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National Basketball Association (NBA) games are televised nationally in the United States, as well as on multiple local channels and regional sports networks.[1] Since the 2002–03 season, broadcast channel ABC, and pay TV networks ESPN and TNT have nationally televised games. Throughout most of the regular season, ESPN shows doubleheaders on Wednesday and Friday nights, while TNT shows doubleheaders on Tuesday and Thursday nights. In the second half of the season, ABC shows a single game on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. Games are shown almost every night on NBA TV. There are some exceptions to this schedule, including Tip-off Week, Christmas Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. More games may be shown as the end of the regular season approaches, particularly games with playoff significance. During the playoffs, the first round are split between TNT, ESPN, NBA TV, and ABC on mostly weekends the second round are split between ESPN, TNT and ABC on weekends. The conference finals are split between ESPN/ABC and TNT; the two networks alternate which complete series they will carry from year to year. The entire NBA Finals is shown nationally on ABC. The NBA Finals is one of the few sporting events to be shown on a national broadcast network on a weeknight. Two new partners are set to join ESPN/ABC in televising the NBA in the 2025–26 season, with NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video replacing TNT.
Games not televised by its national partners are instead broadcast by local broadcast stations and regional sports networks, televising their respective local team within their respective region. A number of nationally televised games are also non-exclusive, meaning that the national telecasts may also air in tandem with those of the game by local broadcasters.
With the Toronto Raptors being the only NBA team in Canada, TV rights differ in that country. Games exclusively televised south of the border by ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV may be simulcast by a Canadian network, but all contests involving the Raptors are non-exclusive north of the border.
In addition to the English-language television broadcasts, select NBA games also have Spanish-language broadcasts since 2002.[2][3]
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As one of the major sports leagues in North America, the National Basketball Association has a long history of partnership with television networks in the United States. The league signed a contract with DuMont in its 8th season (1953–54), marking the first year the NBA had a national television broadcaster. Similar to NFL, the lack of television stations led to NBC taking over the rights beginning the very next season until April 7, 1962—NBC's first tenure with the NBA. After the deal expired, Sports Network Incorporated (later known as the Hughes Television Network) signed up for two-year coverage in the 1962–63 and 1963–64 season.
ABC then gained the NBA in 1964, airing its first NBA game on January 3, 1965. Up until the 1970–71 season, ABC often aired NBA games as segments of its popular ABC's Wide World of Sports anthology series rather than standalone broadcasts.
CBS took over national rights from ABC in 1973. The late 1970s and early 1980s was notoriously known as the "tape delay playoff era". Ratings sagged in the late 1970s with a series of fairly undistinguished championship teams from relatively small markets, widespread public perceptions of drug usage among players, and a relative lack of marquee players. Even a merger with the American Basketball Association in 1976, bringing several standout players including Julius Erving into the league, did not reverse the ratings slide. CBS, not wishing to preempt higher-rated regular programming for the relatively low-rated pro basketball, elected to show several playoff games each season tape-delayed into late-night time slots. This situation dramatically improved with the arrival of Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird for the 1979-80 season. Beginning with the 1982 NBA Finals, the schedule was shifted to avoid the May television sweeps period, and tape-delayed games were no longer an issue.
The NBA entered the cable territory in 1979 when USA Network signed a three-year $1.5 million deal and extended for two years until the 1983–84 season, ESPN also had a brief affair with the NBA from 1982 to 1984. Turner Sports then replaced ESPN and USA Network as national cable partners under a four-year deal beginning with the 1984-85 season, in which TBS shared the NBA television package along with CBS. In the summer of 1987, Turner signed a new joint broadcast contract between TBS and TNT to split broadcast NBA games starting from the 1988-89 season. TNT held rights to broadcast the NBA draft, most NBA regular season and playoff games, while TBS only aired single games or doubleheaders once a week.
In 1990, NBC took over the broadcast rights from CBS.[4] During NBC's partnership with the NBA in the 1990s, the league rose to unprecedented popularity, with ratings surpassing the days of Johnson and Bird in the mid-1980s.
