‘NBA Crunchtime’ Took a ‘RedZone’ Approach to Basketball — And It Worked?
The NBA always seems to be at the forefront of technology — and their latest move (from right out of the NFL’s playbook) may be the next example of embracing the shift in viewing habits.
Last night, the NBA provided a new whiparound-style program called “NBA Crunchtime.” Similar in concept to the NFL’s wildly-popular NFL RedZone channel, the broadcast would bounce back and forth between eight live NBA games without airing any commercials. Last night’s edition was found in the NBA app and was hosted by Jared Greenberg and Steve Smith:
Tonight, exclusively on the @NBA APP, watch the biggest moments of the night as they happen live on #CrunchTime. Join @steve21smith and me as we give you the NBA’s version of “RedZone” starting at 8:30p/et, 5:30p/pt.
— Jared Greenberg (@JaredSGreenberg) January 31, 2022
The recept was warm, to say the least, albeit with some suggestions for the future of the broadcast.
This NBA crunch time is amazing, my thoughts are to not have the commentators talk over everything and instead go with game audio with occasional commentary much like scott hanson #CrunchTime #NBA
— maxx fax 📠 (@notaburner77) February 1, 2022
NBA #CrunchTime is awesome. NFL is massively national, MLB is massively local. NBA falls somewhere in between. This is a great way to get local fans like me to watch more games. pic.twitter.com/GnO0Gwo6wu
— Z (@Mid20sBurner) February 1, 2022
Shout out to @JaredSGreenberg and @steve21smith; they are doing an excellent job on NBA CrunchTime (AKA the NBA’s iteration of RedZone). It has been a lot of fun. They recognize that their audience includes a lot of bettors and fantasy players.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 1, 2022
The NBA has been quick to embrace new trends, especially when it comes to younger viewers. Of course, this conversation has to start with the NBA League Pass, its out-of-market streaming service which has seemingly been available on every sort of different viewing device since its inception back in 1995. The NBA was also among the first sports entities to embrace social media outlets like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, and continues to do so in 2022. The league has even embraced Buzzer, a platform that offers bite-sized clips of live games through microtransactions.
And with younger fans watching less in the way of entire games and more in the way of short bursts of high-intensity moments, a broadcast focused on those pivotal situations seems like a clear fit. Hopefully, Crunchtime finds a way to be part of our lives on a more regular basis.
NBA League Pass
For fans of the NBA, the various League Pass services offer the opportunity to follow one team or the entire league with every game (blackout restrictions apply). Prices and features vary greatly, depending on what you’d like to watch.