New details on NBA's television plan, impact on Heat and what to expect next season
And now, as the league begins a partnership with two streaming services, watching Heat games might again become a bit more expensive this season, depending on the whims of the league and multiple rights-holders, and also depending on whether you currently subscribe to two major streaming services.
According to league and network sources, a significant number of the Amazon Prime Video and Peacock games this season — the first of an 11-year deal — will be exclusive, meaning they cannot be televised by regional sports networks. Some of the Amazon and Peacock games will be permitted to be carried by RSNs.
Fans of each team won't know how many games will be 'lost' to Amazon and Peacock until the schedule is announced sometime in Auguest.
Also, all NBC games will be exclusive in the new deal, and all ABC games (and select ESPN games) also will remain exclusive.
In the past deal, TNT — which is exiting NBA game coverage — had exclusivity for Thursday night games and playoff games beginning in the second round.
Amazon Prime Video costs $14.99 per month or $139.99 per year. Peacock, NBC's streaming service, is priced at $5.99 per month. If you're a Heat fan who already subscribes to both, there won' t be any added costs. There would be added costs only if you don't subscribe to either, and if any Heat games are among the exclusive-only Amazon or Peacock packages.
For some, the greater impact will be felt in the playoffs, when every game — including those on Amazon Prime and Peacock — will be exclusive. In past years, FanDuel Sports Sun could carry first-round Heat playoff games that aren't on ABC. That's no longer the case.
Also, if the Heat is relegated to the play-in tournament for a fourth consecutive season, those games will be available only on Amazon Prime, as opposed to ESPN and TNT in past years.
And some games of the early-season NBA Cup tournament — including the semifinals and finals — also will be exclusive to Amazon Prime.
Here's what to know about when games will be aired or streamed:
▪ Amazon, which has a 66-game regular-season package, will carry NBA games on Friday nights until the NFL regular-season ends, and then will stream games on Thursday and Friday nights. Amazon also will have some Saturday afternoon games.
▪ Peacock will carry a doubleheader on Mondays.
▪ ESPN, which aired games mostly on Wednesdays and Fridays in the previous contract, now will carry games on Wednesdays and some Fridays. ABC will continue to televise games on Saturday nights (after football season) and Sunday afternoons and Christmas.
▪ NBC will carry a Sunday night game after NFL season ends and will air a Tuesday night game all season.
NBC is trying an unprecedented approach on Tuesdays: One game will air on NBC affiliates in the Eastern and Central time zones on Tuesdays, and a different game (originating from the West) will air on NBC affiliates in the Mountain and Western time zones. Both games will be available on Peacock.
That clever strategy means games will air in prime time on both coasts and keeps local stations from needing to pre-empt local news. But it also means that some appealing inter-conference games — such as the Lakers vs. the Knicks — likely cannot be scheduled on Tuesdays.
But according to a source, NBC will carry two games in the entire country — on NBC — on opening night, like TNT has in past years. That essentially opens up any possible matchup for NBC on opening night.
NBA talent news
So why didn't NBC hire Dwyane Wade after using him alongside Noah Eagle on men's basketball Olympic broadcasts last year?
According to a source, NBC offered Wade a job on its primary studio set, but Wade did not want to travel every week from his Los Angeles area home to NBC's studios in Stamford, Connecticut.
Instead, NBC opted for Carmelo Anthony (who lives in the Stamford area) and Vince Carter; both will work with host Maria Taylor on Sunday night and Tuesday night games.
Wade instead opted for a job with Amazon, where he can call some games and make some studio appearances in Culver City, California, which is near his home.
▪ Expect Mike Tirico, NBC's lead voice, to work a lot with Reggie Miller. Though Jamal Crawford has been identified by NBC as its co-lead analyst, the network will see how this season goes before determining whether Crawford will be paired with Tirico and Miller on a conference finals next season.
Noah Eagle will be NBC's other primary NBA announcer, and Terry Gannon — a longtime NBC golf and Olympics announcer — will be the network's No. 3 play-by-play voice. To some, Gannon is best known as a sharp-shooting guard on North Carolina State's Cinderella NCAA championship team that beat Hakeem Olajuwon's Houston Cougars in 1983. Gannon was quite capable as a college basketball play-by-play man and analyst early in his career.
Gannon and Grant Hill will be among those calling games on Peacock; Ahmed Fareed has been named host for Monday night Peacock games.
▪ Amazon has assembled a very deep talent lineup, in some ways better than ESPN's group.
Play-by-play: Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Wolves TV voice Michael Grady, Hornets TV voice Eric Collins..
Analysts: Stan Van Gundy, Brent Barry, Dell Curry; D-Wade, Steve Nash, Candace Parker will split time between games and studio. (Eagle and Harlan obviously keep their CBS NFL and college basketball jobs as well.)
Studio: Rooks, Dirk Nowitzki, Udonis Haslem and Blake Griffin, with some appearances by Wade, Nash and Parker.