Upon expiration of the contracts in 2002, the NBA signed a six-year, $2.4 billion ($400 million/year) deal with Disney-owned ABC and ESPN. ABC took over the package from NBC, and ESPN took over part of the cable rights from TBS. NBC had made a four-year $1.3 billion ($330 million/year) offer in the spring of 2002 to renew its rights, but the NBA passed and opted for ABC/ESPN's higher bid. Turner was able to keep a package for TNT. And while TBS would initially discontinue game coverage altogether, it would served as TNT's overflow feed during the playoffs while also simulcasting games like the 2015, 2016, and 2017 NBA All-Star Game. The combined total of ABC, ESPN, and TNT's 2002 agreements became $4.6 billion ($766 million/year).[5] Partially due to the retirement of Michael Jordan after the 2002–03 season, the league suffered a ratings decline. The NBA extended its national TV package on June 27, 2007, worth eight-year $7.4 billion ($930 million/year) through the 2015–16 season,[5] during which the league had its new resurgence leading by a renewed Celtics–Lakers rivalry and LeBron James. On October 6, 2014, NBA announced a nine-year $24 billion ($2.7 billion/year) extension with ABC, ESPN, and Turner beginning with the 2016–17 season and running through the 2024–25 season[6] - the second most expensive media rights in the world after NFL and on a par with Premier League in annual rights fee from 2016–17 to 2018–19 season.[7]
On July 24, 2024, the NBA announced new 11-year agreements with ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video that will last from the 2025–26 to 2035–36 seasons.[8][9][10][11] The new agreements ended a near 36-year domestic broadcast run with TNT Sports; parent company Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA would later agree to a legal settlement, which included live game rights for select international territories.[12][13][14]
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| Season | Network | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | ABC | 1.4 |
| 2022–23 | ABC | 1.4 |
| 2021–22 | ABC | 1.6 |
| 2020–21 | ABC | 1.5 |
| 2019–20 | ABC | 1.8 |
| 2018–19 | ABC | 2.2 |
| 2017–18 | ABC | 2.2 |
| 2016–17 | ABC | 1.9 |
| 2015–16 | ABC | 2.3 |
| 2014–15 | ABC | 2.2 |
| 2013–14 | ABC | 2.3 |
| 2012–13 | ABC | 2.9 |
| 2011–12 (Lockout Shortened) | ABC | 3.3 |
| 2010–11 | ABC | 3.0 |
| 2009–10 | ABC | 2.3 |
| 2008–09 | ABC | 2.3 |
| 2007–08 | ABC | 2.2 |
| 2006–07 | ABC | 2.0 |
| 2005–06 | ABC | 2.2 |
| 2004–05 | ABC | 2.3 |
| 2003–04 | ABC | 2.4 |
| 2002–03 | ABC | 2.6 |
| 2001–02 | NBC | 2.9 |
| 2000–01 | NBC | 3.0 |
| 1999–2000 | NBC | 3.3 |
| 1998–99 (lockout shortened) | NBC | 4.3 |
| 1997–98 | NBC | 4.8 |
| 1996–97 | NBC | 4.7 |
| 1995–96 | NBC | 5.0 |
| 1994–95 | NBC | 5.1 |
| 1993–94 | NBC | 4.6 |
| 1992–93 | NBC | 5.0 |
| 1991–92 | NBC | 4.8 |
| 1990–91 | NBC | 4.7 |
| 1989–90 | CBS | 5.2 |
| Season | ABC | TNT | ESPN | NBA TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | 3.82M | 1.74M | 1.63M | 0.31M |
| 2016–17 | 3.27M | 1.54M | 1.57M | 0.31M |
| 2015–16 | 3.93M | 1.68M | 1.65M | 0.35M |
| 2014–15 | 3.59M | 1.67M | 1.50M | 0.29M |
| 2013–14 | 3.58M | 1.90M | 1.68M | 0.32M |
| 2012–13 | 4.70M | 2.00M | 1.77M | 0.34M |
| 2011–12 (lockout shortened) | 5.42M | 2.50M | 1.86M | 0.34M |
| 2010–11 | 5.11M | 2.40M | 1.99M | 0.25M |
| 2009–10 | 3.69M | 1.72M | 1.56M | --- |
| 2008–09 | 3.68M | 1.71M | 1.68M | --- |
| 2007–08 | 3.18M | 1.47M | 1.47M | --- |
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Since the 2003 playoffs, coverage of the NBA playoffs have aired nationally across ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV. During the first two rounds, games are split between the networks regardless of conference, with TNT primarily airing weeknight games on Mondays through Wednesdays, and ESPN generally on Fridays. For Thursday games, TNT has them in the first round and ESPN in the second round. NBA TV also televises selected first-round games on Mondays through Thursdays. Saturday and Sunday coverage of the first two rounds have then been typically split between ABC, ESPN, and TNT, with specific time slots and exceptions varying throughout the years since 2003.
