NBA likely to stay with ABC.

From Multichannel News:

“The NBA is currently in discussions with both networks to extend their current six-year rights deals, which expire after the 2007-08 season. Executives close to all three parties confirmed that the league wants to complete negotiations by the end of June.“

At this point, the question is not even about television, per se. Digital rights are the major sticking point in the upcoming television renewal.

“While stopping short of calling digital rights a deal breaker, Turner Sports president David Levy said [digital rights] are vitally important to the network as it courts an extension.

‘What consumers are looking for today is mobility; they want to access programming when and where they want it,’ he said. ‘TNT is one of the brands that they like and enjoy and, if I don’t have NBA content on wireless, VOD [video-on-demand] and broadband, then we?re not living up to the brand. It has to be involved.’“

“‘The key in more than one-half of what we discuss with the NBA in our current deal and our future deal is digital rights,’ ESPN senior vice president of programming and acquisitions Len DeLuca said. ‘Basically the NBA consumer is a younger, male consumer who really likes new media and new technology. Our challenge — and one that we are aggressively anxious to meet — is to deliver NBA content on ESPN and ABC wherever the NBA consumer consumes.’“

With the league wanting negotiations done by June — a full year before the last NBA Finals ABC is scheduled to air as part of this current six-year deal — odds are that the NBA will remain with ABC, ESPN and TNT for the foreseeable future. Especially considering that digital rights are the main issue, meaning that the league and its television partners are not considering the waning television ratings to be the largest issue at hand.