News note
Former South Florida radio personality Joy Taylor, sister of UM assistant coach and Dolphins legend Jason Taylor, lost her FS-1 job this week as part of major changes at the network.
FS-1 canceled three shows, including Taylor's 'Speak' – which she co-hosted with Paul Pierce and Keyshawn Johnson, as well as 'The Facility' (which featured former NFL players James Jones, Chase Daniel, Emmanuel Acho and LeSean McCoy) and 'Breakfast Ball' (which featured former NFL player Mark Schlereth).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Comcast Profit Jumps 183% on $9.4 Billion Sale of Hulu Stake
Comcast Corporation saw a substantial net income lift in the second quarter of 2025, owing to the sale of its Hulu share to Disney. Net income was reported as $11.1 billion on Thursday thanks to the $9.4 billion the company received from the sale. Revenue also increased 2.1% over the quarter to hit $30.3 billion. This was partially due to growth in the company's Content and Experiences division, which saw a 6% uptick in revenue due to the opening of Universal's latest Orlando theme park, Epic Universe. Connectivity revenue also increased 5.4% due to growth in domestic broadband and wireless as well as international connectivity and business services connectivity. More from TheWrap Comcast Profit Jumps 183% on $9.4 Billion Sale of Hulu Stake 'South Park' Season 27 Premiere Nabs Almost 6 Million Viewers Across Platforms, Biggest Linear Share Since 1999 'Superman' Soars as the No. 1 Title Audiences Are Most Excited About for 7th Consecutive Week | Chart Paramount Needs 'South Park' — Despite the Ridicule and $1.5 Billion Price Tag | Analysis As for the television and film side of the business, media EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) increased 9.3% year over year to hit $1.5 billion. This uptick was largely driven by Peacock, which increased its revenue by 18% to hit $1.2 billion during the quarter, as well as decreases in programming and production costs. Peacock's EBITDA losses also accounted for $101 million, a $247 million improvement from the year prior. The studios division saw a EBITDA decrease of 31%, accounting for $85 million. Despite seeing an 8% increase in revenue over the quarter, higher operating expenses led to the overall decline. Specifically, those expenses reflected higher costs connected to content licensing sales as well as higher marketing andpromotion expenses that were spent on both recent and upcoming theatrical film releases. Two of the company's buzziest movies — the live action 'How to Train Your Dragon' and 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' — premiered in summer, which partially accounted for the increased costs. The profits from both of those movies will likely be better reflected in Comcast's third quarter report. Here are the key takeaways: Net income: $11.1 billion, up 183% year over year. On an adjusted basis, net income fell 1.7% to $4.65 billion. Earnings per share: $2.98 per share, compared to $4.06 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance. Revenue: $30.3 billion, compared to $123.6 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance. The latest quarterly results come as Comcast is preparing to spin off its cable network portfolio into a publicly traded, standalone company called Versant by the end of 2025. Versant, which is expected to reach over 65 million U.S. households and generate $7 billion in annual revenue, will house MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, Golf Channel and digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine. The move will be tax-free to Comcast's shareholders. Last week, Versant unveiled its full board of directors, which will include its CEO Mark Lazarus, former Yum Brands! CEO David Novak as chairman and Disney's former international content and operations chairman Rebecca Campbell, among others. It also comes as NBCUniversal recently closed its upfront negotiations, touting a nearly 15% year over year increase in ad commitments across its broadcast offerings, including news, sports and entertainment. It also said it was the largest digital upfront and strongest sports upfront in history, though it offered no hard numbers. Versant, which will continue to be represented by NBCU in the next two upfront cycles, saw a nearly 10% increase in clients investing in its brands, while Peacock saw an over 20% year over year increase, representing nearly a third of the media giant's total upfront commitments. The company's new 11-year media rights deal with the NBA contributed to a 20% increase in new clients compared to the 2024-2025 season and a 45% year over year increase in volume. Over 25% of NBCUniversal's NBA advertisers will be new to broadcast this year. Peacock has hiked the price of its plans by $3 per month, with its premium plan hitting $10.99 per month and premium plus plan hitting $16.99 per month. The change took effect for new customers on July 23 and will impact existing customers on Aug. 22. It also is testing a $7.99 per month Select tier, which will feature current seasons of NBC and Bravo programming and a broad assortment of library titles. More to come… The post Comcast Profit Jumps 183% on $9.4 Billion Sale of Hulu Stake appeared first on TheWrap. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Tom's Guide
9 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
What is AgeGO, and is it safe to use?
