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Warner Bros. Discovery’s NBA Hopes May Hinge on Elusive ‘Fourth Package’ of Games
Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to cajole the NBA to carve out a small fourth package of NBA games, but such efforts may be tough to accomplish
The media company has signaled in recent days to the NBA that it would like to discuss the prospect of carving out a small package of game rights to go alongside those already negotiated with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal, according to people familiar with the talks. While the move may have helped the company’s finances, one person said, it created the perception that Warner didn’t see value in investing in the production of games or its venerable “NBA on TNT” studio show. Keeping a tranche of games would give it reason to continue to broadcast “NBA on TNT” with Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, potentially with more scarcity that might help it drive up ad rates while maintaining its leverage with cable and satellite carriers.
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