NBA Playoffs on TNT briefly invaded TBS

[BRNout]

Did anyone see the botched cut in of TNT's NBA coverage on TBS last night? Around 10:45 pm EDT, the Family Guy was on and suddenly (and abruptly from a technical standpoint) a sportscaster from TNT popped in - mid sentence, no less. It literally "popped" in with a funny sound and everything - as if someone physically pulled a plug! Honestly, I thought that some part time tech at Comcast screwed something up on our local system.

The earlier game apparently ran long so, without warning, the Jazz/Warriors game was put on TBS. However, it was PRE-GAME coverage.

By the time the actual game started, TNT's early game was finished and TBS abruptly cut back to showing FG. The hijack of TBS only lasted for about 5 or 6 minutes. Anyhow,the whole thing was a complete technical foul! (pun intended)

I'm sure that there was a provision in the NBA contract that required national coverage and TNT found itself in the position of having to do something about it. Nonetheless, it looked as amateurish as when "Max Headroom" overrode an episode of Doctor Who in Chicago back in the 1980's.

Was just wondering if anyone else caught this bush-league stunt.....

 

[MarkL]

Yeah, I noticed that on TBS last night during Family Guy. It was Ernie Johnson Jr. that cut in.

I don't understand why they decided to cut into TBS with only 20 seconds of the Bulls/Pistons game left on TNT. By the time the Jazz/Warriors game started on TBS, the TNT game was already over.

But then for some reason TNT decided to go to a commercial break after the Bulls/Pistons game while the first 2-3 minutes of the Jazz/Warriors game aired only on TBS.

 

[Morgan Wick]

But then for some reason TNT decided to go to a commercial break after the Bulls/Pistons game while the first 2-3 minutes of the Jazz/Warriors game aired only on TBS.

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[ShawnHill1]

A similar thing happened during last year's NBA playoffs...game 4 in the Dallas-San Antonio series ran over on TNT (they went into overtime), so the start of the L.A. Clippers-Phoenix game was moved to TBS, and was picked by TNT after the conclusion of the Mavericks-Spurs game.

 

[mr_mark_taylor]

A similar thing happened during last year's NBA playoffs...game 4 in the Dallas-San Antonio series ran over on TNT (they went into overtime), so the start of the L.A. Clippers-Phoenix game was moved to TBS, and was picked by TNT after the conclusion of the Mavericks-Spurs game.

and it will happen more often now that TBS has the rights to the MLB divisional series, so they'll be cutting in on TNT.

 

[BDBopper]

I was watching Family Guy and i noticed that too. But I was on the computer taking on Skype with a friend and was not paying attention. So all I noticed was that an NBA game was on and then off the air again. I didn't realize how odd and bad the switch was.

 

[RadioZack]

Yes, I saw that. My girlfriend and I were watching Family Guy ("Dammit, Janet" is a good episode!) and it was weird...first thing I thought was, "Well, somebody at Turner f***ed up!", then I heard Ernie say something about TBS, and I immediately changed it over to ABC Family for "Whose Line". the whole switchover was very poorly executed if you ask me.

 

[FilmCritic3K]

Yes, I saw that. My girlfriend and I were watching Family Guy ("Dammit, Janet" is a good episode!) and it was weird...first thing I thought was, "Well, somebody at Turner f***ed up!", then I heard Ernie say something about TBS, and I immediately changed it over to ABC Family for "Whose Line". the whole switchover was very poorly executed if you ask me.

I too was watching TBS at that time. Someone should be fired for that. There was 1 minute and so many second left in the game, yet they decided to air it on TBS. Then the game ended and the scroll stated that once the Detroit/Chicago game ended, they'd return to Family Guy. Well, that didn't happen for almost ten minutes! TBS then started airing the Warriors/Jazz game for a minute or so before returning to Family Guy, thus both games were airing on two channels. Ridiculous. If people want to watch sports (yawn), they know where to find it.

 

[BDBopper]

Yes someone should be fired. However why doesn't the NBA no overlap games? In other words while another game is going on, the next game can't start until that oen is over. And how about starting the games a bit earlier at night?

