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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
19/05/2026
Actus Digital, a LiveU company, and a leading provider of intelligent media monitoring and broadcast compliance platforms, announced today that METEO CONSULT ha...
19/05/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of managed services for the broadcast and media industry, today announced the completion of a major renovation of its Singapore fa...
19/05/2026
Following a major upgrade to its Connecticut remote production centre with the installation of three 60-fader Argo S consoles in 2023, RPS has switched one of t...
19/05/2026
PlayBox Technology today announced the launch of Celebro Play, a browser-based media orchestration platform designed specifically for broadcast facilities and p...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions for broadcast, post, and professional AV will showcase its latest signal processing solutions at B...
19/05/2026
Media Links, a leading developer and manufacturer of IP media transport solutions, has announced the integration of its Xscend platform with Skyline Communicat...
19/05/2026
Collaboration expands regional partner ecosystem as Media Links showcases IP media transport solutions on stand 4M4-4 and alongside Clearcast Asia on stand
Me...
19/05/2026
Company Highlights Labor-Saving Control and Custom Branding Opportunities Designed to Increase Integrator Profitability
LynTec, a leading manufacturer of ele...
19/05/2026
Mago Studio Moves AI Video Beyond Prompts with New Production-Focused Tools
Brie Clayton May 18, 2026
0 Comments
New Capabilities Bring Controllable, ...
19/05/2026
It May be Time to Stop and Take an AI Breather
Brie Clayton May 19, 2026
0 Comments
If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
Agentic AI inference at one-tenth the cost per token with NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL7...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 2023: Ernie Johnson Jr., Sportscasting's Steady Studio Superman By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
