NBA TV Tuesday nabbed its biggest distribution prize yet, inking a carriage deal with the country’s largest MSO, Comcast Corp.
The deal makes NBA TV available to Comcast digital subscribers on a tier, although the agreement allows for wider distribution.
About 40% of Comcast’s 21 million subscribers receive digital cable and Comcast Cable Communications Inc. president Steve Burke says the company’s goal is to have 40% of digital homes receiving a sports tier.
The channel will be available on digital in big Comcast-and NBA-markets like Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle.
To sweeten the deal, NBA TV is also providing Comcast with extensive video-on-demand content and high-definition programming.
"This is an example of kind of deal we like to do. It is a win-win," Burke says.
The deal brings NBA TV’s subscriber base close to 10 million homes. NBA commissioner David Stern said he was "optimistic" the channel would close additional deals that would bring that total closer to 15 million homes by next season.
