Earlier this summer, the NBA and Turner Sports announced the creation of two new live weekly shows that would air exclusively on Twitter throughout the 2016-17 season.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that “The Starters Twitter Show” and “The Warmup” would complement Turner’s traditional linear coverage of the league. Both 30-minute shows will be produced from Turner Sports in Atlanta.
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The Starters Twitter Show, which will be live streamed each Tuesday morning during the regular season, will feature Co-Hosts J.E. Skeets and Tas Melas alongside Trey Kerby, Leigh Ellis, Matt Osten and Jason Doyle. The six collectively view themselves as the voice of the fan and will continue to deliver fun and engaging on the social platform, similar to what they have producing on NBA TV and their podcasts.
Hey, this is neat. #TheStarters live on @twitter weekly: pic.twitter.com/YiJ0WDiq6i
— Tas Melas (@TasMelas) October 25, 2016
The Warmup debuts this Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. EST prior to Turner Sports’ NBA on TNT coverage and will be co-hosted by sports and entertainment commentator Ben Lyons and emcee/DJ Ro Parrish. It’ll combine NBA along with music, lifestyle and pop culture and will be driven in large part through the conversation happening on Twitter in real-time.
“Twitter is the fastest way to find out what’s happening in the NBA and to have a discussion about it,” said Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a statement in July. “Watching NBA basketball together with Twitter is a great experience, and the league has been at the forefront of embracing new ways to reach their fans. We’re happy to bring even more great NBA content to our global audience.”
The expanded content partnership between Twitter and the NBA will also see the league increase its content production across Vine and Periscope including #NBAVine highlights, behind-the-scenes clips, animated GIFs, Periscope live streams of press conferences and other creative content.