Inside the NBA in major broadcast change which saves Shaq and Charles Barkley’s show after bitter legal battle
INSIDE The NBA has apparently been saved after an unlikely agreement was struck this weekend.
The popular show starring Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley was due to end this summer when their network lost NBA rights.
But a bitter legal battle between the NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery, owners of TNT Sports, has resulted in a compromise.
Inside The NBA will air on ESPN and ABC from next season.
Shaq, Barkley, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith will all remain on screens.
The quartet will continue to be TNT employees and are free to work on other Warner Bros. Discovery projects.
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The company sued the NBA over a matching rights agreement in their contract to broadcast the league.
The NBA signed 11-year deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime to be the new rights holders from next season.
Amazon took over a package that Warner Bros. Discovery/TNT currently holds.
And the broadcast giants claimed they matched the offer from a rival service and should’ve kept the rights.
But a settlement has now been agreed which means Inside The NBA will be shown on ESPN and ABC instead.
The news was first reported by Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press.
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Inside the NBA is expected to air during key dates on the calendar, including opening night and Christmas.
TNT Sports was also given a global content license with the NBA for the next 11 years as part of the settlement.
Warner Bros. Discovery will also continue it’s existing digital relationship with NBA.com for the next five years.
TNT has shown live NBA games ever since it launched in 1988.
New rights deal
The NBA signed an 11-year deal with three networks for the league’s rights from the 2025-26 season.
And there will be no games on TNT for the first time since the network launched in 1988.
The Walt Disney Company will continue to show the league with 80 regular-season games across ESPN and ABC.
They will also show around 18 playoff games from the first and second round, a Conference Finals series for 10 of the 11 years, and remain the home of the NBA Finals.
NBC will return as an NBA broadcaster for the first time since 2002.
The network will show up to 100 games per season across it’s channels and Peacock streaming service.
It will also be the home of NBA All-Star and show approximately 28 playoff games from the first and second round.
NBC will show one Conference Finals Series for six of the 11 years, rotating with new broadcaster Amazon Prime.
Amazon will show 66 NBA regular-season games including one on Black Friday.
The streaming service is also the home of the latter stages of the NBA Cup and the entire Play-In Tournament.
Prime will also broadcast around one third of the playoff games in the first and second round.
But that will end after this season as part of the new rights agreement.
They have already joined forces with ESPN on college football coverage this season.
TNT will show two live College Football Playoff games on Saturday, December 21 under sublicense from ESPN.
The network will also air Big 12 football and men’s basketball from next season.
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As well as welcoming Amazon Prime into the fold, the NBA is also returning to NBC.
The last contract the network held expired in 2002, when the NBA then decided to move forward with ESPN and TNT.
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