Inside the NBA crew
Getty Image
Carbonatix Pre-Player Loader
Audio By Carbonatix
It appeared Inside the NBA had run its course before ESPN swooped in to secure the rights to the program that ended its run on TNT last season. However, all signs point to the show being severely underutilized based on the network’s plans for the first couple of months of the season.
It’s been a little more than 35 years since Inside the NBA debuted on TNT. It took more than a decade to find its identity, but Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley joined forces with Ernie Johnson around the turn of the millennium before Shaquille O’Neal joined the quartet that formed in 2011 to usher in a truly glorious era of television.
The Inside the NBA crew may be primarily tasked with covering and analyzing the games on the slate on the nights the program airs, but those responsibilities tend to be an afterthought thanks to the unreal chemistry that’s helped spawn the many hilariously priceless moments viewers have been treated to.
It looked like the show was on the verge of extinction in the wake of the new media rights deal that led to TNT losing the right to broadcast NBA games, but ESPN opted to negotiate another one to keep Inside the NBA alive on The Worldwide Leader.
However, it’s hard not to be underwhelmed by how it reportedly plans to harness that new asset this season.
The first episode of Inside the NBA on ESPN will only be 30 minutes, and the network will only air it twice in the course of two months
The aforementioned deal that led to Amazon boxing out TNT for the right to air NBA games led to the latter filing a lawsuit that spawned the settlement that resulted in ESPN adding Inside the NBA to its portfolio. That arrangement didn’t require ESPN to pay any fee to acquire it, and TNT was given some incentive to agree by retaining the rights to advertising revenue it estimated would amount to $350 million over the first five years of the 11-year arrangement.
However, it’s a bit hard to believe that will end up being the case based on the information Sports Media Watch relayed on Tuesday in a report outlining the initial plan for Inside the NBA.
The program will debut on ESPN in conjunction with Opening Night on October 21st, but viewers will have to wait until 12:05 A.M. the following day to tune into an episode that will only last for a half hour. It also appears they’ll have to wait a while for the second one, as the show currently isn’t scheduled to air again until Christmas Day.
There is always a chance that the schedule is adjusted as the season progresses, but that doesn’t inspire a ton of hope.