Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, July 22nd, 2024

Warner Bros Discovery really, really wants an NBA rights package.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, July 22nd, 2024:

PROGRAMING NOTE:
I am still battling whatever bug I picked up at the TCAs, so this is another somewhat abbreviated newsletter. But I did want to give you a heads-up on this week's reviews, which luckily have mostly been written already:

Tuesday, July 23rd:
Dress My Tour Series Premiere (Hulu)
Eiffel Tower: Life Behind The Scenes Series Premiere (MHz Choice)
Frontline: Two American Families: 1991-2024 (PBS)

Wednesday, July 24th:
Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam (Netflix)
Nova: Sea Change: The Gulf Of Maine (PBS)
Resurrected Rides Series Premiere (Netflix)

Thursday, July 25th:
Kleo Season Two Premiere (Prime Video)
The Ainsley McGregor Mysteries: A Case For The Winemaker (Great American Pure Flix)

Friday, July 26th:
Playground (Hulu)
Wonderland (Netflix)

The reviews will all be posted on AllYourScreens and I'll link to them in this week's newsletters.

WARNER BROS DISCOVERY REALLY, REALLY WANTS AN NBA RIGHTS PACKAGE
TNT Sports parent company Warner Bros. Discovery submitted a formal response to the NBA’s 11-year, $76 billion rights deals with Disney, NBC Sports, and Amazon on Monday, meeting a five-day deadline to respond to the league. WBD is focused on the league's "C" package, which Amazon will control under the upcoming rights deal. The cost is an estimated $1.8 billion per year.

That set of rights includes a conference final every other season, early-round playoffs in line with what is currently on NBA TV, weekly regular-season broadcasts, the Emirates NBA Cup, and WNBA rights, among other assets.

In theory, WBD has the contractual right to match any offer, but there appear to be a couple of complications. First, Amazon agreed to pay for several years' worth of rights fees upfront (about $6 billion), which is why WBD scrambled to come up with letters of credit from several banks that would allow it to match Amazon's offer.

But more importantly, it's not clear that the current contract would allow Warner Bros Discovery to match Amazon's offer. Under the current deal, WBD holds the media rights to the NBA's "B" package, which was won by NBC Sports. But the reality is that WBD couldn't match that more costly offer and is now targeting the smallest of the three rights packages. And there is some disagreement about whether the current deal would allow WBD to do that. So I suspect there is a decent chance this will end up in litigation.

TNT Sports has been leaning heavily into its longtime relationship with the NBA. TNT's Inside The NBA is one of the top studio shows in sports television history and league officials have repeatedly said TNT Sports is much more than just a rights partner.

But much of that goodwill has been burned to the ground in recent years as the new corporate overlords of TNT have made a series of moves that made negotiations much more challenging. WBD CEO David Zaslav famously gave an interview arguing the company didn't need the NBA, apparently making the mistaken miscalculation that he could drive down the rights costs. And key TNT Sports figures have exited the company in recent years, including former WBD Sports president Lenny Daniels, former Turner Sports president Harvey Schiller, former WBD Sports senior vice president Tara August, and former Turner president David Levy, many of them having been pushed out after the WarnerMedia/Discovery Communications merger.

However, at the end of the day, it's about money and that doesn't just mean having the money to win a media rights deal. It's also being able to convince the NBA that the winning bidders also have the marketing money and willingness to spend to promote the games and the league brand. And it's not at all clear that at this point Warner Bros. Discovery can do that over the ten years of the deal. Specifically, the leadership of the NBA is not eager to remain in business with a company that continues to suggest it might decide to split itself up for parts in the coming years.

I've consistently been hard on WBD David Zaslav, his Scooby squad of executives, and advisors such as John Malone. But I've done so because, at every turn, the company has made strategic decisions driven by desperation and the need to pay off debt acquired during the merger. None of this had to happen and it saddens me to see a once-great media company managed like it is a late-stage K-Mart.

ODDS AND SODS
* Maura Tierney is joining the cast of Law & Order as a new series regular for the upcoming 24th season. There are no details about her character, but given that series regular Camryn Manheim (Lieutenant Kate Dixon) is exiting the show at the end of Season 23, we'll assume there is some connection there.

* All seven seasons of the series Homicide: Life On The Street and Homicide: The Movie, which has been remastered to HD and 4K, will premiere August 19th on Peacock. As an fyi, the remaster coming to streaming will be 16:9 widescreen and not the original aspect ratio.

* Sean Gallagher, one of the founders of Say Yes to the Dress producer Half Yard Productions and who spent over a decade at Discovery, died July 19th of cancer. He was 57.

* Amazon Prime Studios has acquired the 70-year-old Bray Film Studios, where Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is filmed. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The acquisition includes approximately 53,600 square feet of sound stage space across five stages, 77,400 square feet of workshops, 39,400 square feet of office, 182,900 square feet of backlot, and 156,000 square feet of parking space. The first Amazon series to be produced there following the sale will be season two of Citadel, which begins production in September. 

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

MONDAY, JULY 22ND:
* Bob Newhart: A Legacy Of Laughter (CBS)
* Candice Renoir (Acorn TV)
* Deadly Case Files Series Premiere (TV One)
* Fatal Affairs Series Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
* Great Escapes With Morgan Freeman Season Premiere (History)
* 61st Street Season Two Premiere (The CW)

TUESDAY, JULY 23RD:
* Captain Marleau: Wind & Tides (MHz Choice)
* Dress My Tour Series Premiere (Hulu) - [first look video]
* Eiffel Tower: Life Behind The Scenes Series Premiere (MHz Choice)
* Gods Of Tennis Series Premiere (PBS)
* Frontline: Two American Families: 1991-2024 (PBS)
* Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta Season Premiere (MTV)
* 1992: The Top Game (Viaplay)
* Spiral Season Seven Premiere (MHz Choice)
* Surreal Life: Villa Of Secrets (MTV)
* Underdogs - The Silver Medalists In Egypt (Viaplay)

SEE YOU ON TUESDAY