NBA TV

NBA TV is an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that is owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner; the NBA also uses the network as a way of advertising the league's out-of-market sports package NBA League Pass, and partner channel TNT. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular season and playoff game telecasts from the NBA and related professional basketball leagues, as well as NBA-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries. The network also serves as national broadcaster of the NBA D-League and WNBA games. NBA TV is the oldest cable network in North America to be owned or controlled by a professional sports league, having launched on March 17, 1999.

As of February 2015, NBA TV is available to approximately 57,129,000 households that subscribe to cable, satellite or telco television service (totaling 49.1% of households with at least one television set) in the United States.

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 franchised member clubs (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada), and is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. NBA players are the world's best paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.

The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with its rival National Basketball League (NBL). The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

NBA Finals

The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association. It is played between the Western and Eastern champions of the Conference Finals. The first team to win four games in the seven-game championship round is declared the champion and is awarded the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. (Winners from 1946 to 1983 received the Walter A. Brown Trophy redesigned in 1977 to the current form.) The NBA Finals has been played at the end of every NBA and Basketball Association of America season in history, the first being held in 1947.

Between 1985 and 2013, the winner of the NBA Finals was determined through a 2–3–2 format: the first and last two games of the series being played at the arena of the team who earned home court advantage by having the better record during the regular season (the team with home-court went 21–8 between '85 & '13). Most NBA Finals series were played under the 2–2–1–1–1 format (Games 1 and 2 at home for the higher seeded team, Games 3 and 4 at home for the lower seeded team, Game 5 at the higher, Game 6 at the lower, and Game 7 at the higher) prior to 1985; the Finals returned to this format in 2014. The series was named the BAA Finals from 1947 to 1949 and then changed to the NBA World Championship Series from 1950 to 1982. The following two years, the league used Showdown '83 and Showdown '84. It returned to NBA World Championship Series in 1985, before settling on NBA Finals in 1986.

BattleBlock Theater

BattleBlock Theater is a comedy platform game developed by The Behemoth and published by Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360, Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is the third title from The Behemoth following Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. The game was released on Xbox Live Arcade on April 3, 2013, and later temporarily made free via Games with Gold on July 16, 2014.

Story

Almost all of the game's cut-scenes are done in a stick puppet style. The game begins with the narrator (voiced by Will Stamper) telling the adventures of the hundreds of friends aboard the S.S. Friendship, as well as Hatty Hattington, who is known as "best friend to one and all". After encountering a heavy storm, the S.S. Friendship becomes shipwrecked on a mysterious, seemingly abandoned island, and the crew itself vanishes. Upon waking up from the wreck, the player character seeks shelter from the storm in a dilapidated theater.

Upon coming to, it is revealed that the entire crew of the S.S. Friendship is being held prisoner by cats, with Hatty as their apparent new leader. The player is then released from their cell and forced into deadly games by the feline wardens. The cats, who force their prisoners into deadly theater performances, watch with amusement as the player fights for their survival. As the player completes challenges, they find gems which are spent on unlocking fellow crew members to play as in these theater performances. Appearing to be possessed by the hat's unknown powers, Hatty begins working for the cats and against the player.

NBA League Pass

The NBA League Pass is sports television service that features all National Basketball Association games. It was made available prior to the start of the 1995-1996 NBA season. It is available to viewers in the United States and as an international package for all other countries. The pricing structure and services on offer are different, depending on where the viewer is located. The 2013-14 season was the 20th year of League Pass. Full League Pass access for the 2014-15 season was priced at $199 for US customers, for comparison the premium service was £169.99 for UK viewers (these prices are for access to the full season prior to the first game and before any discounts, in previous seasons prices have dropped as the season moves closer towards the play-offs).

United States League Pass

NBA League Pass is an out-of-market sports package that allows its subscribers to watch up to 40 out-of-market National Basketball Association games a week. The service is operated by Turner Broadcasting System on behalf of the NBA. Videos of the games come from local stations and regional sports networks.