The latest on getting back our NBA TV -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Marc Stein ESPN.com Editor's note: As part of "The Stein Line" every Monday, ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein takes you around the league for the latest news in "Coast to Coast." As part of that visit with the Commish, we naturally raised one of our primary concerns here at the Stein Line. As in: What the heck happened to our NBA TV? Apparently what happened is that, as of Jan. 1, NBA TV started pulling marquee games off the League Pass schedule and began airing up to four of them a week. Which meant that NBA TV suddenly had a rate card attached to it for cable systems that were previously carrying the channel for free. "We're moving toward programming NBA TV on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis," Stern said, "and there's a cost associated with that. It will only be shown on those systems that subscribe to it for their subscribers." Thus, on digital cable systems across the nation, NBA TV was suddenly deleted from the channel menu -- even for League Pass subscribers -- and replaced by a worthless NBA Preview Channel. NBA TV, at present, is only available on the Dish Network and DirecTV. Purchasing League Pass, whether you have digital cable or a dish, is supposed to guarantee the consumer every "non-nationally televised game." But NBA TV broadcasts are considered national TV broadcasts by the league, even though the viewership is a fraction of what an ESPN game gets. From a Stein Line perspective, this is like changing the rules in the middle of the game. If you pay almost $200 in the fall with the expectation that you will get every game that isn't televised on ESPN, ABC or TNT, you don't want to hear that the arrangement no longer holds in midseason. Stern acknowledged our protests and says he is "very optimistic that, by the beginning of next season, NBA TV will be available on the majority of cable systems." "To mix a metaphor and use the wrong sport, we're on third base (in negotiations) with some (cable operators), at second base with others and still standing at home plate with others," Stern said. "But with some luck, perhaps, we might be able to make a deal with some systems so they can get the playoff games." We're counting on it. Because the league plans to televise up to seven first-round playoff games on NBA TV, which means those games would only be available nationally to dish subscribers unless deals are made with Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, etc. Without a deal or two before the postseason, playoff games on NBA TV would be available on cable only in their two teams' local markets. Which would be even more of an outrage than all this has already been.
Another reason to switch to DirecTV/DISH NBATV is also doing an HD "game of the week." The Rockets game at NJ aired, and was the first (I believe) High-Definition Rockets aired in Houston. Despite some technical glitches, great stuff, and I hope the organization finds a way to make it a regular occurence.
