ESPN is trying its best to get fans of “Inside the NBA” to put down their pitchforks.
Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of content, spoke this week in an interview to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. During the interview, Magnus addressed the fan concerns about the popular show “Inside the NBA,” which is moving to ESPN this year after spending the last several decades airing on TNT.
Magnus said that ESPN’s “goal” is to keep the usual runtime of “Inside the NBA.” He also noted that the show will still be “very similar” to the way it has always been.
“That is our goal [for it to] be as close to that as we can possibly get,” Magnus said of the typical runtime of “Inside the NBA.” “I understand that standard operating procedure for us for many years has been to get to ‘SportsCenter.’ There’s going to be 200 or 300 nights or so that we’re still going to do that.
“[Fans are] going to get the show they love in a way that’s very similar to the way it’s always been,” Magnus added. “It’s still produced in Atlanta by the very same people that produced it for Turner. It’s in their building. Other than a logo on the set, it’s going to appear the same, and that’s exactly what we want.”
Deitsch noted in the piece that full details on how exactly ESPN plans to use “Inside the NBA” are likely to emerge over the next three weeks. He did also add though that “Inside the NBA” will have an early-season hiatus since ESPN’s NBA schedule is backloaded. You can read the full interview with Magnus here.
Ever since ESPN acquired the rights to air “Inside the NBA,” fans have been worried about how the network might tinker with the show (which already has a winning formula with the four-man crew of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal and won 19 total Sports Emmy Awards over the course of its illustrious run at TNT). Then a disappointing report broke last month claiming both that ESPN may trim “Inside the NBA” down to 30 minutes (after previously airing for 40-50 minutes at TNT) and that “Inside the NBA” might be off the air for two months in between Opening Night and Christmas Day.
While Deitsch’s reference to a hiatus means that the second possibility may still be in play, Magnus holds that the network’s goal is to maintain “Inside the NBA” at its traditional runtime. Still, there are other concerns facing the show’s move to ESPN right now, and even the co-host Barkley has sounded off on the situation in recent months.
