Like so many basketball fans, I was downright delighted in 2024 when ESPN saved Inside the NBA from cancellation by forging a historic licensing agreement with TNT. It’s because of that deal that Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and co. remain on the air this fall amid the 2025 TV schedule. There have been pain points, though, particularly when it comes to the beloved show’s new schedule, which sees episodes air less frequently. I haven’t been too pleased with this, but the network’s head honcho just shared an excellent update.
At this point, Inside the NBA’s schedule for the 2025-2026 season is locked up and, as of this writing, the show’s last episode aired on November 12. Unfortunately, it won’t return until Christmas Day, at which point Ernie Johnson and co. will help cover the swath of holiday games. That’s still about a month away, though, which is disappointing, considering Inside used to air on a weekly basis. ESPN president Burke Magnus recently addressed the reason for the longer gaps between episodes:
So this is an interesting wrinkle, as it seems Turner Broadcasting – the longtime owner of the Inside brand – enacted a stipulation that triggered the show’s hiatuses on ESPN. On that note, it would appear the Disney-owned sports brand is limited in how often it can broadcast the basketball series. That is, it’s limited for right now, at least. While appearing on SI Media With Jimmy Traina, Magnus explained that he envisions changes being made to Inside’s schedule as time goes on:
This is exactly the kind of update I’ve been hoping for, and the exec’s comments make sense. Overall, ESPN’s main priority early on had to be the act of actually acquiring Inside the NBA and formulating some kind of initial schedule for it. The powers that be can now use this season to see what works and what doesn’t and evaluate ratings to map out a schedule with even more episodes down the road. Burke Magnus doubled down on his hopes for a better schedule, and he seems to be speaking the fans’ language: