Peacock is getting comfortable on NBA benches. This season, it plans to stay there every Monday night.
NBC Sports is expanding its “On the Bench” format to every Monday NBA game on Peacock after using it for one game each week last season. The setup places an analyst beside each team’s bench, with the play-by-play announcer calling the game from his usual position.
“We think it’s a signature element for Monday nights, and the league was on board with us to help the access and get us on those benches,” NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood told Sports Media Watch’s Derek Futterman.
The format debuted during Cavaliers-Pistons last October, with Noah Eagle on play-by-play, Austin Rivers beside Cleveland’s bench and Robbie Hummel next to Detroit’s.
The appeal is hearing and seeing things a traditional broadcast crew can’t. The challenge is sharing those observations without giving away a coach’s next play.
Even Doc Rivers, now an NBC analyst, initially had doubts about the arrangement his son helped introduce.
“I actually didn’t like the idea when I first heard about it,” Rivers said. “I said, ‘I don’t know how this is going to work,’ and then when I watched it, I absolutely loved it.”
Apparently, NBC liked what it saw, too. Now the experiment has a standing Monday appointment.
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