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Schedule
I understand why they do it this way, but I think it's a bit unfortunate that the entire NBA national television schedule gets set in advance, especially since there are such huge disparities in terms of which teams get on television. The revamped Raptors roster at least might turn out to be really good and they'll be viewable nationwide . . . exactly never. It's also interesting that ESPN seems interested in the Sixers and the Wizards (eight times each) but TNT is totally not (zero and one respectively).
August 2, 2006 | Permalink
Comments
Yep. Last year, the Nets (a final-8 team) were on TNT... never.
But I guess I DON'T understand why they do it this way. At least they schedule the TNT games on nights where those games are the only games played (I think). But for ESPN, there are other games being played at the same time. Why not just keep the night open and let ESPN choose who they want when we get to there.
Hell, this year, the NFL is allowing the Sunday night (or is it Monday night, I forget) game to be chosen by the network. And that involves rescheduling the freaking game!!! Why can't the NBA just let ESPN choose among the various games being played at on that night?
Posted by: Al | Aug 2, 2006 2:41:01 PM
Yeah, the NFL contract makes a lot more sense. I think they lock in the first half of the season's national TV games and then let the networks pick what to show the second half of the season. The only reason I can think for the difference is that usually NFL games are carried locally by affiliates of the same networks as carry national games, while NBA games are carried by cable channels often owned by the teams themselves. Maybe there's some TV-revenue-sharing formula that needs to be nailed down for those cable channels. Maybe. They ought to be able to work it out, though.
Posted by: Antid Oto | Aug 2, 2006 3:05:30 PM
Looks like the Lakers will be on plenty of times - including another XMas matchup vs. the Heat, I believe.
Posted by: Clint | Aug 2, 2006 5:05:21 PM
Everyone's missing the big story: no games on Thanksgiving, and only one game on Xmas. Impeach David Stern.
Posted by: Petey | Aug 2, 2006 7:29:47 PM
In Phila, we can only watch the Sixers on Comcast ... and most of us poor college students don't have it. So it's a good opportunity to watch them play on ESPN.
Posted by: Taylor Buley | Aug 3, 2006 5:01:22 PM
Nothing new. Back in the early 1970's CBS (I think) used to show a featured NBA game every Sunday in the season. Because on many Sundays my father took me to my grandmother's house for dinner, and things could get boring after we finished eating, I ended up watching a lot of the games. It seemed like they always featured the same handful of teams over and over again - the Celtics, Knicks, Lakers, and to a lesser extent the Bullets and 76ers.
Posted by: Peter | Aug 3, 2006 11:30:12 PM
