NEW YORK — Basketball’s leading studio show is heading to the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
“Inside the NBA,” the Emmy-dominating halftime and postgame program starring Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal, will begin airing on ESPN and ABC next season, parent company Disney announced Monday.
The move comes amid a shakeup in broadcasting rights, with TNT Sports — the current home of “Inside the NBA” — set to stop televising NBA games in the U.S. next year.
“‘Inside the NBA’ is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement.
“We have long-admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before.”
Barkley, Smith, Johnson and O’Neal will stay with “Inside the NBA,” while — in a unique setup — TNT Sports will continue to produce the show from its Atlanta-based studio even after it moves to ESPN/ ABC.
TNT Sports has televised NBA games since 1989, but its contract is set to expire after the 2024-25 season. The NBA reached long-term deals with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon’s Prime Video to broadcast games beginning with the 2025-26 season.
Earlier this year, TNT Sports flexed a provision in its contract that allowed it to match a competitor’s offer, reportedly doing so with the $1.8 billion-per-year pact the league reached with Amazon.
But on Monday, TNT Sports’ parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, announced a new, 11-year contract with the league that will allow the network to create, produce and distribute NBA content and to broadcast games outside of the U.S.
“WBD and the NBA have resolved all disputes relating to the NBA’s recent media agreements,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in the announcement.
That agreement paved the way for TNT Sports to continue to produce “Inside the NBA,” which has won 21 Sports Emmy Awards, through a partnership with ESPN.
served as another resolution in a drawn-out saga that also saw Barkley announce in June that he planned to retire after the 2024-25 season, only to re-affirm his long-term commitment to TNT Sports in August.
In an amusing twist, Barkley will now appear on ESPN years after he famously poked fun at the notion of working for the network during a viral “Inside the NBA” segment.
“They’re not gonna work me like a dog and not pay me,” Barkley joked amid raucous laughs from his co-stars. “They’ll have me on ESPN 1, 2, 3, ESPNews, ESPNU, ESPN Radio. … They’ll have me on ESPN Deportes saying, ‘Muy bien, gracias!’”
“Inside the NBA,” which launched in 1989, is set to function as ESPN’s pregame, postgame and halftime show for events including the NBA Finals.
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