ESPN to Debut New NBA Graphics, Music

Entering Final Days, NBA Regular Season Still Strong on TNT, ESPN, ABC

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

3ENDCY1 New York, USA. 10th June, 2026. Victor Wembanyama (1st L) of San Antonio Spurs leaves the court after the final game 4 between New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at the 2025-2026 NBA basketball game in San Antonio, the United States, June 10, 2026. Credit: Wu Xiaoling/Xinhua/Alamy Live News

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Comments 20

JakeFrankie says:

15 years ago

Fantastic news for the NBA, NBA in 2011 just did something Bird-Magic and Jordan couldn’t do get the most viewed first round in Turner History something to be very proud about.

If Paulsen or anyone could help what’s the most watched Conference Final (East or West) ever on TNT? I can’t find it online anywhere…..
Drew. S says:

15 years ago

The Knicks are such a huge draw…the NBA should want them to get better team for next season and be big time playoff contender
danny says:

15 years ago

doesn’t local NY and Boston ratings on regional networks that broadcast along with TNT mean that NY/Boston out drew LA-NO…..seems like it, and should be stated…..
Drew. S says:

15 years ago

I like the new graphics but the bottomline/scoreboard is still the same. However It gives ESPN/ABC a better look. Especially since TNT changed their graphic at the start of the season plus NCAA Men’s Basketball coverage had all new graphics…ESPN/ABC felt the need to gloss it up some. Plus the Game Announcers Background is brand new as well but Lisa Salters and Heather cox still had the same old microphones.
Bessilver says:

15 years ago

Definitely a step up from the tired theme ESPN/ABC has used over the past couple of years. I was beginning to think the producers at those networks was running out of creativity.
LJ says:

15 years ago

The theme is an improvement, however it is still no where near as great as John Tesh’s “Roundball Rock”, aka “The NBA on NBC” theme, “The NBA on TNT” theme, or the 1980’s “The NBA on CBS” theme. It’s absolutely amazing that the self proclaimed world wide leader, that’s had the NBA contract since the 02/03 season, has yet to come close to make an opening theme for their ESPN/ABC telecasts that gets the casual fan pumped up and wanting to watch the game the way NBC and CBS did. (Although actually no theme could save the clicker when Stuart Scott appears right after the theme on the pregame show.)
JakeFrankie says:

15 years ago

I really like the theme it’s got a little ESPN/NBC style them. I hope they use this in the Finals too Pretty good.
mark coale says:

15 years ago

Would you say that NBA and Masters having big ratings at the same time is anything more than the demographics for each spot not really overlapping?
Nbahoops2011 says:

15 years ago

Say what you will about the beauty of the NCAA tourney, the one-and-done format etc. but the truth is that most of the games – buzzer beaters or not, close games or not- were bad played, bad executed and anyone who understands the game of basketball and its nuances can clearly see it..and the championship game was downright awful. I don’t even want to hear people saying it was “great defense”..no matter how good the defense is, there’s no way a team can shoot with such low %’s..and how about the wide-open misses? and the missed layups? So spare me with the great defense argument. (coincidentally, those ones making excuses saying it was great defense are the exact same people who bash the NBA when they see a low-scoring game in the league due to great defense, yet they’re fine when they see a low-scoring game in college due to awful shooting %..and you wonder why I can’t stand college-only fans and their hypocrisy?).

And let’s not even get me started with the 35-second clock..seriously, it takes hours before you see players shooting the ball. Most of the times players keep passing the ball around for 30 seconds or so and then end up throwing air-balls. Fun, right?
The NCAA should try to speed up the game a little bit because, right now, the game is way too slow. I mean, all of the basketball leagues in the world (not just pro, amateurs, too, in Europe) use the 24-second shot clock. I believe the NCAA can at the very least reduce it and I agree with Jason Clinkscales on this matter.

Little dirty secret: take away the brackets, office pools, school spirit and the one-and-done format thing that drive many non-basketball fans to watch the tourney and there’s little interesting left in college hoops..which is something that college apologists are not going to like to hear but thats the truth IMO).

Personally, I watched the Final Four and several games during the tournament because I love basketball (don’t care about college hoops regular season, though) but come on now, it’s no wonder many fans who really understand the game struggle to follow the college game.

Bring on the NBA playoffs, PLEASE.
Jason Clinkscales says:

15 years ago

So even with Turner’s might infusing a bit of life into the tournament, it wasn’t enough to save the crown jewel. Can’t help but to wonder the NCAA will finally respond in the way that pro leagues have to decreased ratings and try to tweak the on-court product.

