‘Inside the NBA’ is moving to ESPN: When it will air and what the show will look like after decades on TNT

It turns out that this season is not the last for “Inside the NBA.” (Greg Nelson /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

News broke over the weekend that “Inside the NBA” will carry on after months of speculation that the new NBA media rights landscape meant the end of the beloved studio show.

On Monday, ESPN confirmed reports that it will take over broadcast rights for the show around its coverage of the NBA when the league’s new 11-year media rights deal kicks in starting with the 2025-26 season.

It also filled in details that weren’t clear from the reports — most notably, when fans will be able to watch Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith talk basketball, pop culture and whatever else is on their minds.

Per ESPN, TNT Sports — which has produced and broadcast the show since its inception in 1989 — will continue to produce “Inside the NBA” and license it for broadcast on ESPN and ABC despite losing its long-time rights to broadcast NBA games.

Those details are not new from previous reports. But now NBA fans have an idea of when and how often they’ll get to watch the next rendition of “Inside the NBA” — and what it might look like.

What ‘Inside the NBA’ will look like with ESPN

From ESPN:

“TNT Sports will continue to independently produce Inside the NBA from its Atlanta-based studios over the term of the agreement.

“The legendary ‘Inside the NBA’ studio team will appear on ESPN and ABC surrounding high-profile live events, including ESPN’s pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals, NBA playoffs, all ABC games after January 1, Christmas Day, opening week, the final week of the season and other marquee live events.”

ESPN also announced that its in-house studio shows “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today” will carry on. So “Inside the NBA” isn’t fully replacing ESPN’s NBA studio coverage.

The good news for “Inside the NBA” fans is that it will be a separate entity from ESPN’s established studio programming and remain Atlanta-based. While cross-promotion appears inevitable, it doesn’t sound like Stephen A. Smith, Kendrick Perkins and Co. will be…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-18 23:25:00

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