The TV Deal That Made the NBA an Entertainment Powerhouse
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, before the NBA became a media powerhouse, it was fighting to stay relevant. Ratings were low, games were shown on tape delay, and advertisers kept their distance. When CBS considered cutting ties with the league, a young David Stern made a calculated move that would change the direction of professional basketball. Pete Croatto, author of From Hang Time to Prime Time, tells the story behind the NBA television deal that redefined the league’s future.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.2 | And we return to our American stories. |
| 0:17.6 | Up next, a story from Pete Corrado, author of From Hangtime to Primetime, |
| 0:23.4 | a great look into how the NBA went from a small, financially unstable and mostly |
| 0:28.7 | regional sports league to the entertainment behemoth. It is today. And one of the major ways |
| 0:35.4 | that the NBA did this was to move from CBS to NBC, an effort spearheaded by Commissioner David Stern, but started with Commissioner Larry O'Brien. |
| 0:47.4 | Let's get into the story. |
| 0:51.7 | So the NBA through the 60s, 70s, |
| 0:55.0 | A, didn't generate great ratings, |
| 0:58.0 | B, did not engender the confidence of television companies |
| 1:02.0 | to give them big contracts. |
| 1:04.0 | So by the time that the mid to late 1970s roll around, |
| 1:08.0 | the MBA is really at a disadvantage. In fact, in 1978, the NBA was a breath away from not having a national television contract. |
| 1:21.8 | So CBS Sports had carried NBA games, had done so without little issue, until 1978. Here's the story. |
| 1:30.5 | Lai O'Brien and Bob Wessler, the president of CBS Sports, reached a handshake agreement |
| 1:35.4 | over the next television contract for the NBA on CBS. Bob Wustler, depending on who you speak to, |
| 1:43.5 | either resigns or gets fired by CBS Sports for his role in paying players for a winner-takes-all tennis tournament. |
| 1:54.0 | The new president at CBS Sports is a gentleman by the name of Frank Smith. |
| 1:58.0 | Frank Smith does not have Bob Wussler's agenda for what he |
| 2:02.4 | considers to be prominent sports on CBS. So Bob Wessler talks to Neil Pilsen, who works at CBS |
| 2:10.3 | Sports, who's an attorney there. Frank Smith says to Neil Pilsen, call Larry O'Brien. I don't want |
... |
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