Fan favorite Harlan gets two early season Dolphins games. And more details on NBA on NBC

Dolphins fans got their wish Wednesday: Kevin Harlan will announce the team’s first two games on CBS this season.

Dolphins fans’ adoration for Harlan began to blossom when he called Tua Tagovailoa’s six-touchdown comeback win in Baltimore in Week 2 in 2022. Since then, he has come to be viewed as something of a lucky charm for the team.

Since the start of the 2022 season, Miami is 7-0 in games called by Harlan and analyst Trent Green on television. (Harlan also calls games on Westwood One radio.)

The Dolphins have averaged 38 points in those seven games, and Tagovailoa has averaged 331 passing yards per game, with 22 touchdowns and a 126 passer rating.

“Not only do I appreciate [South Florida fans], but I like the [Dolphins],” Harlan told me earlier this year. “I’m looking forward to the future because I think the best is yet to come.”

Harlan and Trent Green, CBS’ No. 3 team, will call the Dolphins’ Sept. 8 opener at home against Jacksonville at 1 p.m. and the Dolphins’ 4:05 p.m. Week 3 game at Seattle.

CBS’ six NFL announcing teams, in order: Jim Nantz-Tony Romo; Ian Eagle-Charles Davis; Harlan-Green; Andrew Catalon-Tiki Barber-Jason McCourty; Spero Dedes-Adam Archuleta; Tom McCarthy-Jay Feely-Ross Tucker.

The network parted ways with longtime analyst James Lofton.

Matt Ryan, who had worked with Barber and Catalon on the No. 4 team last season, is moving to the studio, where he and J.J. Watt replace Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason, working alongside James Brown, Bill Cowher and Nate Burleson.

McCourty was promoted from the No. 7 team.

On Fox, Tom Brady succeeds Greg Olsen on its lead NFL announcing team (with Kevin Burkhardt), with Olsen moving to the second team alongside Joe Davis.

Harlan and Green were assigned to the Dolphins in Week 1 because Nantz and Romo were given the Chargers-Raiders game and No. 2 team Eagle and Davis were assigned to Patriots-Bengals. Unlike past years, CBS has only one national broadcast window in Week 1.

Fox has the doubleheader in Week 1, with Cleveland-Dallas airing in most of the country in the 4:25 p.m. slot. That game will mark Brady’s regular-season announcing debut.

MORE ON NBA’S RETURN TO NBC

For the first time since 2003, the NBA is returning to NBC beginning in the 2025-26 season.

NBC is paying $2.5 billion annually for what is essentially the league’s B package. ABC/ESPN will continue to carry the “A” package — including the NBA Finals every year and a conference finals in 10 of the 11 years of the new contract.

Amazon will get what’s considered the “C” package after the NBA announced on Wednesday that it has rejected TNT’s efforts to match that 66-game package; that includes Thursday and Friday night games; select Saturday afternoon games; six conference finals in 11 years, every game of the in-season tournament and some playoff games, as well as a new Black Friday game.

“Warner Brothers Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer, and therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon,” the NBA said. It’s possible TNT might sue the league to retain rights.

TNT responded with this statement: “We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it. In doing so, they are rejecting the many fans who continue to show their unwavering support for our best-in-class coverage, delivered through the full combined reach of WBD’s video-first distribution platforms — including TNT, home to our four-decade partnership with the league, and Max, our leading streaming service.

“We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action. We look forward, however, to another great season of the NBA on TNT and Max including our iconic Inside the NBA.”

NBC and its streaming service Peacock actually will have the most regular-season games of any rights-holder (about 100). That was one of the details revealed by Comcast president Mike Cavanagh while speaking to investors during the media company’s second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

Here’s what else is known on the NBC deal, which was announced by the NBA late Wednesday afternoon:

▪ NBC will air about 50 games, including Tuesdays in prime time and Sunday nights after NFL season ends.

NBC’s Tuesday’s night NBA games will be unique: One game will air at 8 p.m. EST on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones. Another will air at 8 p.m. Pacific on NBC stations in Pacific and Mountain time zones. Peacock will stream both games. This begins in 2025-26.

The network also will televise the All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday every year, a package of first- and second-round playoff games and six conference finals in 11 years.

What’s more, NBC will carry games on the first night of the season (a Tuesday) and a doubleheader on Martin Luther King Day. TNT previously carried those games.

▪ Peacock will stream another 50 games or so, including a Monday night package, and some playoff games.

▪ Cavanagh said NBC, on average, will carry more playoff games than any other rights-holder.

▪ While NBC hasn’t announced who will be calling the games, Mike Tirico will be NBC’s lead announcer; he was a very good NBA announcer on ESPN.

Noah Eagle, son of Ian, also will be involved.

Noah Eagle has risen at NBC; he will call men’s Olympic basketball games with Dwyane Wade and announces the network’s prime time Big 10 football package with Todd Blackledge. Noah Eagle also announced two NFL games for NBC last season.

Meanwhile, Wade could make his case for a job on NBC’s lead NBA team if he aces his Olympic assignment in the days ahead. Wade worked as a TNT NBA studio analyst for a couple of years before leaving by choice to work on other business ventures.

NBC’s other analyst hires could come from TNT, which appears to be losing NBA rights after next season unless it files a lawsuit against the NBA and wins. TNT announcers such as Reggie Miller and Stan Van Gundy could become free agents.

Though Harlan announces NBA games for TNT, he could not realistically call games for NBC because of his CBS duties that include the NFL and college basketball. Over-the-air networks allow announcers to call other sports on cable or streaming services, but seldom permit that on other “free” TV networks.

Ian Eagle reportedly is a front-runner for Amazon’s top NBA announcing job, something that CBS likely would permit because Amazon is a streaming service. Besides his role as CBS’ No. 2 NFL announcer, Ian Eagle also is the network’s lead college basketball announcer.

▪ NBC also gets three WNBA Finals, several semifinal series and a combined 50 regular season and first round playoff games. Those games are expected to air on USA Network and Peacock, per sportsmediawatch.com.

▪ NBC also snagged rights to pre-Olympic USA Basketball games, including the FIBA World Cup. Those games had aired on Fox in recent days and weeks.

▪ Cavanagh said the NBA deal will give NBC a “year-round calendar for sports” and boost subscriptions to Peacock.

“We are uniquely able to drive strong value with the NBA in multiple ways,” Cavanagh said. “First, by growing ad sales, by selling NBA ad inventory package with the rest of our marquee programming. Second, by acquiring and monetizing subscribers, both on linear and Peacock, and third, by optimizing NBCUniversal programming investment across sports, entertainment and news.”

Cavanagh added that the NBA would help draw a “broad, diverse and youthful audience” to NBC. According to sportico.com, the median age of NBC’s primetime audience “is now 64.9 years, which is considerably older than the median age for the U.S. population at large (38.5 years).”

Comcast hopes NBA audiences — traditionally younger than general over-the-air audiences — will help change that.

MORE FROM NBA

The league, in announcing all the TV deals, said ESPN’s games will be Wednesdays (no longer on Friday), with ABC continuing to air games on Saturday nights and some Sundays.

ABC and ESPN will get all 11 NBA Finals in the deal and a conference finals in 10 of the next 11 years. ABC/ESPN also will continue to get all Christmas games and exclusive first and second round playoff games and the draft.