
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 2023: Ernie Johnson Jr., Sportscasting's Steady Studio Superman By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, December 8, 2023 - 2:08 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Leading up to the 2023 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame ceremony on Dec. 12 at the New York Hilton, SVG is profiling the nine inductees in this year's class. For more information, CLICK HERE
The postgame show. Fans may come for the sport itself, but, when done right, the postgame show can be as entertaining. Perhaps, more critically, it serves as a true audience surrogate for the event.
Over the past 30 years, the studio show that has cemented its place as the greatest in its class has been Inside the NBA. Although he would be the last to admit it, much of the program's success reflects its smart, steady, and gifted host, Ernie Johnson Jr.: one of sports broadcasting's great audience surrogates.
EJ is a trailblazer behind the desk, says Craig Barry, EVP/chief content officer, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, and, as impactful as he has been to this industry, he is an even more impactful human being. His ability to bring that authentic human quality creates a unique emotional bond with his audience. It's a gift, and it's truly special to have that kind of connection.
Milwaukee-born Johnson is the son of former Major League Baseball player Ernie Johnson and moved with his family to Atlanta following his father's retirement from baseball and transition into the broadcast booth for the Atlanta Braves. Junior dreamed of following in his dad's footsteps as a player.
Following a short stint on the University of Georgia baseball team, however, he turned his sights to broadcasting, getting his start as a local news anchor and expecting to follow a trail of on-air talents he admired, such as Dan Rather. He even studied the late, great Johnny Carson.
In 1989, Turner Sports came calling, and, in 1990, Johnson took over hosting duties for the program that would ultimately define his career: Inside the NBA. The weekly postgame show on TNT has reached iconic status over the decades. A winner of 17 Sports Emmy Awards, the show has the unique distinction of having been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. It has also developed a long-standing reputation as one of the more fun and informative studio shows in sports-television history, one whose charm lies in its chaos.
Ernie Johnson Jr. is credited with making Inside the NBA the iconic show it is today.
It's what we hope happens, laughs Johnson. It's not-going-according-to-plan that makes the show go. I think the key for me is always just knowing your role. As the host of that show, I'm just trying to steer the conversation to have at my disposal the things that I think are going to generate conversation. That all goes to the preparation.
Inside the NBA's charm comes from a cast loaded with some of the biggest personalities in the history of basketball: Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. However, it's Ernie's steady hand and respect for his partners that give the chaos a sense of reason.
I think Ernie has been our moral compass, says Tim Kiely, veteran former lead producer of Inside the NBA. When we have tough decisions to make, we all can go to Ernie and ask, What do you think?' His judgment and his ability to pull apart an argument and look at it from three or four different angles and make sure we are covering everything is part of his brilliance.
Says Johnson, When you have the kind of relationship that Kenny, Shaq, Charles, and I have, where we've been together for so long, I know how Charles is going to react [to a topic], and, when he reacts that way, I know Kenny's going to broadside him in the intersection. A lot of that is just knowing each other for so long; knowing just from a look and knowing from past experience how somebody's going to react and knowing that will create a really cool moment. It's very cool just to be right in the middle of what is often a chaotic show. Every one of our shows is somewhere between a walk on the beach and a train wreck.
Inside the NBA: (from left) Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson Jr., Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkely
Notes Barkley, He's the perfect teammate. That's why he's a Hall of Famer. He can work with any teammate and make them successful.
Johnson's impact and influence extend far beyond basketball. Over the years, he has occupied the host's chair on Turner Sports/Warner Bros. Discovery Sports' coverage of the NFL (1990-97), Wimbledon (2000-02), two Winter Olympics (Albertville 1992, Lillehammer 1994), a FIFA World Cup (1990), Major League Baseball (2007-present), and the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament (2011-present).
The thing I admire about [Ernie] is his ability to go from sport to sport, Barkley points out. He does it seamlessly. That tells me he's well-prepared. That's what makes him The Godfather. The one word I would use to describe Ernie Johnson is professional.
He has also been afforded opportunities to handle play-by-play duties for Turner Sports properties, including TNT's coverage of the PGA TOUR and, in a life-coming-full-circle moment) calling Major League Baseball Postseason games (2010, 2012-18).
That was a real tie to my dad, says Johnson. That was a spiritual experience for me. It really was. There was this tie to doing what my dad had done and what I had grown up tagging along with him to the ballpark to do. He and I did games together for the Braves for parts of three or four seasons when my schedule would allow, and, with as many cool people as I've gotten to work with in my life, nothing topped working with my dad in the
North America Stories
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
07/05/2026
At Broadcast Asia 2026 (Stand 5H3 8), LiveU is redefining live production with its most powerful IP-video EcoSystem to date built to help broadcasters and con...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects
Graham Quince May 6, 2026
0 Comments
The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...
07/05/2026
Back to All News
Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix Present the Trailer of ...
07/05/2026
Less typing, more tanking.
Faster logins mean more time in the gaming action - and this week provides GeForce NOW members with a smoother path straight into th...
06/05/2026
Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...
06/05/2026
A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...
06/05/2026
Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...
06/05/2026
The streamer aims to provide a fully integrated Spanish language experience with...
06/05/2026
Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...
06/05/2026
For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...