Does anybody understand how this new NBA tv contract will effect games on Fox southwest & UPN, and does this mean that Bill and Calvin will no longer be our crew? From what I can tell the games that ESPN and ABC broadcast will not show the entire game. I am a bit worried that I will no longer be able to watch all the Rockets games.
Local contracts remain each team's own responsibility. All the new NBA deal does is *add* games to the national cable schedule. In other words, Bill and Calvin will probably remain courtside for the forseeable future.
I beleive, and could be wrong, that the new contract they signed is for nationally televised games. I would venture to guess that UPN and the FoxSW broadcasts are negotiated seperately since they are local (or semi-local) only. That's my guess. Anybody know for sure. I'd hate to be forced to listen to Bill Walton all season. I like Bill and Calvin unlike many others. But I bet they'd change their tune after they see what the replacement turns out to be.
i heard something about this on the radio yesterday. and they also said the nba was close to expanding the first round to 7 games.. not sure if that is true though
As it was explained on the radio...we wouldn't be able to watch any games played on THURSDAYS because Turner would have exclusivity on those nights. That's not good news for Rockets fans. We all know how many games the Rockets play on Thursdays and I don't look for Turner being in any rush to show Rockets games anytime soon. That was the way Rich and Charlie explained it...I'm not sure if that's the final word on it. os
That had better not be the case, or I'll email the NBA like crazy Hopefully that would not effect NBA League Pass suscribers. If so, NBA League Pass had better lower its price.
This should answer your questions...check out the highlighted part...not good Rockets fans... NBA's six-year, $4.6 billion deals shift emphasis to cable By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Sports Writer NEW YORK -- For the NBA, more money means fewer TV homes. After weeks of fine-tuning, the NBA completed packages Tuesday with The Walt Disney Co. and AOL Time Warner worth $4.6 billion over six years, shifting nearly all of the league's nationally televised games to cable. ESPN, ESPN2, TNT and a new cable network jointly owned by the league and AOL Time Warner get the bulk of the telecasts under the deals, which start next season. ABC, the lone broadcast network partner, will have 15 regular-season games, five playoff games, and the NBA Finals. Outgoing broadcaster NBC has been showing about 33 games in the regular season, plus the NBA Finals, the All-Star game and about 30 other postseason games, including the conference finals. The new packages put the conference finals on TNT, which also gets the All-Star game, and ESPN. "With the growth of cable, we've come to be persuaded that we needed to have a larger presence during the week on cable," NBA commissioner David Stern said. ABC and NBC are available in about 105 million TV homes, while ESPN is in 85.9 million TV homes, ESPN2 82.6 million, and TNT 85.5 million. The league's regular-season ratings dropped 35 percent from the 1997-98 season to 2000-01. The new deals average a total of $765 million a year, a 25 percent increase from the league's expiring TV contracts with NBC, TNT and TBS. It represents the smallest percentage increase in the NBA's TV rights fees since at least 1983. Since then, the league has more than doubled its national TV revenue three times -- including the expiring deal -- and received a nearly 50 percent increase in the only other contract. Those previous deals were all for four years. "This is a very substantial increase in a turbulent marketplace. We couldn't be happier," Stern said. "It's relatively easy to go from $100 million to $200 million. But you necessarily begin to slow down on your rate of increase as your numbers get higher." NBC, which says it lost more than $100 million a season in its outgoing NBA deal, drops pro basketball after 12 years. The network offered about $1.3 billion for four years to stay on, prompting the league to turn to ABC and ESPN. Overall, the league received $615 million a year in the old four-year, $2.46 billion contracts with NBC and Turner Sports. In the new packages, Disney brethren ESPN and ABC are paying $400 million a year on average, while AOL Time Warner pays $365 million -- including the TNT package (an average of $312.5 million a year), interactive rights, and a payment for games on a new cable channel jointly owned with the NBA. The new deals include Internet and radio rights, interactive and wireless services, and other offshoots. "Over the term of the deal we fully expect to recoup our investment," ESPN president George Bodenheimer said. "The deal we've cut today bears little resemblance to a weekend afternoon broadcast-only package. Every one of our businesses -- ABC Sports, ESPN, ESPN.com, etc. -- will benefit. "This goes way beyond adding up all the ad dollars you think you can recoup." ESPN, which previously telecast NBA games for two seasons (1982-83 and 1983-84), now will have games from the four major pro sports: NBA, NFL, major league baseball and NHL. ESPN and ESPN2 will carry 75 regular-season NBA games, with doubleheaders on Fridays and single games Wednesdays -- the day set aside this NHL season for hockey games. ESPN will also have up to 17 early round playoff games. "We are already in conversations with the NHL," Bodenheimer said. "We need to search for a new night for hockey." TNT gets 52 regular-season games, nearly all as Thursday night doubleheaders. They will be carried on an exclusive basis, meaning the games will be blacked out on the teams' local TV broadcasters. TNT also gets 45 early round playoff games. The as-yet-unnamed new cable channel -- a 50-50 venture between the league and AOL Time Warner -- will have nearly 100 games, all but two in the regular season. "We really believe that we have created a package that has separated us and made us very different than the package that ESPN will have," Turner Sports president Mark Lazarus said. Stern said the new network should launch in the fall in about 30 million homes. He hopes that will be up to 80 million within six years, which would mean extra money for the league and AOL Time Warner. "Having the opportunity to create and build a new sports network is exciting for our company," Lazarus said.
