NBA rejects Warner Bros. Discovery media rights bid; TNT broadcasts to likely cease after next season

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The state of the NBA's television rights has been a hot topic partly due to the popularity of the longtime running studio show "Inside the NBA," which features Ernie Johnson and former NBA greats Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith.

Despite being one of the league's media partners for the past few decades, TNT's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has lost its broadcasting rights deal to competitors. 

On Wednesday, the NBA rejected a bid for WBD to exercise its right to match an offer from Amazon for a part of the league's 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal.

The NBA released a statement saying WBD's proposal fell short of the terms of the rival bid from Amazon.

"Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon," the league said. "Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans. Our new arrangements with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming package that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements."

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Shaquille ONeal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley from TNT talk as a part of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, February 17, 2024 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Brandon Todd/NBAE via Getty Images)

The league also stated that each of the media partners it decided to move forward with are dedicated to promoting the NBA. "All three partners have also committed