BBC vs Sky at NBA Paris – a battle of broadcasters
Who won the NBA Paris game between Sky Sports and BBC Three?
Two longtime rivals collided on Thursday night in Paris, as the men’s NBA showcased one of the league’s most storied franchises, when the Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons 126-108.
We are, of course, talking about the battle of the broadcasters. State and private ownership systems clashed: it was Sky Sports versus the BBC.
In a rare sporting moment, they aired the same game at the same time, live, free to everyone. Sky presented the show for its Sports package subscribers, but also simulcast to its YouTube channel free for everyone in the UK.
BBC broadcasted it on BBC Three, a channel that is more digitally focused and presents content to younger viewers of the institution affectionately known as Aunty.
Click here to see the BBC’s presentation.
This unusual turn of events came as the NBA is discussing future broadcast rights partnerships in the UK. After a four-season deal was inked with Sky Sports to begin 2018-19, the league is exploring other options. One of these is the BBC.
Prior to the NBA Europe game in Paris, the Beeb announced it would dip its toe into the US league with the French contest between the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls, plus four regular season games, two playoff games, a Conference Final and a Finals game.
It’s unclear how many of the games will feature on Sky Sports and the BBC simultaneously, but on one night in Paris, it happened. And it presented an interesting study into what works best with each channel offering something completely different.
So, the question is: who did it best?
First, some background.
Sky Sports has been on quite a journey since picking the NBA up five years ago after a lengthy hiatus. The first year was a bit of a scramble as ducks were put in order, but it improved in years two, three and four, across its digital written coverage and the broadcast element.
The structure of the Sky Sports department that runs the website has changed throughout this time, and the written content has ebbed and flowed depending on who was in the main seat managing the output, with good stints from Lee Harvey and Stuart Hodge in particular. These days, Maryam Naz is doing a good job of keeping good NBA content flowing, though she is regularly tasked with also producing Women’s Super League football content and has dabbled in other sports such as mixed martial arts coverage. It’s all been good, and Naz is clearly a rising star in sports journalism, but the NBA is a huge beat that previously had one full time member of staff daily, plus additional editorial assistance in-house, and freelance budget available – the latter is no longer the case.
The weekly show HeatCheck was not renewed to start the 2022-23 season, and the live-game analysis each week – featuring Jaydee Dyer, Mo Mooncey and a rotating cast of Ovie Soko, BJ Armstrong, Mike Tuck and others – has not been present for the first half of the regular season. Mooncey and Dyer will likely be back at times for the rest of the season, and they were on site at the Accor Arena for the game.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was involved in creating NBA content for the Sky Sports website for several years. I have also appeared on BBC television and radio to report on major news stories, such as Kobe Bryant’s death, and key moments during different seasons.
Avant-match
The Sky Sports coverage opened with Dyer dodging raindrops on the streets of Paris, highlighting the return of the NBA to Europe.
Dyer has become a smooth, steady hand for the Sky Sports NBA broadcasts. He was joined by Mooncey live in the arena, who is likely the UK’s leading on-screen NBA analyst and presenter, and the pair have a good chemistry.
They led the broadcast with a brief game preview, going into the history of the rivalry between the two teams, celeb row, interviews with French basketball legends about the country’s history in the NBA, and some discussion about the current players.
The duo was joined by BJ Armstrong, former Chicago Bulls player and a Detroit native, who has been present on Sky Sports coverage in the past and now co-hosts The Hoop Genius Podcast alongside Mooncey. His presence made the broadcast booth small, and they were equipped with only two microphones, but their analysis and presentation was on point – even if it was a little shouty at times, given that they were competing with 20,000 people and live music blaring around the arena.
The BBC went with a different approach, part of which might have had something to do with quick turnaround required – the public announcement came out two days before the Paris game.
The show opened in studio with Jeanette Kwakye, who did a great job of keeping the show moving in a Match of the Day type of set-up. It was a more conservative way of doing things typical of the national broadcaster but Kwakye was joined by Ovie Soko, and stand-up comedian and NBA fan Nathan Caton.
