Charles Barkley’s emotional address lays out harsh reality of Inside the NBA broadcast shake up that ‘doesn’t care about fans’
Charles Barkley has launched another rant about the NBA and its broadcasting setup.
The NBA legend turned popular sports media personality recently appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast and criticised the new TV structure that kicks off later this year.
When the NBA announced its stunning 11-year $76 billion TV deal, there was one clear loser.
And that was TNT, which lost the rights to televise the NBA after broadcasting the league for 36 years.
Instead, joining ESPN as the broadcasters for the next 11 years would be NBC, which poached Michael Jordan as an analyst, and Amazon Prime.
So with TNT’s exit, the main headlines from the new TV deal were all about the future of Inside the NBA, which is a TNT program.
However, after the uproar about the popular sports program ending, a deal was reached for TNT to license the program and air it on ESPN.
While rumors emerged about whether the quartet Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Barkley, who is a frequent critic of ESPN, would be kept together, in the end it was confirmed there would be no changes.
Inside the NBA format unknown, says Barkley
However, it’s safe to say that Barkley isn’t exactly over the moon to be joining ESPN.
He ranted to Simmons that he’s still none the wise about what Inside the NBA will look like on ESPN.
“After the game, we can have a conversation and have fun. Are they going to say, you guys got three minutes, five minutes, 15, 20, 30, 45, or are we going to go straight to SportsCenter?” Barkley said.
TNT would typically air Inside the NBA for an additional hour after games concluded, with the later slot often leading to many a viral moments that fans grew to love.
Barkley claims the NBA don’t care about fans
Another issue Barkley discussed was how there are too many streaming services and channels airing the NBA.
With Amazon entering the scene as well as NBC, which will air some games on its channels and some on its streaming platform, Peacock, Barkley slammed the impact the potential confusion this may cause.
“My thing is, how are regular fans going to know?” Barkley began.
“Like, okay, it’s Tuesday… where do I go? Especially when they start putting games on Peacock and it’s not going to be on NBC. I think that’s a huge dilemma for the NBA.
“I think it’s a big deal because they just took all the money from all three networks.
“I don’t think they give a s—t about the fans, and I think this is going to come back to bite them, to be honest with you.”
Barkley reveals NBC tried to hire him
Barkley also revealed that NBC tried to add him to their coverage for next season, but their contract demanded too much of him.
“The boss at NBC hired me at Turner, I got a lot of love for Mark Lazarus. I said, you know what? I can work Monday and Tuesday, I’m good with that,” Barkley recounted.
“But by the time I got the contract, they’re like, well once football is over, you’re going to work three days a week. That was my first red flag. And then when they put Kentucky Derby, U.S. Open, Olympics ’28 and ’30, I said hell no.”
A Jordan and Barkley collab, amid reports that the pair are not friends, would have undoubtedly been must-see television.
Stay up to date with the latest from the NBA across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for all the offseason news, interviews and more.
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
