SBJ Media: TNT Will Not Filter NBA Crew On China

I had a surreal afternoon today and am still in a bit of shock. I saw a pit bull escape from his house, run down the street and maul a small dog right in front of my house. I wrote about it on my Facebook page.

HOW WILL CHARLES BARKLEY ADDRESS CHINA SITUATION?

• In his two decades as an analyst for TNT’s NBA coverage, Charles Barkley has a well-earned reputation for speaking his mind – seemingly no topic is off limits. Tomorrow will be Barkley’s first on-air appearance for TNT since the NBA’s problems in China flared up after Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted in support of Hong Kong protesters. Of all the NBA talent on TV, I am most curious to see what Barkley says about the situation, given how politically sensitive it is and how direct Barkley typically is. I reached out to Craig Barry, Turner Sports executive vice president and chief content officer, to get an idea of what to expect during tomorrow’s two-and-a-half hour “Inside the NBA” pregame show that starts at 5:30pm ET.
  
  
• Barry’s answer suggests that TNT is not planning to spend a lot of time on what happened in China. “The NBA and China topic is a news story, and it will be addressed during our show, but I don’t anticipate it being a concentrated focus,” Barry said. He said the show will focus on NBA storylines viewers should expect to see unfold during the season, like the amount of player movement in the offseason and predictions of who will make the Finals. “We’ll be covering a lot of ground." he said. “We don’t filter our guys. They’re going to be informed and they’re going to have perspectives.”
  
  
• Ernie Johnson will interview NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on set before Thursday’s Bucks-Rockets game, and his response to China almost certainly will be addressed. The L.A. Times' Tom Hoffarth has a story about how broadcasters have been discussing China that’s worth a click. Hoffarth quotes new Turner analyst Stan Van Gundy as saying, “What happened with the China thing was in the preseason, when no one cares about basketball that time of year and it’s all about generating story lines.” It’s obvious that broadcasters don’t feel they have anything to gain with this topic. TV executives generally don't think the NBA audience cares about this delicate issue with their rights partner. There’s a sense that the story has played out. That’s why I’m so interested in what Barkley says tomorrow. He’s one of the rare on-air personalities that has yet to be muzzled.
  
  
  

FOX'S WORLD SERIES PLANS: "DON'T OVERTHINK IT"

• From a TV production standpoint, this week’s World Series on Fox is going to look a lot like last year’s and the one before that. Fox first broadcast the World Series in 1996 and has settled into a rhythm for how to produce the event. “Once we hit the LCS, we know we’re one of two baseball broadcasts out there, and we’re throwing everything at it to make sure it’s the highest level baseball broadcast anybody’s seen all season,” said Brad Zager, Fox Sports executive producer, executive vice president and head of production & operations.
  
  
• This year’s Nationals-Astros series starts tomorrow night, and Zager is planning for Fox’s production to focus on the teams’ starting pitchers, who have been lights-out this October. Fox altered some of its high-speed cameras to focus more on the pitchers and allow viewers to see their grips on the ball and the torque on their arms. “You don’t want to overthink it: We’ve been presented with the greatest starting pitching matchups of recent memory,” he said, starting with Max Scherzer vs. Gerrit Cole in Game 1. “It plays right into our wheelhouse, having a Hall of Fame pitcher in the booth who has been through October many times in John Smoltz.” 
  
  
• I expect Washington’s World Series drought to be a big storyline this week -- a team from D.C. hasn’t been in the World Series since 1933 -- a streak of futility that rivals anything in baseball. While that will be part of Fox’s telecasts, Zager said he is not likely to focus on it as much as he would have several years ago. “We’ve been there before for the end of these streaks,” he said, referencing the Red Sox in 2004 and Cubs in 2016. "It seems like that storyline has been there for a lot of years in the World Series over the last decade.” Fox will have cameras at Nats Park tomorrow and Wednesday when the first two games are in Houston.

TAKEAWAYS FROM OCTAGON-NWSL PARTNERSHIP

• I found Octagon’s deal to sell media rights to the National Women’s Soccer League interesting on a number of levels.
  
  
  • We are about to get a gauge for the appetite TV networks have for professional women’s soccer. The games don’t bring in big ratings. But the momentum from the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the appearance of star players should help. As Octagon’s Daniel Cohen said: “At some point every league was in its infancy. Ratings for every league were small and over years and decades of support from broadcast partners and brands, they rose up.” I don’t expect a deal to carry a rights fee. I wouldn’t be surprised if a network picks up production costs, which would be a win for the NWSL.
    
    
  • Media rights consultancy is a crowded space right now. Octagon has carved out a niche operating internationally. I’m curious to see if this deal will help it get more of a foothold in the U.S. 
    
    
  • A unique aspect of this deal is that it will see Octagon advise the league on sponsorship and marketing, in addition to selling media rights. Cohen: “We will help them target brands and categories, price those categories and compile the assets and inventory of how those sponsorship packages should look. We also will come up with interesting digital content that is sponsorable, as well.”
    
    
    

SPEED READS

• ESPN's new daily podcast this morning took a focused look at how Jerry Jones runs the Cowboys. Host Mina Kimes brought in Don Van Natta Jr. to discuss Jones' growing rivalry with Robert Kraft, his frustration with the team's lack of recent postseason success, and, per Van Natta, how he became the "most powerful, influential person in American sports." The episode clocked in at 20 minutes, with almost the entire running time dedicated to Jones.
  
  

• The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg lists HBO's "Diego Maradona" among the front-runners for Best Documentary at next year's Academy Awards.
  
  
• Twitter can often be a rough place for broadcasters, but this weekend saw two instances of rare praise for men in the booth. FS1's Joe Buck was widely lauded for his call of Jose Altuve's walk-off home run to send the Astros to the World Series on Saturday. Baseball Prospectus' Rich MacLeod: "Just an epic, phenomenal call. Suck it, Joe Buck haters." Panthers TE Greg Olsen also got good marks for his call of Cardinals-Giants on Fox while his team was on their bye week. The N.Y. Post's Mike Vaccaro: "Olsen is a natural as a broadcaster. Wow."
  
  
• I’m sorry to see that former ABC Sports exec Donn Bernstein died last week. Bernstein headed up college football programming for ABC Sports in the late 1970s/early 1980s. SBJ’s Terry Lefton: “He was a great human being and a legend in the sports media biz from his years with ABC, University of Washington and UC Santa Barbara. He had unforgettable charm and patois and was a real pro. As my old friend Jonathan Stern would say, ‘You never went to lunch with Donn; he always invited you out for a ‘bowl of soup,’ even if it was mid-July.’”
  
  
• On Saturday, friends, family and colleagues gathered in Charlotte for the 2019 Carolinas Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida. Our team walked on behalf of Brandon McClung, a longtime SBJ researcher who passed away on April 7 at the age of 39 following a lifetime battling the condition. Brandon was a huge fan of the Cincinnati Reds, so we adopted the team's nickname for our effort (a special thanks to the organization, who donated hats for the cause). Our team raised over $10,000 for the event, the most of any team that participated. Proceeds will go toward local community programs and national research and advocacy efforts.
  
  

Longtime SBJ researcher Brandon McClung passed away earlier this year following a lifetime battling spina bifida

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