The NBA is moving to ABC on Wednesday nights to tip off 2024.
At least, it will have games in January broadcast each Wednesday on ABC. Some of that has to do with the recent Hollywood writer’s strike, and scripted shows still being months away. The network needs to fill some slots — and what better way to do it than borrowing a few hoops games from sister network ESPN?
No matter the reasoning, ABC will carry an NBA regular-season game on all five Wednesday nights in January. Each of those games is being flexed from ESPN.
The Wednesday night ABC slate looks like this:
- January 3: Bulls at Knicks
- January 10: Pelicans at Warriors
- January 17: Mavericks at Lakers
- January 24: Thunder at Spurs
- January 31: Suns at Nets
Each of the games is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. EST.
According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch:
“With the addition of the Wednesday night games, ABC is now scheduled to carry 23 NBA telecasts during the upcoming season — the most NBA games on broadcast television since NBC last held rights in the 2001-02 season. According to multiple reports, the NBA is seeking more games on broadcast in its next media rights deal. ESPN and Turner’s exclusive negotiating window opens early next year.”
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