To plug me a bit, I wondered why can’t the men’s game shave 5 seconds from the shot clock and jumpstart some more offense.

http://asportsscribe.blogspot.com/2011/04/is-thirty-seconds-too-much-to-ask.html
- JakeFrankie says:
  
  15 years ago
  
  College Basketball teams do this, if they don’t get to do the play they want or miss a shot. The PG holds the ball for 20 seconds, than the Big man comes for the Pick and Roll. It’s the same damn thing, Some of these teams cannot play defense, cannot shot, cannot rebound but some of these players are playing Divison 1 Ball pathetic.
  
  It looks like the Rule will be Players must stay 2 years it will for sure help. But the Glory days of College basketball are long gone for now anyways.
  - Jason Clinkscales says:
    
    15 years ago
    
    It’s a frustrating watch because there’s no good reason to hold the ball for 20 seconds AT ALL.
    
    As said in the post, every league with national prominence has responded to cries about stagnant game play by making changes to open up their games. Eventually, defenses respond to the new changes and new challenges are set up. I can’t see how shaving the clock would hurt the game.
Chad says:

15 years ago

To add to the BCS, I know it’s not everybody’s favorite, but they maybe the big winner from the NCAA Tournament.
Chad says:

15 years ago

Not to be picky, but the C it CT needs to be GT, that was a special season for Georgia Tech.
JakeFrankie says:

15 years ago

Duke and UNC are the only teams I see the rating taking a huge rise. I see a trend of 11’s and low 12’s for the NCCA championship games this decade. I don’t see how this game attracted any more viewers to college basketball, the game was terrible and College Basketball is only getting worse and worse UNLIKE college football.

Looks like for the Early part of 2012 the Only Men’s basketball will be College, for the sake of the game let’s hope it gets better. The rumor is Kids will be forced to stay 2 years in College meaning they would have to be 20 years old to come to the NBA.
- Nbahoops2011 says:
  
  15 years ago
  
  ^ yeah, lets pray the NBA lockout is not going to delay or, worse, cancel the season. If it does I’m going to follow the Euroleague even more and the Spanish League (ACB) too. Euroleague basketball, to me, is the 2nd best basketball league in the world behind the NBA..the Spanish League would be 3rd..college, truthfully, is not even in the top 10.
Anonymous says:

15 years ago

Hi!
are there any news about Fox Saturday Baseball week 1 TV ratings?
Thanks a lot!
Anonymous says:

15 years ago

1.5 HH for a season opener featuring World champions and a team from big L.A. market is honestly a disaster, even more if compared to succesful NBA on TNT.
Very bad start for a season which promised to be Baseball’s year…Next Fall there could be no NFL or NBA and MLB, in a time of labor peace, could see its popularity pushed up by other Leagues’ troubles…I premise I’m not rooting for NBA or NFL strikes, I’m just commenting what I read these days in a lot of sport blogs. Almost everyone is predicting a rise in attendance and in both national and local TV ratings. Considering this first game, early indication are not so bright. Maybe it’s been just a game. Maybe Thursday is not a good night for beginning the season. Only time will tell the truth. For now, the impression is that almost every sport event is on a rise. That can’t be said for Baseball.
- JakeFrankie says:
  
  15 years ago
  
  Will it really help Baseball? I’m not saying it cannot but, If people wanted want to watch MLB they can already. I think it will help the WS rating with the NFL out. Major Talk Topics on ESPN for example are March Madness, NBA, NFL labor talk than MLB.
  Don’t forget the (Local) MLB ratings are great already.
  
  NFL is only 1 day a week, NBA season is played when MLB is off mostly. So I don’t see how it effects it so much.
  Just like a NFL/NBA lockout won’t help the College Basketball/Football tv ratings.
  
  I don’t watch the MLB, But I was stunned by the lack of coverage of the opening MLB season. They usually make a bigger deal about it. A lot of people are turned of by the slow pace of the game. I hear a lot of Studies show NBA is getting the youth and While the MLB audience is the older people which is not shocking they grew up a in era were baseball was king in this country.
  - Anonymous says:
    
    15 years ago
    
    Baseball is the most “reflexive” of all the popular professional sports in the U.S. That means, that’s my opinion, Baseball will NEVER be very popular among young people. Or at least, not as popular as, for example, Basketball or Football. But, I think, as grown-ups there’s a tendency to reappraise the sheer beauty of the Game.
    In today’s world there are so many choices in TV that audiences are much more fractioned than in the past. That’s the reason I suppose NFL and/or NBA lockouts could cause a bump in Baseball popularity. History teaches that people are sensitive to labor relationships and the actual situation can be very dangerous for Football and Basketball. MLB has maybe learned the lesson 17 years ago and, I think, even NBA and NFL should realize they’re not “immortal”, letting common sense prevail.