NBA Saturday Primetime
NBA Saturday Primetime is the branding used for Saturday night broadcasts of National Basketball Association (NBA) games produced by ESPN and televised on its sister network American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Saturday Primetime games typically air on selected Saturdays from January to March or April of the regular season. As these games air in primetime, they usually feature marquee matchups of the league's most prominent teams.[1][2][3]
| NBA Saturday Primetime | |
|---|---|
| Genre | NBA game telecasts |
| Presented by | Mike Breen Doris Burke JJ Redick Lisa Salters Mark Jones Dave Pasch Hubie Brown Cassidy Hubbarth Malika Andrews Stephen A. Smith Michael Wilbon Bob Myers |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 150+ minutes through post-game |
| Production company | ESPN |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | January 23, 2016 – present |
| Related | |
| NBA Sunday Showcase | |
While ABC has been the NBA's broadcast TV partner since 2002, the network's games had mostly aired on Sunday afternoons. In 2006, ABC Sports was absorbed by ESPN, and all sports telecasts on ABC since then air under the ESPN on ABC banner. The first Saturday primetime games on ABC then began in the 2015–16 season, serving as the network's mid-season replacement for Saturday Night Football telecasts following the completion of college football season.
Overview edit
Since its inception, the games had been called by Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.[4]
In August 2023, ESPN announced that the new lead broadcast team of Breen, Doris Burke, and Doc Rivers would call NBA Saturday Primetime games starting with the 2023–24 season.[5] After Rivers became the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, ESPN's lead team now consists of Breen and Burke. In February, JJ Redick was added to the team.[6]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Cafardo, Ben (16 July 2015). "Saturday Night NBA on ABC Launching in January". ESPN MediaZone. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- ^ Cafardo, Ben (July 2015). "Saturday Night NBA on ABC launching in January". ESPN Front Row. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- ^ "ABC to debut Saturday night NBA coverage in January". NBA. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- ^ Cafardo, Ben (2016-01-18). "Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy & Mark Jackson Named NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC Team". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
- ^ Rajan, Ronce (2023-08-14). "ESPN's Reimagined NBA Game and Studio Coverage Plans for 2023-24 Season". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ Rajan, Ronce (2024-02-15). "JJ Redick Joins Mike Breen, Doris Burke and Lisa Salters on ESPN's Lead NBA Broadcast Team". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved 2024-02-21.