*NBCUniversal has outpaced TNT in securing the broadcast rights to the NBA through a successful bid.
Bill Simmons has publicly stated that the deal has been finalized for a few weeks, but the league is probably waiting until the end of the playoffs to make the announcement.
“One of the funniest things ever is that we’re all pretending the TV deal wasn’t done like a week-and-a-half ago… I think it’s done,” said Simmons on the latest episode of his. “I think Warner already lost it. I don’t know why we’re waiting til after the playoffs. Maybe that’s how they have to do it, but it’s a wrap. NBC’s getting it.”
TNT’s popular Inside The NBA show, with hosts Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson, will likely end after next season following the media rights deal.
“I think it’s the greatest show on television, but it didn’t cure cancer,’’ an industry source said, per Sports Business Journal. “Guess what else ended? Sopranos is off the air. Friends. Mash. Seinfeld. All great shows do come to an end. Sometimes it’s time to go.’’
Tom Friend with the Sports Business Journal noted in an SBJ article that “details are still being massaged with nothing finalized,” but “there is little WBD CEO David Zaslav can do to overtake NBC unless he coughs up perhaps as much as $2.8 billion or more.”
Reportedly valued at $2.5 billion annually, NBCUniversal’s bid encompasses a “Basketball Night in America” program, mirroring its NFL Sunday counterpart, “Football Night in America.”
“NBC has made their bid, and they’re not budging,’’ a media industry source said, Sports Business Journal reports. “So it’s over, right? And Warner Bros. is saying, ‘We’ll match it,’ and (Commissioner Adam Silver) is probably saying: ‘It’s not matched.’ ’’
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