What is the next step for TNT’s “inside the NBA” when it goes to ESPN? Will there be changes to the Landmark show?
After 35 seasons, “inside the NBA” as we know will no longer be.
The emblematic Studio Show will bring TNT the last time at the end of the Eastern Conference series between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.
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It is the end of an era which is important for fans of the NBA of all ages. But don’t worry, loyal viewers. “Inside the NBA” does not disappear. It is fair to move to a new location in ESPN.
“Inside The NBA” will no longer be broadcast on TNT, but it will not disappear for good. (Photo by Andrew Burke-Stevenson / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
(Boston Globe via Getty Images)
ESPN has acquired the rights of “Inside The NBA” in a historic November agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to broadcast the show on its networks. In return, TNT SPORTS will resume exclusive rights on a list of Big 12 football basketball matches and ESPN male basketball in addition to an agreement which he had previously had in place with the network for the rights of the university football play matches.
In short, “Inside The NBA” will continue next season despite the end of the 35 years of TNT covering the NBA.
Will ESPN be playing inside the NBA?
Probably / I hope not?
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ESPN and President Jimmy Pitaro wanted “inside the NBA” for a reason. ESPN is not very good at producing NBA studio shows.
For almost all its existence as a partner of the NBA, ESPN failed to produce a convincing spectacle, even less one that captures the zeitgeist as “inside the NBA”. Instead, the quality of the ESPN product has generally gone from functional to the essential.
“Inside The NBA” is so emblematic, it was parodied on “Saturday Night Live” in 2022.
(NBC via Getty Images)
The difficulties are not for lack of tests. ESPN has turned and released a cast of hosts, analysts and journalists while trying to find the right formula. None of the efforts have only produced a moderate success, despite significant high -level talents in rotation.
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Pitaro therefore reached a reasonable conclusion. If you can’t beat them, buy them. Or exchange for them, at least. Once it has become clear that TNT was actually getting out of the NBA company for the first time since 1989, Pitaro proposed one of the brightest but obvious ideas in the recent sports media: obtaining the rights of “inside the NBA” and put it in the waves.
It was an idea with two significant impacts: upgrading the product around ESPN NBA programs. And, more importantly, in the large scheme, give a rescue buoy to “Inside The NBA”, which was previously on the right track to become an unfortunate victim of the last mix of NBA media rights.
TNT ‘will continue to produce independently inside the NBA’
According to all accounts – including directly from ESPN – it looks like “inside the NBA” will continue to operate largely as is. In its announcement on the acquisition of the rights of the show, ESPN clearly indicated that “Inside The NBA” will continue to be produced by TNT Sports.
“TNT SPORTS will continue to produce independently inside the NBA from its studios based in Atlanta for the duration of the agreement,” said the November ESPN announcement.
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He will present the same distribution and production team and will continue to be produced in the studio of Turner J in Atlanta. ESPN and ABC will simply be dismissed the program to broadcast on its own networks.
But ESPN will surely want to put your own fingerprints in the series, right? There is no way that the “world leader” does not want to tinker, at least a little.
The media journalist of athletics Andrew Marchand, who covered the transition from the TNT show to ESPN, does not think so. Here is what he said “The Dan Patrick Show” in November.
“I don’t think it will happen,” said Marchand about the ESPN that shone the show.
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Marchand then quoted other large -scale acquisitions under Pitaro such as “The Pat McAfee Show” which is largely intact by the management of ESPN, and the network’s decision to allow Peyton Manning to broadcast his “Monday evening of football” “Manningcast” from his garage in Denver.
“I think it’s the Pitaro game book,” said Marchand. “If I am a producer there, I say in a way, if I am in Bristol,” what are we doing? We can’t do things well. The big boss continues to outsource our programming. This is not a good sign. “”
“But it’s not the same Bristol. … [Pitaro’s] Take out and get what he wants, especially in terms of people on the air. “”
Barkley, Johnson, Smith, O’Neal would all have on board
The people that Pitaro wanted, in this case, were Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal. And he has them.
Johnson would have stayed in TNT, that “inside the NBA” continues or not. Barkley was signed for a long -term agreement with TNT before the ESPN acquisition and has since reaffirmed its commitment to the network.
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O’Neal has signed a new agreement to stay with the network since ESPN conceded the show under license. And Smith should remain in the program on a multi -year agreement, according to CNBC.
So what will be different?
When exactly and for how long “inside the NBA”, will be, is not quite clear. But some important details are, including the “Inside The NBA” crew covering the NBA final for the first time.
ESPN provided a framework for a calendar in its acquisition ad:
“The legendary” inside the NBA studio team will appear on ESPN and ABC surrounding high-level live events, including the coverage of ESPN before the match, half-time and after-match of the NBA finals on ABC, the conference final, the NBA qualifiers, all the ABC games after January 1, the last week, the last week of the season Live events from Marquee. “”
ESPN also announced that its internal studio shows “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today” will continue to be broadcast. Thus, “inside the NBA” does not completely replace the cover of the ESPN NBA studio.
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So does that mean that “inside the NBA” will not be broadcast before Christmas outside the opening week? This would not make much sense given the start of October to the NBA regular season.
Some of these early season shows may fall under the umbrella of “other live marquee events” and potentially include the NBA cup which takes place from mid-November to mid-December. But none of this is yet confirmed.
Smith recently raised concerns about abandoning Calendar Control in ESPN in an interview with The New Yorker.
“We have the same crew of people who make the show,” said Smith. “But the timing: are we half an hour now? Are we forty-five minutes? Fifteen minutes?
“These are the things you can control when you have your IP, but we don’t do it. It was the only part that made me uncomfortable and discouraged, because I felt that we would have all had to enter ABC to negotiate this agreement. I am not saying that our leaders do not know how to do this, but we are the intellectual property now.”
So everything will not remain the same. And there will inevitably be unexpected surprises given all the new mobile parts.
But the overview is clear. We will not cry the end of “Inside The NBA” this week with the conclusion of the finals of the Eastern Conference. We just welcome a new chapter. And this is excellent news for those of us who love the NBA.
