NBA TV

NBA TV
Launched March 17, 1999 (1999-03-17)
Owned by National Basketball Association
(operated by the Turner Broadcasting System) (Time Warner)
Picture format 1080i (HDTV) 16:9
480i (SDTV) 4:3
Slogan Big Games. Big Moments.
Country United States
Language English
Broadcast area Nationwide
Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia
Formerly called NBA.com TV (1999–2003)
Website NBAtv.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV 216 (HD/SD)
Dish Network 156 (HD/SD)
9508 (HD)
SA/Cisco PowerVu; G-14
N/Central America/Caribbean		 3820 V / 30000 / 5/6 / DVB-S2
18 (SD)
(Transponder 6)
SA/Cisco PowerVu; G-13
N/Central America/Caribbean		 4160 V / 29270 / 7/8 / DVB-S
3 (HD)/4 (SD)/5 (test video; SD)
(Transponder 23)
BiG TV (Indonesia) Channel 957
TrueVisions (Thailand) Channel 674 (HD)
Cable
Verizon FiOS 589 (HD)
89 (SD)
Available on most other U.S. cable systems Consult your local cable provider for channel availability
IPTV
AT&T U-verse 1632 (HD)
632 (SD)
Sky Angel 331 (SD)
Streaming media
PlayStation Vue
Sling TV		 Internet Protocol television

NBA TV is an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that is owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner; the NBA also uses the network as a way of advertising the league's out-of-market sports package NBA League Pass, and partner channel TNT. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular season and playoff game telecasts from the NBA and related professional basketball leagues, as well as NBA-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries. The network also serves as national broadcaster of the NBA D-League and WNBA games. NBA TV is the oldest cable network in North America to be owned or controlled by a professional sports league, having launched on March 17, 1999.

As of February 2015, NBA TV is available to approximately 57,129,001 households that subscribe to cable, satellite or telco television service (totaling 49.1% of households with at least one television set) in the United States.[1] The highest measured audience was a Golden State Warriors vs San Antonio Spurs regular season game on April 10, 2016 with an average 2.6 million viewers.[2]

History

The network launched on March 17, 1999 as nba.com TV; the channel, which was renamed NBA TV on February 11, 2003, originally operated from studio facilities housed at NBA Entertainment in Secaucus, New Jersey. The network signed a multi-year carriage agreement with three of the U.S.'s five largest cable providers, Cox Communications, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, on June 28, 2003; this expanded the network's reach to 45 million pay television households in the U.S., in addition to distribution in 30 countries worldwide. After Time Warner shut down the sports news network CNN/SI in 2002, many cable providers replaced that network with NBA TV.

On October 8, 2007, it was reported that the National Basketball Association would transfer the channel's operations to Time Warner's Turner Sports division (operated by the company's Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary). In a story published by Hoopsworld: "NBATV: Surprisingly there has been little said about the NBA's decision to sell off NBATV to one of its media partners. Talks had gone on for sometime [sic] as ESPN/ABC and Turner both explored scenarios with the league. Ultimately it seems Turner has won out, and will take over operation of the league's flagship cable channel, that reaches some 12 million subscribers. The exact changeover date is not clear, but several months ago a Bloomberg report cited sources saying senior level producers were offered contract buyouts in September."

Turner took over the channel's operations on October 28, 2008, and began using the same announcers and analysts used on TNT's NBA telecasts.[3] Analysis and news programming also received an upgrade, with production of the programs being relocated to Studio B at Turner Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, located adjacent to Studio J, where TNT's post-game program Inside the NBA is broadcast.

