Why This MattersTurner Sports' David Levy and Lenny Daniels have found a successful strategy in focusing on the category's highest-profile events.
Turner sports shocked the sports TV world this past August when it secured exclusive, multiplatform U.S. rights to UEFA European soccer games starting in 2018 and running through 2020.
Turner further set industry heads spinning by announcing it would put a majority of its 340 yearly UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches on a new over-the-top subscription sports service to launch next year. That service will offer other yet to be defined sports content to draw in hard-core, cord-cutting sports fans.
Turner's bold move, led by president David Levy and Turner Sports president Lenny Daniels, capped a year in which the programmer solidified its sports prowess in traditional linear cable with strong ratings performances across multiple networks - from TNT's exclusive regular-season and postseason NBA coverage, to TBS' MLB postsea son telecasts to Turner's multi-network coverage of March Madness, aka the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, with partner CBS - while putting a stake in the digital future with its 2018 OTT service and its push into the e-sports arena. Making these moves earned Levy and Daniels recognition as two of B&C's Sports Executives of the Year.
We really just want to secure, build and maintain the current ecosystem we have and were able to do that and keep the quality as high as it can be, Daniels said. The UEFA deal and the new OTT product allows us to start doing things in the new ecosystem, and we really like where we are in that space.
A Thriving Ecosystem
Turner's nurturing of the current ecosystem paid off in 2017 as it enjoyed one of its strongest ratings years across the board.
TBS hit a ratings home run during its coverage of the recently completed Major League Baseball postseason, averaging 6.2 million viewers for its coverage of the Chicago Cubs-Los Angeles Dodgers National League Championship Series, up a whopping 88% versus its 2016 LCS coverage.
Overall, the network's 14-game 2017 live, postseason baseball coverage drew 6.2 million viewers, up 44% from 2016, according to Nielsen.
Not to be outdone, TNT's Oct. 17 NBA opening night coverage of the Boston Celtics-Cleveland Cavaliers game drew 5.6 million viewers to make it the second most-watched opening game performance in TNT's 29-year history of televising NBA games, and a 95% improvement over last year's league opening tipoff game.
The opening night numbers built on the momentum generated from TNT's Eastern Conference Finals coverage last spring, in which Turner posted a 12% year-over-year ratings gain from the 2016 playoffs.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver attributes the league's success with Turner to the leadership of Daniels as well as Levy, whom Silver said he's known for two decades and called one of the most accomplished and influential executives in sports media.
Lenny Daniels shares David's passion for developing and distributing premium programming, which makes Turner's sports properties among the very best places to consume content, especially live sports, Silver said. David and Lenny are terrific partners of the NBA and continue to play a critical role in the growth of our game. Daniels, a veteran Turner executive who took over the Turner Sports presidency in July 2014 after having served as chief operating officer of the division since 2009, said that Turner's relationship with the NBA has only blossomed over the years.
TNT's successful Monday-night Players Only package of games added last year - in which ex-NBA players handle all play-by-play and analyst duties - will return in 2018 to complement the network's exclusive Thursday-night lineup of NBA games and the network's popular Inside the NBA pregame and postgame series.
I think we work together so well that people don't really differentiate the two entities, which I think is what makes it work, Daniels said, referring to Turner and the NBA.
Levy, who has had oversight of the business operations of Turner's domestic entertainment network properties since 2013, added that the network's association with the NBA goes beyond its linear channels. Turner Sports also manages the league's network, NBA TV, and its NBA League Pass out-of-market package of live games that stream on mobile phones, laptops and tablets.
Turner this season added a package of virtual reality games that extends the NBA experience into emerging technologies.
Turner has also proven it can also play well with other media companies as witnessed by its six-year partnership with CBS on the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, affectionately known by most sports fans as March Madness.
The past spring, the two companies produced the second-most watched tournament in 23 years, with ratings for the three-week tournament generating a 16% increase over the year prior, according to Nielsen.
In addition, Turner and CBS's March Madness Live digital interactive streaming suite of products, which includes live radio coverage of all 67 games of the tournament and other up-to-the minute game coverage, generated a record 98 million live video streams.
I think it has worked better than any of us could have predicted, with respect to growing the ratings, growing revenue, creating innovative production and very effective branding, CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said. Together, I think we've grown the event tremendously, and I give a lot of the credit to the way David and Lenny have worked so seamlessly with CBS.
Daniels said the relationship between CBS and TBS to distribute the tournament, which runs through 2032, has been mutually beneficial, as both companies work toward
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Why This MattersTurner Sports' David Levy and Lenny Daniels have found a successful strategy in focusing on the category's highest-profile events.
