“LET’S GET CRUNCHY.”
For those who tuned in to the NBA app at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday, those were the first words they heard. Bol Bol connected on a bank shot, and the broadcast was underway. It wasn’t long, however, before there were four games simultaneously shown on the screen. What the heck was going on?
Anyone who was unfamiliar with what they were watching was probably very surprised. Without realizing it, though, they had just stumbled upon one of the most exciting updates of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Before the season began, For The Win was invited to the league office for a presentation about the NBA’s reimagined digital app. The league promised reduced latency and “the majority of the game feeds” would be shown in 1080p HD.
But what caught our attention the most was the confirmation that the NBA was officially greenlighting a program called NBA CrunchTime. This was described as a free, weekly “whip-around” show that drops fans in to watch the crucial moments of each game.
What exactly is this?
Effectively, NBA CrunchTime is the NBA’s much-anticipated and long-awaited answer to NFL RedZone — the paid subscription broadcast that covers every game’s scoring opportunities and moments when points are put on the board.
This product is something For The Win has fantasized about for years, but basketball doesn’t have the same stop-and-go rhythm football has and there is more time between scoring possessions in the NFL.
There are several ways that the NBA could have approached making a show like this one, and some methods would be more chaotic than others, but this is an idea that many were clamoring for.
“We’ve noticed a demand for the product and for the concept,” said Andrew Yaffe, the NBA’s head of social, digital, and original content. “We tested it quietly last year, and we saw a lot of uptick that was organic, which is always a good sign that people are interested.”
9 games ending almost concurrently and still no RedZone. most of which were competitive finishes. how does the NBA plan on getting fans to care about the live game product outside of their local market/favorite team if they dont have multiple screens running simultaneously?
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 22, 2022
Despite any potential complications with what the right method might be, NBA TV executive producer John O’Connor still feels that NBA CrunchTime is a show that modern basketball fans needed.
“It’s a necessary one for the fans right now in this day and age where the viewing habits are constantly changing and they want immediate results,” O’Connor said. “You’re going to get it with CrunchTime because you’re tuning in to the most exciting time of the night.”
O’Connor knows that comparisons between NBA CrunchTime to NFL RedZone are inevitable. But there are some massive differences, too.
“I would love it if we had 10 games simultaneously starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. That would be unbelievable,” O’Connor said.
“It’s different [from RedZone] in that nature. They have the luxury of one day on Sundays when 90 percent of the teams are playing. But the advantage that we have is that we don’t have to wait until the ball gets to the 20-yard line for us to anticipate a score.”
Who is involved with this show?
NBA CrunchTime is produced by NBA TV and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. Jared Greenberg, a reporter for TNT & NBA TV, is the on-air host. Greenberg’s role, like Scott Hanson’s for the NFL Network on RedZone, is not easy.
He needs to know all of the players in the league, and he needs to know everything happening on the court during multiple games, even if there are several happening at the same time. He uses a comprehensive system on his computer that organizes all of his notes about every individual and team in the NBA.
Greenberg has more than just a cursory understanding of what he is watching. During the first broadcast, he referenced advanced metrics to explain how well Lauri Markkanen was playing for the Jazz since he was traded from Minnesota. It’s a lot to nerd out about.
“There is nobody better than Jared at doing that,” O’Connor said. “Jared’s energy and passion are real, and it shows and it comes through in the telecast.”
With CrunchTime, you’ll never miss any of the action. Cut from game to game and play to play to always stay in the know.
— NBA (@NBA) October 13, 2022
Greenberg was involved with NBA CrunchTime since the beginning and helped conceptualize the idea. He is a self-described basketball junkie and calls this a passion project for himself and for the fans.
“Everything we put into this show is really with the thought of who is watching it and how they’re watching it,” Greenberg said. “We understand that people are watching this on their tablet or on their phone. They may be watching while they’re at dinner, sneaking away from your spouse down low underneath the table.”
His goal is to keep the show interesting to any viewer — that includes fans who don’t have the attention span to just watch one game, gamblers, fantasy basketball players, and those just dropping by.
During the first broadcast, one game was a 16-point blowout, but Greenberg still referenced that it would be a close call for those who bet the over-under.
“We’re watching the over-under. We’re watching the spread. We’re watching player props,” Greenberg said. “I think we can do all of that without offending any one of the other groups of people because we found a balance of serving everybody all at once.”
NBA Crunchtime is such a quality feature. Love bouncing around the league to different highlights.
— Herb Scribner (@HerbScribner) October 25, 2022
You won’t just hear from Greenberg during the broadcast, though. He was joined by former NBA player Channing Frye during the first show, and he’ll likely have more guests in the future.
He has also made it a priority to include the voices of each regional sports network, too. He knows that we should hear from Ian Eagle when Kevin Durant is playing well for the Nets, or Mike Breen when Jalen Brunson has a highlight for the Knicks. Games will always feature the local broadcaster if it’s close at the end.
