

“We sincerely apologize to all Avalanche fans watching on Xfinity who were unable to see the third period of last night’s game,” . “… We take full responsibility for this and deeply regret that you missed out.”

Altitude TV returned to Comcast in February after being unavailable on the cable platform for nearly six years due to a carriage dispute. During that span, both the Nuggets and Avalanche captured championships and saw their star players win MVP awards.