The voices Denver Nuggets fans have known for decades are going away. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, the parent company that owns the Nuggets, Avalanche and Altitude TV has decided not to renew contracts for longtime broadcasters Chris Marlowe and Scott Hastings ahead of next season, four sources familiar with the decision told The Denver Post.
What we know about the departures
Marlowe confirmed the news himself in a social media post, saying Altitude Sports chose not to renew his contract after 22 years. “Altitude Sports is moving in a different direction and decided not to renew my contract,” Marlowe said. “It has been a wonderful 22-year run, and I want to thank everyone who was there along the way, especially the fans. I’m not retiring and this is not goodbye, it’s just so long for now.”
Marlowe had been calling Nuggets games for Altitude since team owner Stan Kroenke launched the regional sports network in 2004. Beyond basketball, he served as the lead play-by-play voice for beach volleyball at seven Olympics, most recently for NBC in 2024, and was named Colorado Sportscaster of the Year in 2023.
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Hastings, who has been a color commentator for Nuggets and Broncos local broadcasts since 1993, is also out, according to The Denver Post. He retired from an 11-year NBA career that year, having spent his final two seasons as a player with the Nuggets. However, he will continue to co-host a sports talk show on Altitude’s radio station, per The Denver Post.
Studio analyst and reporter Chris Dempsey was also let go, according to four sources who spoke to The Denver Post. Dempsey, a Boulder native and former Denver Post sports reporter, announced the news on Instagram on Tuesday. “It was one of the great joys of my life to be able to do something that quite frankly I didn’t think I was going to ever do when I got into journalism,” he said.
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Why are they out?
However, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment has not given an official explanation, viewer feedback may offer some clues.
According to Awful Announcing, in their most recent local NBA broadcaster rankings, readers placed the Nuggets booth toward the bottom of the league for the second straight season.
Responses were mixed, some viewers appreciated the “living room” feel of the Marlowe-Hastings pairing, while others found Hastings’ candor distracting and wanted Katy Winge in a bigger role. Marlowe was described as corny but high-energy by several respondents. The year prior, the duo was labeled as “getting old” and “boring” alongside praise for their professionalism, per Awful Announcing.
Meanwhile, Winge drew consistent praise in both editions of the rankings. One respondent wrote the broadcast “jumps to a B if Katy Winge is the analyst” and she is among those who have been retained, per The Denver Post.
