NBA-PH PAYING CNN P500,000 FOR BLOCK TIME OF GAMES?

NBA Philippines came out with a news release that CNN Philippines will carry select games on weekends, giving Filipino basketball fans the opportunity to catch games on free television that started last week.

But sources privy to discussions confirmed that NBA Philippines is paying P500,000 per game to air select matches as block timer to bring the games every weekend. Such arrangement is different from the previous set up with Solar, whose channel BTV, were able to carry the games for several years on its cable channel, while ABS- CBN handled the free television during weekends.

In the previous years, both Solar and ABS-CBN were given exclusive rights to air NBA games, but the two networks were not able to sustain the fees being charged to them by NBA Philippines, which reportedly offered almost tripled than the previous arrangement.

The dispute on the fees between all parties resulted in stoppage of BTV and NBA Premium channels on Sky Cable. When the 2019 contract ended SOLAR did not renew the NBA contract and BTV and NBA Premium ceases operations. Broadcast of NBA stopped.

TV5 and ABS-CBN had jointly made a pitch for the

Philippine television rights of the NBA, but another source said that NBA Philippines Managing Director Carlo Singson is asking for the “moon and the stars” in the joint effort of these two giant networks for NBA rights for the new seasons 2020-2025. NBA came back to them with a further increase from the 2019 license fee which has been placed as three times the original.

In a previous report by FOX Sports Philippines, Jane Basas, president of TV5, said that NBA Philippines was asking for too much.

“The price for the TV rights which was offered to us is something we can not even recover,” said Basas. “They had to lower it a bit, but we came up with our offer. Now the ball is in the hands of the NBA. Hopefully, they will get back to us.”

A source privy to the negotiations said that NBA Philippines was forced to enter on a block time agreement and pay for the airing of select games to be shown on CNN just to heed to the demand of the public to see the matches on free television.

Another source added that NBA Philippines is determined to jack up the price, but ABS-CBN and TV 5, don’t want to commit to such offer.