College Basketball on TNT Sports

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College Basketball on TNT Sports is the de facto title of college basketball coverage produced by TNT Sports for TNT, TBS, TruTV and NBA TV.

History[edit]

Early TBS games (1982–1983)[edit]

On December 11, 1982, TBS[1][2] (with the aid of more than 100 independent network affiliates and stations[3]) broadcast a contest between Virginia and Georgetown[4][5][6] (led by Ralph Sampson and Patrick Ewing[7] respectively). The game in question (in which TBS paid approximately US$600,000[8] for the broadcasting rights) was called by Skip Caray[9] and Abe Lemons. On November 26, 1983, TBS broadcast a contest between Kentucky and Louisville. TBS, in a joint venture with Sports Production Inc. of Dallas, paid $600,000 for the rights to the game.[10] Skip Carey and Joe Dean were on the call of the game.[11]

March Madness Era (2011–present)[edit]

Main article: NCAA March Madness (TV program)

On April 22, 2010, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reached a 14-year agreement,[12] worth US$10.8 billion, with CBS and the Turner Broadcasting System to receive joint broadcast rights to the Division I men's college basketball tournament.[13] This came after speculation that ESPN would try to obtain the rights to future tournament games.[14] The NCAA took advantage of an opt-out clause in its 1999 deal with CBS (which ran through 2013, even though the NCAA had the option of ending the agreement after the 2010 championship) to announce its intention to sign a new contract with CBS and Turner Sports, a division of WarnerMedia (which later was absorbed into Warner Bros. Discovery who, incidentally, jointly owned The CW with the CBS television network's corporate parent Paramount Global). The new contract came amid serious consideration by the NCAA of expanding the tournament to 68 teams.

The agreement, which runs through 2032 (extended from 2024 in 2016),[15] stipulates that all games are available nationally. All First Four games air on truTV. During the first and second rounds, a featured game in each time "window" is broadcast terrestrially on CBS (15 games), while all other games are shown on TBS (12 games), TNT (12 games) or truTV (nine exclusive games, from 2024 on select TNT and/or TBS games may get a simulcast on TruTV when that network is not airing any games). Sweet 16 (regional semifinal) and Elite 8 (regional finals) games are split among CBS and TBS. In 2014 and 2015, Turner channels had exclusive rights to the Final Four (with standard coverage airing on TBS), and CBS broadcast the championship game. Since 2016, rights to the Final Four and championship game alternate between Turner and CBS; the 2016 tournament marked the first time that the national championship game was not broadcast on over-the-air television.[16]

In 2011, TruTV acquired the rights to the preseason Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, beginning with 2012. The tournament was the first regular season games aired by TNT Sports since 1983.[17] The tournament was discontinued after the 2014 edition.

In 2023, TNT and TruTV began airing the Hall of Fame Series. The four game event features two early afternoon games on TruTV and two primetime games on TNT. Two of the four games featured Women's college basketball, which had never aired on TNT or TruTV prior to 2023.[18]

HBCU games (2021–present)[edit]

Regular season basketball produced by TNT Sports returned during the 2020–21 season. NBA TV, which is operated by TNT Sports, televised 2 college basketball games as part of a doubleheader on February 22, 2021. The telecasts featured both men's and women's college basketball games between Jackson State University and Grambling State University and were the first college basketball games ever on the network.[19]

Prior to the 2021–22 season, TNT Sports expanded its HBCU coverage when it reached an agreement to air the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic, a two-game event featuring four HBCU teams, on TNT. TNT utilized the March Madness graphics package for these games.[20] Also, as part of its NBA All-Star Game coverage, NBA TV began producing the NBA-HBCU Classic game, which is also simulcast on TNT and ESPN2.[21] In 2022, NBA TV also aired four other regular season games from the SWAC. On February 5, 2022, NBA aired a doubleheader of men's and women's college basketball games between Florida A&M University and Texas Southern University. On February 12, 2022, NBA aired a doubleheader of Men's and Women's college basketball games between Texas Southern University and Grambling State University.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ 1982 83 #1 Virginia at #4 Georgetown 1 of 1 on YouTube
  2. ^ 1982-83 UVA vs. Georgetown 12/11 on YouTube
  3. ^ Stoda, Greg (December 10, 1982). "Battle of giants forms collation". Star-News. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  4. ^ Rothenberg, Fred (July 22, 1982). "Superstation Wtbs Fights Network Methods, Programs". Toledo Blade. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  5. ^ Richard, Chris (July 22, 1982). "Awesome Basketball Game Spotlights Sampson-Ewing Confrontation". The Cavalier Daily. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  6. ^ 1982-83 UVA vs. Georgetown 12/11 on YouTube
  7. ^ Meade, Peter (December 8, 1982). "The Biggest Showdown?". The Times-News. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  8. ^ Siddens, Larry (September 16, 1982). "Court Ruling Is Made On Televised NCAA Athletics". Daily Times. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  9. ^ "Hawks Relive Caray Of Announcing Duties". The Palm Beach Post. 4 February 1983. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  10. ^ "Kentucky and Louisville will begin a four-year basketball series..." United Press International. May 25, 1983. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  11. ^ [1983-1984] NCAA Basketball: Kentucky Wildcats vs Louisville Cardinals on YouTube
  12. ^ Fang, Ken (March 17, 2017). "Looking back at how the NCAA-CBS/Turner partnership began". AwfulAnnouncing.com. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  13. ^ "CBS Sports, Turner Broadcasting, NCAA Reach 14-Year Agreement". NCAA.com (Press release). National Collegiate Athletic Association. April 21, 2010. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  14. ^ Surber, Don (March 29, 2010). "ESPN to snag the Final Four?". Charleston Daily Mail. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  15. ^ Bonesteel, Matt (April 12, 2016). "CBS and Turner Sports lock down NCAA tournament through 2032". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  16. ^ Crupi, Anthony (May 7, 2013). "Fast Break: TBS to Air Final Four in 2014: College hoops title game shifts to cable in 3 years". Adweek. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  17. ^ "Coaches vs. Cancer Classic to move". Associated Press. September 14, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  18. ^ "LSU women's basketball season opener vs. Colorado in Las Vegas to air on TNT". Crescent City Sports. October 10, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  19. ^ "HBCUs to be first colleges featured on NBA TV". 18 February 2021.
  20. ^ Rill, Jake (December 17, 2021). "Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic 2021: TV, Live Stream for HBCU Showcase". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  21. ^ Walton, John (October 14, 2022). "Southern and Grambling to play in the NBA HBCU Classic 2023". BR Proud. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  22. ^ "NBA TV to showcase HBCU games in Celebration of Black History Month". NBA.com.
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