“When I’m not on doing CrunchTime and not working on TNT or NBA TV games, I’m glued to League Pass. I really feel like I’ve had a relationship with these announcers,” Greenberg said. “I know I want to shut up and get out of the way of these guys.”
Why did it take so long for this to happen?
While there were previous versions of the show that were just broadcast on linear television on NBA TV, this is now a standalone project for the NBA’s mobile application.
“The next-gen app that the NBA has rolled out is a big part of why it makes sense right now to get done,” Greenberg said.
According to O’Connor, there were also several technical questions that they needed to answer before this product was viably brought to the market as a regular program.
How many boxes can they fit on the screen at once? They’ll often do three, but any more than four would probably be a little ridiculous.
How long should they broadcast once they are actually on the air? They tried as many as eight hours during some private rehearsals, but they since settled on around two or two and a half hours — though that could change.
Is there a limit on when and how often they can cut to different games? RedZone gets unlimited live looks, and the NBA has not reached that agreement yet with regional sports networks. But it seems the broadcast is showing live looks more frequently than they had in previous versions of the show. There is, however, a restriction window between when there are six and two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
During rehearsals for the broadcast, they also learned valuable lessons about the flow and the cadence of the broadcast. One such example: A massive difference between NBA CrunchTime and NFL RedZone is that there are more timeouts in basketball than there are in football.
“It’s either Murphy’s Law or it’s just going to get you at some point,” O’Connor said. “But at least once a night, we’re going to go to the live look at the game, and they’re going to call a timeout within five seconds.”
O’Connor said that technically speaking, it’s a “monster” to produce NBA CrunchTime. They have a tremendous amount of audio to pull from in each of the regional broadcasts, and that keeps the control room very busy.
Greenberg works with producer Bert Bondi and associate producer Daniel Eisner to present it as seamlessly as possible, but it won’t always be perfect.
“I got into TV for when you’re 30 seconds to air and you have to rip up your rundown because all hell is breaking loose,” Greenberg said. “So for us, we’re just going to show off what we do best. If we go to a game and it stops and we didn’t see this timeout coming, we’re going to take you right away to the next one.”
When does the show air and how can I watch it?
NBA CrunchTime is free on the NBA’s app for all viewers, even if you’re not subscribed to NBA League Pass. It airs without any commercials.
O’Connor said that NBA CrunchTime is “still playing with what’s best” in terms of what time to begin the broadcast. As of right now, however, they will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET for the domestic broadcast on Mondays and will eventually have an international broadcast at the same time on Wednesdays.
Monday makes sense when remembering the established broadcast schedule. NBA on TNT airs Tuesdays and Thursdays, ESPN’s NBA broadcasts air on Wednesdays and Fridays, and ABC owns NBA Saturday Primetime and NBA Sunday Showcase (once the NFL season concludes).
The #CrunchTime on League Pass is really well done, it's an easy way to keep tabs on the league without having to do a ton of flipping around
— Daman Rangoola (@damanr) October 25, 2022
If you’re looking to schedule a date to watch this show, there is one to mark on your calendar. The NBA did not schedule any games for Election Day on Nov. 8 so as to encourage fans and players to vote. Instead, all 30 teams will play the day before on Nov. 7.
“I don’t know if all these games are going to cooperate and come down to the finish,” Greenberg said. “But what we have the potential for on that Monday night is just to show you what we do best, which is making sure you see the biggest moments of the night as they happen.”
Although it’s a product built for the NBA’s mobile app, you can still watch on Roku, Fire TV, or Apple TV if you want to watch on a bigger screen.
Really love crunchtime, so refreshing to be able to watch NBA without commercials. Is it just mondays? I'd watch it way more than once a week. #crunchtime @JaredSGreenberg
— James t (@mcdonnerfaddel) October 25, 2022
Alec Sturm, who covers the NBA for SB Nation at NetsDaily, is excited about the product but he has some concerns.
“What the NBA needs to realize is that the main product they’re selling here is convenience and not analysis,” Sturm said. “What people are tuning into CrunchTime for is the convenience of there being seven games on and not having to worry about missing the important things.”
This is not necessarily a finished product, however, and NBA CrunchTime is amenable to making changes in the future.
“Our fan base is not shy to provide feedback, and we’re always happy to hear it and try to react,” Yaffe said. “That’s what we’re judging ourselves is how well we can deliver on what the fan wants.”
That means if you’re disappointed that it’s only on once a night, you should probably be vocal about it.
“There is room for growth with CrunchTime,” O’Connor confidently proclaimed. “I hope we see that in the short term. We’ll see the feedback from the media and fans. But the potential is there to grow CrunchTime to a much higher level and I anticipate doing that.”
There are many different routes that NBA CrunchTime can eventually go, but already, it’s an exciting change of pace for basketball consumption.
“We love it so much,” Greenberg said. “We pour our hearts into this because we really feel like this could be the future of basketball and the future of television.”
