NBA TV in the Philippines

Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc covering NBA Games for Philippine televiewers (Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN)

Here in the US, there are lots of channels where basketball fans can watch the NBA games. There's ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV for nationally televised games and CSN here in our California area for Golden State Warriors games. And there is also NBA League Pass but it entails additional money for subscription.

The NBA has become so popular that other countries also air the league's games live. And the Philippines is no exception.

In the 70s, 80s and 90s, NBA games were shown on Philippine free TV delayed by a week, All that changed when Solar Entertainment acquired the NBA TV rights in 2006 then put up the cable channels Basketball TV and NBA Premium TV that show 24 hours of NBA programming everyday.

ESPN Asia also aired NBA games before the channel sold its Asian stocks to Fox Sports which continues broadcasting NBA games on Thursdays and Saturdays.

On free TV, Solar brought the NBA games to RPN 9 before it became CNN Philippines. ABS-CBN has been televising NBA games since hooking up with Solar in 2010 until today.

Most games are shown on ABS-CBN Sports+Action Channel 23 while Saturday games are aired over Channel 2 with Filipino commentary provided by former PBA superstars Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc.

Two years ago, ABS-CBN tried airing Sunday games on Channel 2 but moved them to Saturdays to accommodate its Tagalog-dubbed kiddie movies on Sundays, as well as making sure that the noontime show ASAP starts exactly at 12 noon. 

Besides, airing an NBA game on Sundays could pose risks for ASAP starting late if the game goes into overtime. After all, ASAP starting late is a problem since it means less musical numbers for Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano and ABS-CBN's young stars.

Still, ABS-CBN is the best choice for the NBA because TV5 is more into PBA while GMA 7 doesn't have a sports division which was very glaring when it lost the Shakey's V League volleyball broadcast rights to ABS-CBN last year.

The ABS-CBN coverage on Channel 2 uses Tagalog commentary to make sure the masa viewers understand the game as seen through the eyes of Paras and Magsanoc, who combine their sense of humor with their knowledge of basketball based on their experience as teammates in college, commercial ball and the PBA.

Other sportscasters like TJ Manotoc, Boom Gonzales, Anton Roxas and Andrei Felix have also done Tagalog commentary for the NBA. Manotoc and Gonzales have even been sent to cover NBA Finals and All-Star Games here in the US.



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