On October 22, 2016, AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $108.7 billion. If approved by federal regulators, the merger would bring Time Warner's properties, including NBA TV, under the same umbrella as AT&T's telecommunication holdings, including satellite provider DirecTV.[4][5] On February 15, 2017, Time Warner shareholders approved the merger,[6] which is still pending regulatory approval. On February 28, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that his agency will not review the deal, leaving the review to the US Department of Justice.[7] On March 15, 2017, the merger, which is still pending approval from U.S. regulators, was approved by the European Commission.[8]

Carriage agreements

On April 16, 2009, DirecTV announced that it had reached a carriage agreement with the NBA to continue carrying NBA TV, moving it (and out-of-market sports package NBA League Pass) from the satellite provider's Sports Pack add-on tier to its lower-priced Choice Xtra base package on October 1, 2009. DirecTV believed the move will make the channel available to an additional eight million subscribers.[9]

On June 4, 2009, Comcast announced that it had reached an agreement with the NBA to move the channel from the cable provider's Sports Entertainment Package to its basic level Digital Classic package, by the start of the 2009-10 NBA season. Like DirecTV, Comcast estimated that an additional eight million customers would effectively gain access to the channel.[10] Verizon FiOS added the channel and NBA League Pass to its systems on September 23, 2009.[11] The network also signed new multi-year agreements with Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and Dish Network on October 22, 2009, as well as a renewal agreement with Cox Communications earlier in the year.[11]

With all of the above carriage deals, the NBA estimates that it would increase NBA TV's overall subscriber reach to 45 million cable and satellite television homes.[11] On October 29, 2010, AT&T U-verse reached a carriage deal to carry the channel's standard definition and high definition feeds.[12]

NBA TV is not currently available on legacy Charter Communications systems, which carried the network as NBA.com TV prior to 2004, due to unknown carriage conflicts; NBA League Pass is also not carried by Charter (on May 18, 2016, Charter acquired Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks for $78.7 billion, which both carry the network). NBA TV is available to Charter households where available as of February 2017, if a customer switches to the new 'Spectrum' billing plan which will unite Charter, Time Warner and Bright House under the Spectrum branding (this is all likely unrelated to Charter's inherited naming rights of the Charlotte Hornets' home arena, the Spectrum Center).

Programming

NBA TV offers news programs devoted to basketball daily, in addition to programs showcasing the lives of individual basketball players, documentaries focusing on a particular NBA team during the season and archived broadcasts of well-known games.

NBA TV carries at least 90 regular season games per season, which typically air four days a week during the NBA season (mainly on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays, although occasional Wednesday, Friday and Sunday games may air in the event that ESPN does not hold rights to coverage on those nights), as well as some first-round playoff games.

Live games on NBA TV are subject to local blackout restrictions, since NBA TV (despite being owned by the league) does not hold the exclusive broadcast rights to any of its games. Games carried by NBA TV are also carried by each team's local rights holder, either a regional sports network or a broadcast television station.

Beginning with the 2012-13 season, the score box displayed during NBA TV's game coverage (which was seen on the lower-left hand corner of the screen) changed to a banner format oriented horizontally across the screen. However, the network does not use timeout or bonus indicators like that seen on the score graphics used on ESPN and TNT.

The network also shows international games, typically on Saturday evenings, with special emphasis on the Euroleague and the Maccabi Tel Aviv team from Israel. In April 2005, NBA TV televised the Chinese Basketball Association finals for the first time.[13]

The channel's flagship program is NBA Gametime Live, a program focusing on news headlines within the NBA and related leagues (including the WNBA and the National Basketball Development League), highlights and look-ins at games currently in progress presented by a host and studio analysts. The show airs live six days a week, deferring any TNT game nights outside of the playoffs to repeating that evening's edition of Inside the NBA. An edited 90-minute version of the broadcast is repeated during the overnight and early morning hours. The network premiered the original documentary The Dream Team on June 13, 2013.

List of programs broadcast by NBA TV

High definition

NBA TV HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast feed of NBA TV that is available on most providers. All studio programs and original programs are shot in HD, and all live games and recent game rebroadcasts are televised in HD. During certain programs that are not available in HD (such as older game footage), unique stylized pillarboxes are used, displaying the NBA logo with the "NBA TV" text under it, or alternatively, just the "NBA TV" text oriented sideways, both shown in black and gray.

On December 25, 2011, concurrent with TNT converting its NBA telecasts to the format, NBA TV began using the AFD #10 broadcast flag to present programming on its standard definition feed in letterboxed widescreen for viewers watching on cable television through 4:3 television sets.

Personalities

The studio host and analysts vary on each night's broadcast of NBA Gametime.