With the introduction of the Online Safety Act on July 25, 2025, residents of the U.K. will now need to verify their age in order to access mature content. This has led to a flurry of interest in the best VPNs in order to avoid the age verification laws altogether, as well as increased search terms for specific age verification services, including AgeGO. Here's a look at what AgeGO is, how it works and whether or not it is safe for you to use. NordVPN: our top-rated VPN overallFrom our testing, we consider NordVPN to be the best VPN for most people. This is down to its rock-solid security and privacy, excellent speeds and great unblocking performance. Prices start from £2.31 / $2.91 per month for a two-year subscription, which includes an exclusive four months free for Tom's Guide readers. Plus, you can get an Amazon gift card worth up to £50 / $50 if you sign up for NordVPN's Plus or Complete memberships. A 30-day money-back guarantee applies to all subscriptions. AgeGO is an online age verification service. On the front page of its website, it claims that using it will allow users to "access all [their] favourite sites without re-verifying," but this is only true if the site they are trying to access uses AgeGO as an age verification service. According to its website, AgeGO was founded in Barcelona in 2019 and is a part of EXOGROUP, an investment company also based in Barcelona. With age verification now compulsory across a number of different sites and social media platforms in the U.K., it is understandable that U.K. citizens would be looking for a quick, easy and secure way to verify their age. However, with this rise in demand, there will no doubt be a rise in companies looking to take advantage of this demand. So, is AgeGO legit, or is it trying to take advantage of a trend? AgeGO employs a number of different methods to verify users' ages, including: Naturally, each of these methods require you to give some form of personal information to AgeGO in order to verify your age, from your phone number to more sensitive information like your credit card details or a scan of your photo ID. Additionally, it's important to note that AgeGO uses third parties to verify your identity for each of its age verification methods. The only third party that is disclosed is Yoti, a London-based age verification and digital ID provider, which is used to verify digital IDs through AgeGO. This lack of disclosure raises questions about the integrity of these third parties, and what their own privacy policies state with regards to the collection and storage of users' personal information. In its own words, AgeGo's age verification methods are "free for the end users, secure and respect end user privacy by fully protecting their identity and data." In practice, this means that AgeGO does not access, view or store any data submitted by users to verify their age, whether this is a picture of their face, a scan of ID, their credit card number or their phone number. It is also compliant with EU and U.K. age data privacy laws. However, AgeGO employs the use of third-party providers in the age verification process in order to ensure that it only receives the result of the verification, and none of the data provided to it. This adds an extra layer of anonymity between yourself and the site you are trying to access, as the third party that verifies your age will only see that you have been redirected from AgeGO. So, while AgeGO does not access your personal data at any time in the verification process, these third parties that are used for all of its age verification methods do. It is unclear what these third parties are, as they are not named in AgeGo's privacy policy. Due to this, it's impossible to verify their own data privacy and security policies. This means that you do not know what happens to your personal data after it is used to verify your age. Additionally, there is the caveat that AgeGO's age verification service is only useful if you're trying to use a site that uses AgeGO for age verification. If you were hoping to verify your age in one central location and use this across the internet, then unfortunately, this is not possible. This is due to the Online Safety Act requiring that sites and social media platforms themselves put "technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair" age verification processes in place. This means that both the age verification techniques and third parties used to verify your age will vary from site to site. Overall, there are some questions around the third parties AgeGO uses, what they do with your data and whether or not it is secured properly when being processed by said third parties. Tom's Guide reached out to AgeGO for clarification, but at the time of writing, it has not provided any comment. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Gizmodo
9 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
Forget Cloud Storage, this Massive 22TB Seagate Hard Drive is only 1 Cent per GB for Life
If you're the type to store a lot of stuff without constantly worrying about running out of space, chances are you already know Seagate as a great brand for high-quality external hard drives. With back to school season about to start now just weeks away, Seagate has released an incredible deal on their massive 22TB external hard drive: It's now $249, a fraction of its original price of $599. This is one of the top-selling hard drives with more than 261,000 reviews and an average rating of 4.6 stars on Amazon. Millions of customers rely on Seagate, and at that price point, this deal is really hot. See at Amazon The very first thing to notice is the colossal 22 terabytes of storage. To put it in context, that is enough space to hold thousands of high-definition photos, hours of 4K video, or vast collections of music and games all in one place. This drive uses USB 3.0 technology so it's easily plugged into most desktops and laptops and copies files quickly compared to previous USB technology. The Seagate drive is also made to be incredibly simple to use: You just plug it into a USB port, and it's ready to go. It's a simple, plug-and-play solution that anyone can use. That convenience makes backing up your data or expanding your storage capacity hassle-free. If you're working with multiple devices or need to jam-pack your files without upgrading your computer's internal storage, this drive is a solid choice. One feature that stands out is the inclusion of Rescue Data Recovery Services along with the hard drive. Things do go awry, and sometimes even the best storage drives fail. Rescue services offer some level of guarantee because, in the event of any data loss in the case of hardware failure, Seagate comes to your rescue to restore your precious files. On top of the functional qualities, this portable hard drive is also rugged: It is built in a casing that is solid enough to use every day, protecting your files from everyday knocks and bumps. It is also of a useable size and shape and easy enough to stash away when not being used without taking up much room. Overall, paying $249 for 22TB of space is a hard value to top in today's market (way more than a random cloud storage solution). See at Amazon
