Inside the NBA' returns on ESPN this season with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal and Ernie Johnson. Here's the schedule.

Dedicated viewers will observe that TNT has been booted off entirely after 40 years of broadcasting the league. “Inside the NBA,” TNT’s poster broadcast, has been moved off Tuesdays and Thursdays and replaced by NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime, respectively.

Postgame editions will be open-ended on ESPN while ABC will run a half-hour and then continue on the ESPN app. The program will air on 20 dates during the regular season and throughout the NBA Playoffs, including the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.

The NBA’s return to NBC is part of an 11-year, $76 billion rights package spread across ESPN/ABC, NBC/Peacock and Amazon’s Prime Video. NBC will air primetime games on Tuesdays throughout the season, and Sundays after its NFL commitments end, and Peacock will have streaming-exclusive games on Monday nights.

STAMFORD, Conn. — The NBA’s return to NBC with a doubleheader on Tuesday night averaged 5.61 million viewers, the most-watched October opening night in 15 years according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel measurements and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

Thunder vs. Rockets peaked at 7.1 million viewers. The post NBA’s NBC Return Draws 5.9M Viewers, Best Opener Since 2010 appeared first on Front Office Sports.

NBC is hoping for a business bonanza with a new deal for NBA games, but will have to bring broader audiences to matches once shown on cable networks

STAMFORD, Conn. — The NBA’s return to NBC with a doubleheader on Tuesday night averaged 5.61 million viewers, the most-watched October opening night in 15 years according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel measurements and digital data from Adobe Analytics.