Is NBA TV a goner? Uncertainty surrounds league’s cable channel

August 15, 2025

HW/File

There are exactly zero games scheduled for NBA TV for the 2025-26 season. That means it is likely to carry zero playoff games. That means we have zero reason to watch.

All of this makes you wonder if NBA TV will live on. As far as anyone knows, the network is still an arm of Warner Bros. Discovery, a.k.a. Turner Sports. WBD is no longer part of the league’s media rights package, which is now shared by Disney (ESPN/ABC), NBC Sports and Amazon Prime. TNT has been left in the courtside dirt.

For the record, NBA TV is just what its name says — a television station owned by the league. But it has been operated by WBD through TNT Sports since its launch in November 1999.

It’s reportedly available to about 37 million households in the U.S., considerably down from its peak of 61 million in 2013.

With ESPN, NBC and Amazon carrying all the national games (not to mention League Pass) … well, it’s hard to know what will become of NBA TV. Pre- and postgame studio shows remain an option. Those fantastic “Hardwood Classics” games are another. It also carries G League games and other NBA-produced shows.

Overall, though, I would categorize NBA TV through the years in one word: BOR-ING. The highlight packages too often feel like a trip to the dentist office waiting room. For a root canal.

That’s not a shot at the producers or on-air talent. They’re just offering the coverage that they’ve been instructed to provide. Many don’t know their future.

I spoke to one Turner Sports employee toward the end of last season. He said he had not been informed which direction the league would go with NBA.com (another Turner-operated entity) or the league’s cable channel. He indicated he was concerned.

My best guess is that NBA TV survives the upcoming season. After that, though, it may go away, and if I had to take another guess, the few remaining viewers won’t even notice.