The NBA Conference Finals are rotated annually, with TNT airing the Eastern Conference Finals in odd-numbered years and the Western Conference Finals in even-numbered years. ESPN then broadcasts the other conference finals series, with at least one of its weekend games airing instead on ABC.
Under the upcoming TV contracts starting with the 2026 playoffs, ABC/ESPN would broadcast about 18 games in the first two rounds each year. NBC Sports would have between 22 and 34 first and second-round games, either televised on NBC or streamed on Peacock. And Amazon Prime Video would stream between 14 and 26 first and second-round games. For the conference finals, ABC/ESPN would have one series in the first 10 years of the deal, while the other series would be rotated between NBC and Prime Video; in 2036 (the final year of the deal), NBC and Amazon would have the conference finals instead of ABC/ESPN.[8][16][17]
| Year | Network | Game | Rating | Viewership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | TNT | Oklahoma City Thunder vs Golden State Warriors WCF Game 7 | 8.9 | 16.00M |
| 2012 | ESPN | Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat ECF Game 7 | 7.7 | 13.35M |
| 2013 | TNT | Indiana Pacers vs Miami Heat ECF Game 7 | 7.1 | 11.57M |
| 2011 | TNT | Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls ECF Game 1 | 6.2 | 11.11M |
| 2012 | ESPN | Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics ECF Game 6 | 6.8 | 11.07M |
| 2012 | ESPN | Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics ECF Game 4 | 6.8 | 11.07M |
| 2011 | TNT | Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat ECF Game 3 | 6.4 | 10.89M |
| 2016 | TNT | Golden State Warriors vs Oklahoma City Thunder WCF Game 6 | 6.2 | 10.81M |
| 2011 | TNT | Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls ECF Game 5 | 6.4 | 10.41M |
| 2012 | ESPN | Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat ECF Game 5 | 6.3 | 10.25M |
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ABC has exclusively aired the NBA Finals since 2003, and will continue to do so through 2036.[8]
| Year | Game | Rating/Share | Viewership |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors Game 7 | 15.8/29 | 31.02M |
| 2010 | Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers Game 7 | 15.6/27 | 28.20M |
| 2013 | San Antonio Spurs vs Miami Heat Game 7 | 15.3/26 | 26.32M |
| 2017 | Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors Game 5 | 13.5/25 | 24.47M |
| 2011 | Dallas Mavericks vs Miami Heat Game 6 | 13.3/23 | 23.88M |
| 2015 | Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers Game 6 | 13.4/24 | 23.25M |
| 2004 | Los Angeles Lakers vs Detroit Pistons Game 5 | 13.8/23 | 21.84M |
| 2015 | Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors Game 5 | 11.8/21 | 20.86M |
| 2016 | Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers Game 6 | 11.8/22 | 20.70M |
| 2013 | San Antonio Spurs vs Miami Heat Game 6 | 12.3/21 | 20.64M |
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NBA on Christmas Day
Games on Christmas Day have drawn some of the biggest regular season audiences. Since 2001, the most watched Christmas games were:
2004 Miami Heat vs Los Angeles Lakers on ABC averaged a 7.3 rating and 13.18 million viewers.
2010 Miami Heat vs Los Angeles Lakers on ABC averaged a 6.4 rating and 13.11 million viewers.
2015 Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors on ABC averaged a 5.7 rating and 11.12 million viewers.