Studio hosts

Studio analysts

Contributors

Other hosts

The Starters
NBA Inside Stuff

Former hosts and analysts

NBA TV International

NBA TV International is a feed of NBA TV available in countries outside of the United States, utilizing the same studio for analysis and commentary segments and taped programming (except for FIBA events and highlights), but largely airs a different lineup of games than the U.S. channel. NBA TV International shows one or two games per day, with the exception of NBA playoff (except 1st and 2nd rounds of the playoffs) including conference finals and the NBA Finals and most nationally televised U.S. games (such as those seen on ABC, TNT, ESPN and US feed of NBA TV); the rights to those games are instead sold to domestic television networks in each territory.

As of 2010, NBA TV International can be seen in 40 countries via the following partners:

NBA TV Canada, a Canadian version of the channel, carries some of the same game broadcasts as the flagship U.S. service, ESPN, and TNT instead of the secondary game package found on NBA TV International.

In October 2010, NBA Premium TV was launched in the Philippines. It is a redirect broadcast of NBA TV and airs locally televised and nationally televised games in the United States.

In February 2012, NBA TV International was made available on NBA.TV as an internet subscription channel outside of the United States.

On beIN Channels Network in the Arab World, NBA TV itself is not available. However, beIN Sports NBA is a separate channel in HD which airs several of the same games broadcast on NBA TV.

Criticism

NBA TV has been criticized for its usage of announcers from the local broadcast holders during the playoffs, merely using an audio feed that is intended to be broadcast within the team's designated market area on a regional sports network.[17][18] In 2012, the network announced it would be producing its own playoff broadcasts and would not merely simulcast a local feed.[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Seidman, Robert (February 22, 2015). "List of how many homes each cable network is in as of February 2015". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Warriors’ 72nd Win Sets Records For NBA TV, CSN Bay Area - Sports Media Watch, April 11, 2016
  3. ↑ "Turner promotes NBA digital menu". 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  4. ↑ Yu, Roger (October 22, 2016). "AT&T agrees to buy Time Warner for more than $80B". USA Today. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ Gryta, Thomas; Hagey, Keach; Cimmiluca, Dana (October 22, 2016). "AT&T Reaches Deal to Buy Time Warner for $86 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ Kludt, Tom (15 February 2017). "Time Warner shareholders vote to approve AT&T merger". CNNMoney.
  7. ↑ "FCC chief: AT&T-Time Warner deal won't face agency's scrutiny". USA TODAY.
  8. ↑ "European Commission Approves AT&T Acquisition of Time Warner". The Hollywood Reporter.
  9. ↑ NBA TV Scores Multiyear Distribution Deal With DirecTV - Pact Gives Network Berth On DBS Leader's Choice Xtra Package Multichannel News April 16, 2009
  10. ↑ NBA TV Jumps To Broader Comcast Carriage - Pro Hoops Network Moves From Sports Tier To MSO's Digital Classic Multichannel News June 4, 2009
  11. 1 2 3 NBA Digital Signs Deal with FiOS for NBA TV and NBA League Pass TVWeek.com September 23, 2009
  12. ↑ AT&T U-Verse Tips Off Carriage Of NBA TV - League-Owned Network Available On Telco's U300 Package, HD Tier Multichannel News October 29, 2010
  13. ↑ NBA.com Chinese Basketball Association Coverage Expands to U.S
  14. ↑ Brent Barry joins NBA TV's studio analyst crew
  15. ↑ Condotta, Bob. "Audio — NBA-TV legal analyst Michael McCann talks about Kings/Seattle situation". The Seattle Times, February 20, 2013. (accessed 8 August 2013)
  16. ↑ "Turner Newsroom: NBA.com Host Kyle Montgomery". Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  17. ↑ Yoder, Matt (27 April 2011). "Gary Neal's Buzzer Beater And The Sounds Of Silence". Awful Announcing. Bloguin. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  18. ↑ Yoder, Matt (23 April 2011). "Should NBATV Use Local Announcers For Playoff Games?". Awful Announcing. Bloguin. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  19. ↑ Hiestand, Michael (2012-04-22). "Hiestand: NFL draft loses some spontaneity". USAToday.com. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
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