NBA on verge of leaving TNT, signing with NBC

[WentzerWuver]

At least something good came out of tonight after the epic Mavs choke.

I'd like to see NBC hire Chuck, and I'll miss Ernie.

Kenny, Shaq, Jamal -- good riddance. Finally.

We've had two unserious networks covering the league and that needs to stop. ESPN is a disaster and Shaq's absurd Jokic MVP interview is a good snapshot of how far ITNBA has fallen.

If NBC can bring some professionalism back, I welcome them. Who they hire will be critical.

NBC will finally bring that professionalism back where it belongs by starting with a new opening theme for the NBA via late night games.

https://youtu.be/RlsllGp4Q7c?si=y5UUc1odntkkT2P3

______________________________________
https://youtube.com/shorts/WN8FWdLrIXE?si=vuLSVFGx1jmU-a__

[jc23]

TNT and NBC would be a superteam. Man do i wish ESPN lost all coverage. NBA TV seems like its going to get cut as nobody watches it.

[Pantsman]

Shaq ruined that show. I hope they can get Barkley a new crew to work with.

[WentzerWuver]

TNT and NBC would be a superteam. Man do i wish ESPN lost all coverage. NBA TV seems like its going to get cut as nobody watches it.

The league owns it so not happening and I watched it when we had league pass last season. It covers all warm ups and lineup intros too of any game you want to watch live!

[Johnny Bball]

Why do people care about the stupid NBA song? You would rather have that over Inside the NBA? Dumbest thing I've ever heard

Nostalgia is a helluva drug.

Can't wait to hear it again.

[The Corey's]

Why do people care about the stupid NBA song? You would rather have that over Inside the NBA? Dumbest thing I've ever heard

Nostalgia is a helluva drug.

Can't wait to hear it again.

https://youtu.be/0Pnl1ulaG5k?si=uEn296-vrHJbbA9j

[JNewton]

I'm torn about this.

On hand, I think the NBA on NBC of the 90s is the greatest NBA telecast there ever was. But I have no idea what the NBA on NBC of 2025 will be like, aside from Roundball Rock. As someone who grew up watching the NBA on NBC in the 90s, I can't say I'm not curious, I can't say I'm not intrigued, I can't say the teenager inside of me isn't just a bit excited about it. But adult me is aware the new telecast could well have nothing in common with the old one aside from the the name and the song.

Given the uncertainty of what the new NBA on NBC will be like, am I curious or intrigued enough to throw Turner and Inside the NBA overboard for it? I'm not sure I am.

I've literally never known a time when Turner didn't have the NBA, when Ernie wasn't hosting Inside the NBA. If the NBA on NBC of the 90s was the greatest NBA telecast ever peak for peak, Turner's telecast, given its longevity, is right up there. And Inside the NBA is an institution. This is the awards section of its Wiki:

As of the end of 2023, the show has won eighteen Sports Emmy Awards. Six times for the best daily show (2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014), six times for the best weekly show (2012, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), four times for the best weekly show – limited run : playoffs (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), one for the best decoration and art visuals (2016) and one for the best social TV experience (2019). Johnson has also won six awards as a studio host (2002, 2007, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021) and Barkley has won four as a studio analyst (2012, 2013, 2017, 2020).

Inside was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in October 2016, becoming the 12th program to receive the honor and the third sports show after SportsCenter and Monday Night Football.[29] They were also honoree by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, becoming the first NBA telecast to win the Curt Gowdy Media Award.

And if the reports are to be believed - that WBD was willing to match NBC's 2.5B offer, but the NBA said, no it has to 2.8B - I'm just not sure why Adam Silver and the NBA are willing to so casually throw away a forty year partnership and one of the most decorated sports shows ever over what would be a small fraction of the overall money the NBA stands to make from this round of TV deals.

I can agree with this. I was stoked when Nike got the apparel deal to outfit the NBA in 2017, remembering the great job they did with 8 teams back in the late '90s and early 2000s. Yet they haven't been good at all this go-around, flooding the league with flat-out ugly "City" jerseys and even pumping out ugly traditional alternates. That's not to say NBC won't be good - I suspect they'll be far superior to ESPN's dreadful coverage, but we'll see if they can match the nostalgia of their amazing 90s coverage.

[Michael Bradley]

Why do people care about the stupid NBA song? You would rather have that over Inside the NBA? Dumbest thing I've ever heard

The funny thing is, the NBA has the youngest fanbase of the 4 major sports leagues in the US, so most of the NBA fans are probably too young to even feel nostalgic about the song. The fans that theme song will appeal to would likely rather watch Inside the NBA.

In other words, the song has no value to the NBA. This was about getting off TNT, which was either done out of pettiness by Silver (due to that TNT guy saying they didn't need the NBA) or to get more games on broadcast/streaming rather than cable.

[Tor_Raps]

Read on Twitter

[Rainwater]

lol I think people just want NBC back just for the nostalgia. Hopefully they bring back the theme song, Bob Costa, and Hannah Storm and they give people that same feeling from when they were a child because if not people will be upset. It will just be a bad sequel, lol.

[eyriq]

Too bad ESPN isn't being replaced

My thoughts exactly

[FAH1223]

NBC does a great job with Sunday Night Football. So, the production of the NBA will be really good. If Amazon is also part of the new rights deal, they will also do a solid job.

