Overview
- On ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, Charles Barkley said the league has done a disservice to fans by making games harder to find, pointing to uncertainty over NBC vs. Peacock and Amazon Prime Video.
- The first season of an 11-year, reportedly $77 billion deal spread national rights across ESPN/ABC, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video, excluded TNT, and moved the Inside the NBA crew to ESPN.
- National windows now include ABC on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons, NBC on Sunday nights and Tuesdays (Coast 2 Coast), Peacock on Mondays, and Prime Video shifting from Friday doubleheaders to Thursdays after the NFL season plus Saturday afternoon games for European primetime.
- The NBA says the new setup is drawing broad audiences, reporting regular-season viewership at an eight-year high and record streaming engagement among younger fans, according to Commissioner Adam Silver.
- To reduce confusion, the league introduced a Tap to Watch feature that links directly from the NBA App, social channels and sponsor posts to that night’s live games.