The NFL is truly king.
In an effort to not compete head to head with the NFL, TNT is deciding to scrape their popular Thursday night NBA broadcasts, which includes ‘Inside the NBA’ until the beginning of next year rather than trying to compete with Thursday Night Football, according to a report by Marc Stein.
This means no Ernie, Kenny, Shaq and Barkley on Thursday nights. The ratings tell the tale of the tape as the NFL’s Thursday night broadcasts are averaging 14.2 million viewers. Even last weeks dud of a game that featured a Baker Mayfield-less Browns team squaring off against the Denver Broncos drew 13.1 million viewers—a 26% increase from Week 7 of 2020. This week's Thursday night matchup between the Packers and the Cardinals will be a tri cast, airing on Fox, NFL Network, and Amazon’s Prime Video. The game is expected to do even better in the ratings.
Here’s a few tidbits from Stein's report:
“I duly consulted TNT’s schedule and learned that they will be a Tuesday night operation only for the rest of 2021,” Stein said. “You read right. The network known for its Thursday night broadcasts and the best studio show in sports won’t have a basketball game on Thursdays again until January 2022.”
It’s not clear whether this is something TNT is doing temporarily or whether this will be something that is more permanent. The move makes sense from an urgency standpoint. If I was a fan of both leagues, there are 82 games a year for each NBA team compared to only 17 in the NFL. Missing one NFL game means a lot more than missing an early season Thursday night matchup between the Nets and the Hawks would.
If I were a betting man, this is probably something TNT will likely make permanent, especially once TNF starts airing exclusively on Prime Video.
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