These are the sports broadcasting contracts in the Philippines. There are two primary local producers of sport programs in the country: Solar Sports and ABS-CBN, with ABC's AKTV bloc in IBC a third and new partner from 2011.
Solar airs its sports programming on VHF Solar TV and cable channels Solar Sports and Basketball TV. Solar covered the 2008 Summer Olympics at these stations and on UHF SBN on which it airs its ETC channel, RJTV 29 on which it is a block-timer airing 2nd Avenue programming, and on cable channel Jack TV. Solar also enters into a blocktime agreement on GMA Network for selecting boxing matches, notably Manny Pacquiao matches. Solar's flagship sports program is PBA on C/S9, a broadcast of the Philippine Basketball Association games, on which it won the bid over ABS-CBN with a deal of P508 million for the next three years starting 2008.[1]
ABS-CBN airs its sports programming on UHF Studio 23 and cable channel Balls. It also airs select boxing matches on its flagship station, VHF Channel 2, notably Pacquiao matches before Solar regained the rights. Its flagship broadcast it its airing of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men's basketball tournament; its current contract is worth P75 million for five years which will end in 2009.[2]
Solar also holds the rights to the National Basketball Association on which it sends its own broadcast team for the NBA Finals. The airing of the NBA games caused a stir when Solar withdrew their channels from SkyCable (of which ABS-CBN owns); the NBA games returned to SkyCable subscribers in time for the 2008–09 NBA season via Basketball TV, albeit at an extra cost to subscribers "after clamor for NBA games has just been too high."[3]
Foreign sports other than the NBA are aired, but on cable channels, notably Solar's, ABS-CBN's and ESPN Star Sports' family of channels. SkyCable's All Sports Network also airs foreign sports programming, the channel's local feed excludes UFC broadcasts as Balls and Studio 23 have the national broadcast rights.
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(*) Even though Pacquiao is under Top Rank, his bouts are aired on GMA and Solar Sports due to his status as a GMA contract artist and under airtime contract with Solar Entertainment Corporation.
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