Headline in the next couple of years:
“NBA wonders why literally no one watches the halftime commentary any more”
are we not already there? And realistically Chuck and Ernie were going to hang it up soon anyway, so the NBA is just getting ahead of that. Without those two TNT will be right back in the shitter with everyone else (see the other TNT nights with Lefkoe et al)
Chuck, I got news for you. Most people that follow the NBA don’t have cable. This will likely expand the reach of the NBA to the younger fans and, frankly, is necessary for the sport to succeed. TNT has largely languished with the rights over the years tbh.
They stream the games on HBO MAX. How is streaming the games on Amazon prime any better?
over 80% of Americans born in the 80s already have amazon prime. Also the NBA liked amazon to help league pass internationally.
They will need to pay extra money, so it’s not that different. I don’t know how they will develop league pass in the world, that could be a game changer, they just have to remember people know how to use a vpn, so don’t overcharge
They will need to pay extra money, so it’s not that different.
not sure what you mean here. anyone who has amazon prime already does not need to pay any more money to watch amazon NBA games. As for league pass, Amazon has reliable worldwide infrastructure already, so NBA can wash their hands of worrying about how to distribute it outside of the US.
You’ll still have to pay extra to watch League Pass on Amazon. And the NBA has to pay TNT for league pass content because TNT produces those shows for the NBA.
you’re confusing league pass with the regular amazon streaming games on Thursday night or whatever, they are two separate things. Part of the Amazon package is amazon-exclusive NBA games on Prime Video with no league pass subscription required. It’s no different than current TNT viewers, they don’t get league pass included with TNT either.
And the NBA has to pay TNT for league pass content because TNT produces those shows for the NBA.
unless you’re talking about some non-US arrangement I’m not aware of, TNT has nothing to do with league pass. League pass is a collection of local RSN streams. In fact all nationally broadcast games, including TNT, are blacked out on league pass in the US. Even if true outside the US I’m not sure why it matters, they will just have a different production team going forward.
I understand that the games Amazon just bought are separate than NBA LEAGUE PASS. You can watch LEAGUE PASS on Amazon and those League Pass games will cost extra.
And I’m not talking about the games that are broadcast on TNT with Ernie and Chuck. I’m talking about the games on League Pass, someone needs to build a studio, film the games, make the halftime show etc. that someone is TNT. The NBA doesn’t make all that themselves because they didn’t have studio space, cameras or the know-how to do it themselves so they contacted TNT to make that for them.
Just like all the shows on Amazon aren’t actually made by Amazon.
My point was you don’t need cable to watch the TNT games so the initial comment was false in premise.
You bring up a good point, how many subscribers does Prime have over Max though?
