When Will the New NBA TV Schedule Be Announced in the Philippines?

EVEN though it's still August, the NBA has already announced its regular season schedule for the 2018-19 season, as well as the US TV broadcasters that will air the games.

Among the big games that NBA fans all over the world will be looking forward to during the Opening Week are the Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics and the defending champion Golden State Warriors receiving their rings and hanging another championship banner against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 17, Manila time, starting at 8 am and 10:30 am respectively; LeBron James making his Los Angeles Lakers debut against the Portland Trail Blazers the next day; and the Christmas Day game between the Warriors and Lakers on December 26, Manila time, at 9 am.

Now, the only question that remains is: Which Filipino TV channels will show which games?

I asked NBA Philippines marketing head Carlo Singson about this and he told me that the complete TV schedule for the Philippine telecast of the games will come out in "a couple of weeks".

Singson explained to me that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and his staff from NBA TV will have to meet first with all representatives of the global broadcasters to discuss about the telecast assignments. Since the NBA is seen in almost every country in the world, it will take a lot of time before Silver can assign which marquee game will be shown on which channel especially when he is dealing with all 30 teams playing 82 games each.

In the case of the Philippines, three people represent the NBA's official TV broadcasters: Wilson Tieng for Solar Entertainment (NBA Premium TV and BTV), Dino Llarena for ABS-CBN Channel 2 and S+A and Jude Turcuato for Fox Sports Philippines.

It is the NBA office that has the final say on which game will be shown on which Philippine TV channel so if there are complaints from some fans on why a particular game isn't shown on their favorite channel, then there's nothing we NBA followers can do about it.

Based on my own observation and past experience, games featuring LeBron and the Warriors get the most number of ABS-CBN games so it is likely that all of those games will be seen on S+A, which has been showing the NBA Finals between LeBron's former team Cleveland Cavaliers against the Warriors since 2015.

It also can't be denied that the NBA in the Philippines has enjoyed tremendous popularity since ABS-CBN got the NBA TV rights in 2011. But the relationship between the Kapamilya Network and Solar has been rocky since both parties sued each other last season due to carriage fees that ABS-CBN reportedly did not pay to Solar, resulting in NBA Premium and BTV being pulled out of Skycable. The case is still pending in court and no resolution seems to be in sight as of now.

This season will be a make-or-break one for ABS-CBN Sports, which is in the final year of its contract with the NBA and Solar which all three parties signed in October 2014. If the impasse isn't resolved, there is a strong chance that both ABS and Solar will make separate bids for the telecast in the coming seasons and Solar may have to find a new free TV partner.

This is where ESPN5 comes in. The Manny Pangilinan-owned network will surely make a bid for the NBA since some of the games are shown on ESPN in the US. Maybe a compromise can be made with ESPN5 airing the ESPN and ABC games while ABS-CBN can air the NBA TV and TNT games. All it takes is for Pangilinan and ABS-CBN head Carlo Katigbak to work out such a compromise particularly since both networks and GMA 7 aired the last fight of Manny Pacquiao although Solar wasn't involved in that one.

As I have mentioned in previous posts in this blog, ABS-CBN has been criticized for its Tagalog commentary of the NBA games as well as some regular season games on Saturdays being shown on a delayed basis. I think ABS-CBN should expand its weekend schedule of Channel 2 to one Sunday game instead of the poorly-dubbed movies on KB Family Weekend.

I also hope Fox Sports will also air more NBA games since right now, its schedule is limited to Thursdays and Saturdays and the coverage ends after the first round of the playoffs. Surely those who don't have NBA Premium and BTV have to rely on Fox for an alternative for their NBA fix. Fox has been known more for its coverages of football and tennis.

For now, the waiting game continues on the future of the NBA TV coverage in the Philippines. Let's just wait for the schedule that Singson promised to the NBA's millions of TV followers back in my former country. Your move, Sir Carlo.