With the start of the NBA season two weeks away, league television partner Turner Sports is looking to take a significantly increased role in the broadcasting and distribution of NBA content.
Turner Sports has been in “constant conversation” with the NBA about acquiring NBA TV, NBA.com and NBA League Pass. Turner already has a presence, however minimal, on both NBA.com and NBA TV; the former distributes NBA on TNT content via TNT Overtime, and the latter broadcasts replays of Inside the NBA.
Turner Sports President David Levy: “It’s more than NBA TV, it’s a combination of assets, including additional digital rights, NBA League Pass, many other attributes surrounding the package … We’re trying to find a model that works for both of us so that conversations are continuing.”
Rumors of Turner acquiring various NBA media enterprises have been circulating for nearly a year; last November, NBA Commissioner David Stern told reporters the league was looking at “expanding the ownership base of our digital assets to include a media company” in a new deal that would “make both NBA TV and NBA.com more robust.” In the same interview, Stern specifically pointed out Time Warner, saying “[a]s those negotiations unfold, you will see [Time Warner] having a larger opportunity in our digital assets.”
During the same time period, Multichannel News reported “that [Turner] would talk to the NBA about securing some package of digital content for its burgeoning Turner Sports New Media division. The group already owns or operates several sports broadband sites, including Accselect.com, PGA.com, PGATour.com, and NASCAR.com and would like to add some more NBA content to its portfolio.”
In August, reports circulated that NBA TV was offering buyouts to over sixty employees, in anticipation of the network being sold to an outside media company. John Dempsey of Variety reported Time Warner was the front runner in negotiations.
Link to Multichannel News article found via Fang’s Bites.