| Year | Network | Games | Rating | Viewership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | ABC, ESPN | 5 | 5.67M | |
| 2018 | ABC, ESPN | 5 | 5.81M | |
| 2017 | ABC, ESPN, TNT | 5 | 2.6 | 5.10M |
| 2016 | ABC, ESPN | 5 | 2.3 | 4.56M |
| 2015 | ABC, ESPN | 5 | 3.0 | 5.55M |
| 2014 | ABC, ESPN, TNT | 5 | 2.8 | 5.22M |
| 2013 | ABC, ESPN | 5 | 2.5 | 4.46M |
| 2012 | ABC, ESPN | 5 | 3.1 | 5.50M |
| 2011 (lockout shortened) | TNT, ABC, ESPN | 5 | 4.0 | 6.50M |
| 2010 | ABC, ESPN | 5 | 3.2 | 6.00M |
| 2009 | ABC, ESPN | 5 | 2.4 | 4.17M |
| 2008 | ABC, ESPN, TNT | 5 | 2.5 | 4.43M |
| 2007 | ABC, ESPN | 3 | 2.6 | 4.29M |
| 2006 | ABC | 1 | 3.5 | 5.47M |
| 2005 | ABC | 2 | 4.4 | 7.12M |
| 2004 | ABC, ESPN | 2 | 5.2 | 8.92M |
| 2003 | ABC, ESPN | 3 | 3.0 | 4.96M |
| 2002 | ABC, ESPN | 3 | 2.8 | 4.52M |
| 2001 | NBC | 2 | 3.2 | 4.99M |
NBA All-Star Game
The NBA All-Star Game was on broadcast networks until 2002. TNT began airing the All-Star Game on cable in 2003, which featured the last appearance of Michael Jordan in the event, TBS started simulcasting the game since 2015. NBC would then take over airing the game in 2026.[8]
Most-viewed game
On November 9, 2007, when the Houston Rockets with Yao Ming faced off against the Milwaukee Bucks with Yi Jianlian, over 200 million people in China watched on 19 different networks, making it the most-viewed game in NBA history.[18]
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NBA games not televised by its national partners are instead broadcast by local broadcast stations and regional sports networks. The two networks may also simulcast ESPN, NBA TV and TNT televised games, including postseason contests. But all of these U.S. national feeds have been treated as non-exclusive in Canada if they involve the Raptors, inducing the 2019 NBA Finals, allowing the Raptors regional telecast to air in tandem with the U.S. national broadcast.[19][20]
Most NBA regional broadcasters are members of national chains:
| Regional network | Team(s) |
|---|---|
| Altitude Sports | Denver |
| Chicago Sports Network | Chicago |
| FanDuel Sports Network | Atlanta (10 games flexed to WPCH as of 2023–24 season), Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, LA Clippers, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee (10 games flexed to WMLW as of 2023–24 season), Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Orlando, San Antonio |
| Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network (Gray Television) |
New Orleans |
| KJZZ-TV (Smith Entertainment Group) |
Utah |
| KMPX/WFAA (Tegna Inc.) |
Dallas |
| KTVK/KPHE (Gray Television) |
Phoenix |
| Monumental Sports Network | Washington |
| MSG | New York |
| NBC Sports Regional Networks | Boston, Golden State, Philadelphia, Sacramento |
| Rip City Television Network | Portland |
| Space City Home Network | Houston |
| Spectrum Sports | LA Lakers |
| Sportsnet and TSN (shared rights) |
Toronto |
| YES Network | Brooklyn |
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