Latest in Turner Sports

Former ESPN President John Skipper, who led the effort to secure the current NBA rights deal, says incumbents Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have no choice but to re-up with the league. “These are existential rights for ESPN,” he said during an episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, a podcast…

CBS Sports and Turner have sold out virtually all ad inventory for the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, punctuating a turnaround for the marquee event after two compromised Covid seasons. The average price of a 30-second spot during the three-week tournament has posted “close to double-digit increases” over…

“I don’t want to die on TV. I want to die on the golf course or somewhere fishing. I don’t want to be sitting inside over [by] fat-ass Shaq [waiting] to drop dead,” said NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley of his tenure on TNT’s Emmy-winning Inside the NBA. Barkley made the statement on a call with reporters today ahead…

ESPN will retake the ice for the first time since 2004 when it airs an NHL opening-night doubleheader in the fall. And the league’s other new TV partner, Turner Sports, also revealed its inaugural games on TNT. The league unveiled its 82-game 2021-22 regular-season schedule today (see it here), and ESPN will drop the…

TNT edged ESPN for the most trophies at the 42nd annual Sports Emmy Awards, which were handed out tonight in a livestreamed virtual ceremony. The Worldwide Leader turned the tables on Turner Sports for the most wins by network group, however. See the list of wins by network and network group here and wins by program…

UPDATED, 8:19 AM: As tipped Monday night, Turner Sports and the NHL have inked a seven-year deal for TV rights starting next season. Along with as many as 72 regular-season hockey games, it means the the Stanley Cup Final and Playoffs will be on TNT and TBS for the first time. The agreement starting in the 2021-22…

Ahead of September’s 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Turner Sports has backed a commemorative project with a baseball angle. In collaboration with The Montag Group and Six West Media Group, Turner has greenlit More Than Just a Game: Baseball Remembers 9/11. The feature-length documentary will detail…

Did you see the game? Then you probably heard Dick Stockton. The man who has called more major U.S. pro sports games for television than anyone in history announced his retirement today after 55 years in the business. Stockton, 78, began his career at CBS in the late 1960s and spent 17 years at the network. He also…

Selection Sunday, when the teams playing in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament are announced, returns to its usual CBS timeslot this weekend. A year ago, the sudden cancellation of the tournament left a yawning void in the sports and cultural calendar. The demise of March Madness in 2020 ranks as one of the most…

March Madness, the annual college basketball ritual that leads to the Final Four and national title game, will unfold on a traditional TV schedule, according to Turner Sports and CBS Sports. The broadcast partners confirmed plans for the tournament, which the NCAA said last month it would hold entirely in the state of…

Sekou Smith, who covered pro basketball for more than 20 including the past decade-plus at NBA TV, died today of Covid-19. He was 48. Sekou was a popular presence on the Turner Sports-managed NBA TV, serving as a television analyst and writer. He also hosted the podcast NBA Hang Time, which has run three times a week…

With details that would be any parent's worst nightmare, WarnerMedia and Turner Sports might find themselves truly behind the eight ball if a discrimination complaint from once-prominent anchor Casey Stern gains traction. "Over the course of the last two years, Casey Stern has been put through his own personal hell…