Everyone seems to think that ESPN will ruin Inside the NBA.
But Shaquille O’Neal isn’t everyone. Neither is Rich Eisen.
In discussing those concerns, Shaq pushed back on that idea during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show on the Roku Channel. And it was after the Hall of Fame center mentioned Pat McAfee’s show being given the freedom to exist as is without the Worldwide Leader’s creative input that Rich Eisen shared that he had been given the same assurances by his former employer.
“Very rarely do I say you and I have something in common — and I’ve really haven’t spoken about this on my show because I’m in love with the Roku Channel people,” Eisen told O’Neal. “And I’m trying to be as respectful as possible, not talking about this on this program, but this show is moving to Disney in September, as well. And we’ve been given the same assurances as I’m sure Pat has. And I would be stunned in any way, shape, or form if they tried to change you or your show.”
Eisen made it clear he’d be just as stunned if anyone tried to mess with The Rich Eisen Show.
This fall, he’s leaving Roku behind to take the show back to the “Mothership,” as Dan Patrick calls it. The Rich Eisen Show will be part of ESPN’s upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming platform. It appears that the show will be exclusive to that service and is likely to continue airing on ESPN Radio, although this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.
For his part, Shaq said that he read an article that ESPN would allow Inside the NBA to be Inside the NBA, akin to McAfee’s show. Maybe he’s talking about this one? (Hey, we know those guys.) Either way, it sounds like those moving their programs to ESPN have been given assurances the network intends to preserve the integrity of their shows as they make the jump to the new platform.