Disney (ABC/ESPN) is just so bad. The discourse is lazy, its heavy around transactions, and the presentation of the NBA games is terrible. I know people do other things at halftime but they make no attempt at having a decent halftime show. It's 2 minutes and then 13 minutes of commercials. Kenny would be running to the board after 2 minutes when you're watching TNT.

Adam wants another broadcast network airing games. He is realizing what he and his old boss should have realized 22 years ago. Going all in on cable because the money is great limited the exposure of the league. You went from 69 games on NBC in 2001-2002 to just about 25 games on ABC the following year! That's a big change. Even with ratings declining after the 1998 NBA Finals.

Warner Brothers Discovery seems to think they have a case for matching any third party offers. To be honest, I think they're better off trying to keep what's left with that Amazon framework that's been allegedly agreed to. WBD has their own streaming service with 100M and they have their cable networks of TNT, TruTV, TBS, etc which are in 70M households. Amazon only has its 150M subs but no linear reach to speak of.

[LakerLegend]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/16/nba-tv-rights-deal-hinges-on-warner-bros-discovery.html

[OldSchoolNoBull]

Well, that CNBC article pretty much spells out what's going on here.

The NBA wants to go with NBC.

WBD has contractual language giving them the right to match if the NBA signs with a different company.

WBD hasn't decided, but seems inclined to match(I infer this simply based on that if WBD didn't want to match, this whole thing would be done already).

The NBA doesn't want WBD to match because A)They want more games on network television and B)They're skeptical about WBD having the juice, i.e., they think WBD would essentially be writing a bad check if they matched.

There is disagreement between NBA and WBD about whether or not the NBA is bound to go with WBD if WBD matches. Lawyers are looking at the contract language. WBD is confident in their position, NBA is looking for a way out in the language.

If WBD matches and the NBA tries to go with NBC anyway, there could be a legal battle.

[WentzerWuver]

lol I think people just want NBC back just for the nostalgia. Hopefully they bring back the theme song, Bob Costa, and Hannah Storm and they give people that same feeling from when they were a child because if not people will be upset. It will just be a bad sequel, lol.

How dare you not bring up Josh Tesh by name as his ties to the NBA on NBC is legendary over anyone else.

https://youtu.be/Cg840aTb6Os?si=fZOXlqdoGQ3bKmcn

[andyhop]

Well, that CNBC article pretty much spells out what's going on here.

The NBA wants to go with NBC.

WBD has contractual language giving them the right to match if the NBA signs with a different company.

WBD hasn't decided, but seems inclined to match(I infer this simply based on that if WBD didn't want to match, this whole thing would be done already).

The NBA doesn't want WBD to match because A)They want more games on network television and B)They're skeptical about WBD having the juice, i.e., they think WBD would essentially be writing a bad check if they matched.

There is disagreement between NBA and WBD about whether or not the NBA is bound to go with WBD if WBD matches. Lawyers are looking at the contract language. WBD is confident in their position, NBA is looking for a way out in the language.

If WBD matches and the NBA tries to go with NBC anyway, there could be a legal battle.

Will likely depend on what the language of the matching clause is. Is it just financial or is it inclusive of other parts of the bid.

When Liverpool signed with Nike, New Balance had a right to match the deal as their existing supplier they lost due to not being able to offer marketing support.

"through marketing initiatives
featuring not less than three (3) non-football global
superstar athletes and influencers of the caliber [sic]
of Lebron James, Serena Williams, Drake etc. …"
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://northridgelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Case-Summary-New-Balance-v-Liverpool-Football-Club.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwifq-Lk35OGAxUtzTgGHVyHAD8QFnoECDoQAQ&sqi=2&usg=AOvVaw0afDSWrXkSUk9Gb_2V-aSU

[SkyBill40]

I had heard yesterday that no matter what happens, Ernie Johnson is staying with Turner. That means an end of an era for the Inside crew.

Sent from my [Samsung Z4 Fold] using RealGM mobile app

[hippesthippo]

Man, I was loving watching the NBA and Inside the NBA on MAX. I have no idea how TNT is affiliated with MAX, but between that and the ABC games, I've been able to watch pretty much every game I've wanted to.

It would be nice to have more OTA games, but NBC's streaming service, Peacock, is by far the worst of the major ones. The only reason I have it is because my internet provider added it on for free like... 2 years ago.

Still, I have no way of legally watching the TNT channel itself, so this doesn't bother me too much either way. More OTA games would be awesome.

The only issue is what happens to Inside the NBA. Can NBC just buy the rights to the show? Or at least EJ, Chuck, and Kenny? **** Shaq.

I just want some decent in game commentators. Everyone's play-by-play/color combo these days is awful. Doris Burke may be the absolute worst.

[hippesthippo]

I had heard yesterday that no matter what happens, Ernie Johnson is staying with Turner. That means an end of an era for the Inside crew.

Sent from my [Samsung Z4 Fold] using RealGM mobile app

Boooo. I'm a big EJ fan.

[FAH1223]

https://youtu.be/0InHj40dBno?si=hpNs-sS_sQK1JZmR

Shaq sounding confident