The two are different personalities: Caton is a personable, likeable character that oozes fandom and clearly knows enough to talk confidently on the general subject and the history. Soko is a laid back guy who offers insight as a professional basketball player and someone who has been around the NBA Europe games before. He is currently playing with the London Lions, and adds in some celebrity to the mix after his stint on Love Island.
The trio analysed the standings and touched lightly on the players to watch before handing over to Nesta McGregor in Paris, as the man in the arena reporting on atmosphere, as well as the sights and sounds.
Jouer par jouer
Sky Sports handed over to the Detroit Pistons commentary team for the play by play. Technically, it was a home game for the Pistons, and as such, the commentary stuck to a formula that was typical for NBA fans who tune in night-to-night.
For the Beeb, Niall Gray lived out a life-long dream to commentate on an NBA game. He is a commentator for British and international basketball, and is confident in covering up-and-down action. He brought a British sensibility to the game by sitting out in some moments and letting the pictures do the talking, rather than filling in space with word soup like a lot of American commentators.
“The halftime session featured interviews with famous faces and NBA legends, as well as current players, but it then veered away from the subject on hand”
Alongside him was colour analyst Rob Paternostro, coach of the Leicester Riders in the men’s British Basketball League. The pair worked well together, with Gray calling the highlights with punch, and Paternostro adding a touch more colour and mentality of a coach while discussing defensive principles.
The only major issue came in the first quarter, when the sound of the court was ahead of the live feed and the commentary. This was rectified for the second quarter.
Temps libre
Between quarters, Sky Sports returned to Dyer and Mooncey. Armstrong had moved on to other duties that an NBA champion has during these events.
Dyer would tee up highlights and Mooncey effectively broke down plays and why the Chicago Bulls led the game. They have built up a rhythm and confidence in the past few years, so didn’t miss a beat of important game play.
The halftime session featured interviews with famous faces and NBA legends, as well as current players, but it then veered away from the subject on hand to something that might have already been covered off if they were in the studio more regularly together. The discussion turned to LeBron James of the LA Lakers, who is undoubtedly a face of the league, and is likely to beat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time scoring leader soon. The chat was well done and it hit salient points – Mooncey teased the prospect of James hitting a hook shot that Abdul-Jabbar made famous.
Being paid for by licence fees, the BBC is famously uninterrupted by adverts, so this presented a new point of view for the audience at home. The broadcast would bounce between the commentary desk, the studio and the man in the arena, which was smoothly done. Conversation covered surface level themes, and further analysis could have been handled by the in-studio team or if there had been a camera on the commentary duo, but much of the BBC audience will have been watching an NBA game for the first time. These newcomers will have found it a welcoming introduction to basketball.
The BBC halftime package was a history of the Pistons-Bulls rivalry. It was a great centrepiece that interspersed analysis from journalists, as well as former and current players from both sides. It gave real grandeur to the game and encouraged investment for a new viewer.
Aprés-jeu
The experience of Sky Sports shone through during the presentation of the game in Paris. It’s undoubtedly a celebration and a great chance for the presenters to get in-arena and city-based content. Mooncey and Dyer knew what they were doing and while it might not have looked as slick as a studio show might have between quarters and time-outs, the analysis more than made up for the noisy background.
The BBC will have introduced many new viewers with this broadcast, and for a British audience that has a growing interest in basketball but will still be tentative, it was a comfortable watch presenting by people who know enough to carry the show. The analysis that you see on BBC for sports like football and rugby wasn’t there, but in-game commentary from British basketball representatives was a breath of fresh air and on the whole it offered a great introduction to new viewers.
However the broadcast schedule is split up in 2023-24, if elements of each presentation can be taken in to account, the growing interest in basketball in the UK and Europe will only continue to rise.
Basketball has always had a ratings problem in the uk … competing at the same time as Man City v Spurs was unfortunate ! How many viewers watched the NBA on BBC Three ?