During stressful times (like the past two weeks…), I often find myself unwinding with the lovable cast of Inside the NBA. For the uninitiated, this long-running, critically acclaimed basketball analysis show aired on TNT, hosted by the steady Ernie Johnson alongside Kenny Smith, a two-time NBA champion with the mid-90s Houston Rockets; Shaquille O’Neal, whose larger-than-life personality is as iconic as his Hall of Fame career; and Charles Barkley, the President of the World.
However, developments in mid-2024 had cast doubt on the show’s future. Warner Bros. Discovery, TNT’s parent company, lost its broadcasting rights for NBA games following a competitive bidding war where Amazon and NBC outmaneuvered them. Amazon alone committed $1.9 billion annually for NBA rights, leaving TNT sidelined. For sports fans, the loss of game coverage stung less than the potential demise of Inside the NBA, which has become a cultural phenomenon far beyond its role as a halftime show. Fans feared that without games to anchor the program, the beloved show might disappear.
Initially, Warner Bros. Discovery seemed ready to let go. CEO David Zaslav declared, “We don’t have to have the NBA,” signalling a shift in priorities. TNT’s bid to retain broadcasting rights was rejected despite a matching offer, sparking a legal battle that raised questions about contract breaches. The situation appeared bleak, but a creative solution emerged: licensing Inside the NBA to Disney, the parent company of ABC and ESPN, as part of a broader settlement.
Under the settlement, Disney gained broadcasting rights for Inside the NBA, which will now air on ABC and ESPN starting next season. TNT, in return, secured international NBA content rights and sublicensed college football and basketball games from ESPN. And, despite the network shift, Inside the NBA will continue to be produced by TNT Sports in Atlanta, preserving the familiar dynamic of Ernie, Charles, Kenny, and Shaq.
This deal underscores the slice-and-diceable nature of copyright in modern media. Even without the NBA, Warner Bros. Discovery ensured Inside the NBA would live on. Fans may need to adjust to tuning in on ABC or ESPN, but the core magic of Inside the NBA remains intact—proving that even in an era of corporate upheaval, some things are too good to let go.
References:
Copyright & Social Media
Communications Law
Thanks for sharing, I’m also a fan of Inside the NBA! I’m not familiar with the full circumstances of the agreement, but I’m curious about TNT’s decision to license rather than just transferring ownership of the show completely. I understand part of the reasoning was so the TNT staff could keep their jobs, but I think it also perhaps signals that TNT is hoping to reacquire the NBA broadcasting rights in the future.