The NBA on TNT era is coming to a close—and it appears its end will result in another network casualty from a production standpoint.
TNT will no longer produce NBA TV programming beginning Oct. 1, according to a Warner Bros. Discovery memo obtained and reported on by Ryan Glasspiegel and Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports on Friday morning.
"We made several proposals to continue to provide services and operate the NBA TV network and related digital assets. However, we were unable to agree on a path forward that recognized the value of our expertise, quality content, and operational excellence that our fans and partners have come to expect from TNT Sports," the memo reportedly reads.
That is a major change for the oldest league-owned sports network in North America, which had been overseen by TNT since 2008. It is, however, in line with TNT's pending relinquishment of the rights to air NBA in the United States—which will pass to Amazon and NBC along with longtime carrier ESPN.
As part of TNT's separation from the NBA, the network will license Inside the NBA to air on ESPN in exchange for college basketball and football inventory.
Per Glasspiegel and McCarthy, "MLB Network has had preliminary discussions' about the possibility of taking over NBA TV production, similarly to how it has with NHL Network." MLB Advanced Media began producing content for NHL Network in 2015.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as TNT Cuts Ties With Another Basketball Media Arm After Ceding 'Inside the NBA' to ESPN.