Wow, that is horrible. So, if your team is good, you are rewarded by having games unavailable when they are played at home??? Plus, how the hell does this effect the playoffs. Now, you don't even get the chance to do pay-per-view in the early rounds of the playoffs? That pretty much blows. The Rockets are one of the few teams in the NBA that broadcast EVERY game locally. So much for that. That really REALLY sucks.
I think what it means is there will be no local TV for games carried on TNT. For example, tonight TBS is showing the Kings @ Blazers across the nation in addition to Kings TV in Sacramento and Blazers TV in Portland. Next year, TNT would have exclusive rights so people in Sacramento and Portland could only watch the game on TNT instead of having the option of their local broadcast. To apply that to the Rockets, if TNT picks up a Rockets game and you don't have TNT then you are screwed. Fox SW and UPN cannot carry it. I don't think it affects games not on TNT.
That wasn't the explanation I heard on the radio today. I think Rockets fans will be screwed out of 15 tv games or so next year. Sucks for us. OS
Also, the 1st round of the playoff is now best of seven up from five. This as reported as an after thought on Sportcenter.
Does ANYONE know if there is any way I could get Rockets games up here in Toronto, whethervia League Pass, or otherwise? I would really, really appreciate it. I have been listening to almost all of the games on the internet ( thanks again Darkhorse!), but would love to be able to see more. Thanks in advance... JAG
That's if TNT is carrying the Rockets game. The explanation I heard is that TNT has exclusivity of all basketball those nights. They want you to watch TNT even when it is not showing your team. I think baseball has a similar deal on certain days. FoxSW cant show game when ESPN (I think) has the games that night. Again, that was the explanation on the radio yesterday. os
Here's a quote from David Barron's article in todays Chron: All of those broadcast windows will be exclusive -- meaning Fox Sports Net, which holds local rights to most NBA teams, including the Rockets, or local stations, such as KTXH (Channel 20), cannot show games opposite TNT events. In other words: Rockets fans, we're screwed. os
Smokey and ZRB are right. Just because there is a nationally broadcast game on Thursday night, doesn't mean all other NBA games broadcast locally would be blacked out. What they are suggesting in that article is the same as what happens now - when the Rockets were on TNT this year, the FOXSW coverage was either blacked out or had no sound. Besides, if Old Schools quote is correct, surely the NBA will alter the schedule somewhat, to minimize clashes.
I heard on the radio this morning that sports on broadcast over the air TV is a losing cause. If you check out the new NBA deal, ABC will only do the NBA Finals and a maximum of like 15 games during the regular season (including 2 on Christmas Day) and a maximum of 12 playoff games (including the NBA Finals). The vast majority of games will be split among ESPN, ESPN 2, TNT, and AOL/NBA. I wonder how long it will take cable operators to carry AOL/NBA - is it going to replace CNNSI? More games on cable = more money. I remember ESPN was supposed to have exclusive rights to Sunday Night Baseball but Fox SW would carry Rangers baseball at the same time. I think the exclusive just means that TNT wants everyone to watch their game instead of local broadcasts of the same game.
Actually I think its the other way around currently. TNT is blacked out within the Houston city limits due to "NBA regulations". To watch the game fans would have to turn to either UPN or Fox SW. Currently whenever there is a game on TNT or TBS, League Pass customers must watch the game on TNT or TBS. The local TV broadcast is blacked out.
What part of this quote don't you understand?? All of those broadcast windows will be exclusive -- meaning Fox Sports Net, which holds local rights to most NBA teams, including the Rockets, or local stations, such as KTXH (Channel 20), cannot show games opposite TNT events. I don't think it could be any clearer. Throw out whatever TNT is doing NOW. Next year it's a whole new deal. os
