The NBA's presence on broadcast television continues to shrink.
ABC is currently scheduled to air just 9 NBA Playoff games prior to the NBA Finals, down from 10 games last year (11 were scheduled). This marks the fewest number of NBA Playoff games on broadcast television since 2003. That year, ABC aired only 7 games prior to the Finals.
During the 2001-02 season, previous NBA rightsholder NBC aired 31 playoff games before the NBA Finals.
ESPN is scheduled to air the entire Eastern Conference Finals, including Game 7. This will be the first time since 2004, and only the second time since the current television contract went into place, that the Conference Finals will be completely shut out of broadcast TV.
Between May 16 and June 3 -- a nearly three week span -- ABC will not air a single NBA game.
This comes on the heels of ABC airing just 15 regular season games, the minimum allowed in the network's contract with the NBA. Additionally, ABC has reduced its NASCAR schedule from 11 races to just 3, and lost rights to the Rose Bowl and the British Open.
When CBS and NBC had the rights to the NBA, they seemed to give a damn about televising their games.
ABC won't even show a majority of the games- it worked for NBC. Why not SHOW moe games?! Maybe, just maybe, their philosophy on how to showcase the games is not working.
footballThe NBA is far from the 3rd most popular sport in the US.
Anyway, this is odd. The marketing of the late NBA playoffs is pretty simple. The NBA has the advantage of schedule. The first run part of network TV is over and you toss this stuff up against that.
It seems that ABC is really going to carry college football on Saturdays and that is it.
This is part of the reason why Monday Night Football moved from ABC to ESPN
I'm watching Motorcycle racing on the weekends. I just watch basketball when the playoffs start. I wish the networks would start showing different sports like Wide World of Sports did back in the 1970's.
This league has become a joke. Contraction is needed. You can't count the number of contenders this season on one hand now. After Kobe, LeBron, and Wade, who is there to watch?
Boring, just boring. But then i always thought it was boring, I strongly prefer watching college BB.
Carmelo Anthony/Chauncey Billups(denver)This league has become a joke. Contraction is needed. You can't count the number of contenders this season on one hand now. After Kobe, LeBron, and Wade, who is there to watch?
Boring, just boring. But then i always thought it was boring, I strongly prefer watching college BB.
Carmelo Anthony/Chauncey Billups(denver)
Pierce/KG/Allen(Boston)
Durant(Oklahoma City)
Zach Randolph/Rudy Gay/OJ Mayo(Memphis)
Al Horford/the whole team(Atlanta)
Dwight Howard(Orlando)
Tim Duncan(Spurs)
Derrick Rose(Chicago)
The entire Portland team when not injured
are those enough contenders for you?
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