 

[MarcB]

I saw it too, and of course it was an episode of Family Guy that I never saw before. I also rememeber the same crap happening last year.

However why doesn't the NBA no overlap games? In other words while another game is going on, the next game can't start until that one is over.

I agree. The NCAA does this. About 5 years ago I was board-opping an NCCA Tournament Game being broadcast by Westwood One. The General Manager of radio station told me, he was gonna have to come in and change the channel on the Starguide Reciever before the game was over to carry the 3rd game, however with about 4 minutes left the Westwood One announcer said they were delaying the start of the 3rd game until the game that was currently playing finished. (Game #2 was like on CBS Radio Network Channel 46 and Game #3 was on CBS Radio Network Channel 42).

 

[justthenumbers]

A similar thing happened during last year's NBA playoffs...game 4 in the Dallas-San Antonio series ran over on TNT (they went into overtime), so the start of the L.A. Clippers-Phoenix game was moved to TBS, and was picked by TNT after the conclusion of the Mavericks-Spurs game.

It was actually the deciding Game 7 (not Game 4) for both series. Coverage of LA Clippers/Phoenix lasted for about 30 minutes (~7:45pm to ~8:15pm) on TBS.

During the TBS coverage, I recall seeing a scroll in which they said which program would be joined in progress as soon as coverage moved back to TNT. It said something like "EAST: Seinfeld...WEST: FRIENDS" (this is referring to East & West feeds.)

I think a big reason why TBS has to pick up coverage in these situations is because, in the second and third round of the NBA playoffs, any games shown on TNT are exclusive to TNT. The teams’ flagship broadcast stations & regional sports networks do not get to carry the games. The agreement that Turner has with the NBA probably states that the second game needs to be shown somewhere if the first game is really running late.

Back on 5/14/04, Game 5 of the second-round series between Detroit and New Jersey went into 3 overtimes (lasting about 4 hours) before New Jersey emerged with a victory. It was the first game of TNT’s double-header. The second game that night (Game 5 between Minnesota and Sacramento) started on NBATV and ran until approximately halftime, before finally moving over to TNT.

However why doesn't the NBA no overlap games? In other words while another game is going on, the next game can't start until that one is over.

Sometimes, they will delay starting the second game…but if the first game is running significantly past its scheduled time, then they have to go and start the second the game. They can wait only so long.

 

[ShawnHill1]

A similar thing happened during last year's NBA playoffs...game 4 in the Dallas-San Antonio series ran over on TNT (they went into overtime), so the start of the L.A. Clippers-Phoenix game was moved to TBS, and was picked by TNT after the conclusion of the Mavericks-Spurs game.

It was actually the deciding Game 7 (not Game 4) for both series. Coverage of LA Clippers/Phoenix lasted for about 30 minutes (~7:45pm to ~8:15pm) on TBS.

During the TBS coverage, I recall seeing a scroll in which they said which program would be joined in progress as soon as coverage moved back to TNT. It said something like "EAST: Seinfeld...WEST: FRIENDS" (this is referring to East & West feeds.)

I think a big reason why TBS has to pick up coverage in these situations is because, in the second and third round of the NBA playoffs, any games shown on TNT are exclusive to TNT. The teams’ flagship broadcast stations & regional sports networks do not get to carry the games. The agreement that Turner has with the NBA probably states that the second game needs to be shown somewhere if the first game is really running late.

Back on 5/14/04, Game 5 of the second-round series between Detroit and New Jersey went into 3 overtimes (lasting about 4 hours) before New Jersey emerged with a victory. It was the first game of TNT’s double-header. The second game that night (Game 5 between Minnesota and Sacramento) started on NBATV and ran until approximately halftime, before finally moving over to TNT.

However why doesn't the NBA no overlap games? In other words while another game is going on, the next game can't start until that one is over.

Sometimes, they will delay starting the second game…but if the first game is running significantly past its scheduled time, then they have to go and start the second the game. They can wait only so long.

I stand corrected then...I do remember getting home in time for the conclusion of the Dallas-San Antonio game, and then watch my Clippers get embarassed in Phoenix, sending the Suns to the Western Finals versus the Mavericks.