One of the greatest sports shows in history faces an uncertain future, as Inside The NBA could become a casualty of the NBA’s media rights switching from Warner Bros. to NBC Universal. Speculation has been rife regarding this switch, with Charles Barkley openly joking about needing a new job on live TV.
“Wait, 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon? We’re not doing that, are we? Because I’m gonna be on LinkedIn tomorrow afternoon.”
Charles Barkley once again jokes about Inside the NBA potentially coming to an end if TNT loses its broadcast rights to the NBA, which got some laughs out of Kenny Smith.
"Wait, 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon? We're not doing that are we? Because I'm gonna be on LinkedIn tomorrow… pic.twitter.com/4NHYuXplu0
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 20, 2024
Charles Barkley has made media appearances in recent weeks discussing the possibility of Turner losing the media rights and revealing that he will not be staying with the network if they don’t have NBA rights.
“I just signed a 10-year deal two years ago, but one of the things I did was I put an opt-out in a couple of years because I wanted to cover my ass when it comes to this situation… I said, ‘If you guys lose the NBA, I want to make sure I can get out of here.’ So, I am actually in a really great position. Listen, I love TNT, they’ve been great to me … I wanted to make sure that if we lost the NBA in two years, I could be a free agent.”
The same is unknown for Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, but they’re likely in a similar situation. Ernie Johnson, on the other hand, will remain a part of Turner even without the NBA media rights. This likely guarantees the end of ‘Inside The NBA’ as we know it.
Even if a new network signed up Barkley, Shaq, and Kenny, they wouldn’t have Johnson by their side. The dynamic of the quarter will be unmatched and the new host will have a high bar to live up to, as they will always be compared to Ernie if the other three former players reunite on a new show.
Bill Simmons Revealed TNT Has Already Lost The Media Rights
The NBA hasn’t announced anything regarding the new media rights deal. Bill Simmons revealed that the deal to switch to NBC is already finalized and that the league is waiting for the offseason to announce it.
“One of the funniest things ever is that we’re all pretending the TV deal wasn’t done like a week-and-a-half ago… I think it’s done. I think Warner already lost it. I don’t know why we’re waiting til after the playoffs. Maybe that’s how they have to do it, but it’s a wrap. NBC’s getting it.”
People are focused on the Playoffs right now. The news breaking while ‘Inside The NBA’ is doing live shows for the Playoffs would be a bad look for the league and the network. It’s best that such news, which is bound to upset fans tremendously, wait until the season is over.
The NBA also will fall out of the mainstream news cycle in the offseason, so announcing their next billion-dollar media deal will attract a lot of positive attention to the league which is booming despite the fall in traditional TV ratings.
NBC is expected to replace TNT as part of the official broadcasters of the league, with ESPN/Disney maintaining their rights and Amazon expected to swoop in as the league’s official streaming partner.
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