Minor glitches are a common part of broadcasts. That said, the timing of a pair of minor glitches that occurred during broadcasts of the NBA Playoffs and Stanley Cup Playoffs was a little hard to ignore.
The NBA glitch occurred in the middle of the fourth quarter of TNT’s broadcast of Thursday night’s playoff game between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers. The screen briefly went black as the Clippers were inbounding the ball following a Denver basket. Shortly thereafter, viewers heard distorted audio briefly before the problem was fixed.
It wasn’t just you with the TNT issues in the Nuggets-Clippers fourth quarter. 🏀📺🎙️😵💫 #NBA pic.twitter.com/P7zgxCfc8U
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 2, 2025
So, why is that notable? Sure, glitches are annoying. But if a glitch is going to happen, it’s hard to pick a better time than during a lightly defended inbounds pass in the middle of a quarter. We’ve certainly seen a lot worse than that.
On its own, that’s no big deal. But what makes that glitch hard to ignore is that it occurred at essentially the same time as a similar glitch in TBS’ broadcast of Thursday night’s playoff game between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.
This glitch lasted a little longer and seemed to be slightly more challenging to fix.
The Stars-Avs game glitched at the same time on TBS. 🏒📺🎙️😵💫 #NHL pic.twitter.com/6I5lTq4SyG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 2, 2025
Fortunately, like the NBA glitch, it didn’t occur during a particularly notable or dramatic stretch of the game.
While both glitches on their own were little more than minor inconveniences, it’s hard to ignore that they aired on TNT (NBA) and TBS (NHL), respectively. Both are Warner Bros. Discovery networks.
That’s a little weird.
Here’s hoping that doesn’t become a thing going forward.
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