Saturday, May 31, 2014

NBA TV Rights

Here is my extreme in-depth prediction for the NBA TV rights sale:

Sunday:
1:00 ABC
3:30 ABC
9:00 ESPN

Monday:
7:00 NBA TV
10:00 TNT

Tuesday:
7:30 FS1
10:00 FS1

Wednesday:
7:00 NBA TV
8:00 ESPN
10:30 ESPN

Thursday:
8:00 TNT
10:30 TNT

Friday:
7:00 ESPN
9:30 ESPN
10:30 NBA TV

Saturday:
3:00 NBA TV
7:00 FOX
10:00 FS1

All ABC and FOX, as well as 10:00 Sat. FS1 start on the 3rd or 4th Saturday/Sunday of January (January 23-29 is first Saturday game). 

Studio Shows:
Inside the NBA (TNT): After last game of the night on TNT
NBA Countdown (ABC/ESPN): Before first game of the day/night on ABC/ESPN
NBA Highlight Reel (FOX/FS1): After last game of the night on FS1, also on FOX after Sat. night game before 10:00 game
NBA Coast to Coast (ESPN2):
Opposite window of ESPN while airing NBA games (live look-ins)

Playoffs:
Pecking Order of Games:
ABC
FOX
TNT
ESPN
FS1
ESPN2
NBA TV

First Round: 32-56 Games
~TNT: 2 Games on Mon., Tues., and Thurs., 1 Game on Sun., and Sat. 
~ESPN: 2 Games on Wed., Fri., and Sat. 
~ESPN2: Overflow on Wed., and Sat., 1 Game on Fri. 
~FS1: 1 Game on Tues., and Sat. 
~NBA TV: Mon., Tues., and Thurs. Overflow, 1 Game on Either: Mon., or Thurs. 
~ABC: 2 Games on Sun. 
~FOX: 1 Game on Sat. 

Second Round: 16-28 Games
~TNT: 2 Games on Mon., Tues., and Thurs.,
~ESPN: 2 Games on Wed., and Fri. 
~ESPN2: Overflow on Wed., and Fri. 
~FS1: 1 Game on Sat. 
~NBA TV: Overflow on Mon., Tues., and Thurs.,
~ABC: 2 Games on Sun. 
~FOX: 1 Game on Sat. 

Third Round: 8-14 Games
~TNT: Annually Rotating Conf. Championship
~ESPN: Annually Rotating Conf. Championship

Finals: 4-7 Games
Game 1: ABC
Game 2: TNT (TBS and TruTV teamcasts like Final Four with local announcers)
Game 3: FOX
Game 4: ABC
Game 5: ABC
Game 6: ABC
Game 7: ABC

Streaming:
All games on TV available for online streaming. Also, Google has rights to stream 3 games every week on YouTube starting on the Second Sunday of February each year on a special PPV channel, which does not air on National TV. 

Christmas Eve:
1:30 TNT
4:00 TNT
6:30 FS1

Christmas Day:
12:00 ESPN
2:30 FOX
5:00 ABC
7:30 ABC
10:00 TNT

New Years Eve:
1:00 ABC
3:30 ABC

ESPN/ABC: $800M/year
FOX/FS1: $350M/year
TNT: $675M/year
Google: $150M/year

All-Star Weekend:
Friday:
Celebrity Game 6:00 FS1
Rising Stars Challenge 8:00 TNT

Saturday:
D-League All-Star Game 2:00 ESPN2
NBA Finals Rematch 4:30 ABC
All-Star Saturday Night 7:00 TNT
 Sears Shooting Stars
 Taco Bell Skills Challenge
 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest
 Sprite Slam Dunk

Sunday:
All-Star Concert 7:00 TNT
All-Star Game 8:00 TNT