The popular "Inside the NBA" TV show will be moving to ABC and ESPN next season under terms of a deal between the league and Warner Bros. Discovery announced Monday.
Warner Bros. Discovery's TNT Sports will continue to produce the program even though its TNT cable network will no longer carry it, the Associated Press reported.
Host Ernie Johnson Jr. and analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith will also remain with the Emmy-winning show, which debuted in 1989, AP said.
The agreement settled a lawsuit filed by Warner Bros. Discovery in July after the NBA rejected the company's $1.8 billion per year offer to continue nearly four decades of showing games on TNT.
The NBA instead struck an 11-year media rights deal with ABC and ESPN's parent company Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime Video that it said was worth about $76 billion.
The league also rejected Warner Bros. Discovery's attempt to match a part of that package, prompting the company to vow "appropriate action."
Both sides faced a Tuesday deadline to settle the lawsuit, according to ESPN.
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said "Inside the NBA" was "universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports."
"We have long-admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before," he said.
NBC Commissioner Adam Silver called the deal "a huge win for basketball fans everywhere" and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said, "We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD."
Originally published on International Business Times.
