NBA games are back on Filipino television.
The world’s leading basketball league announced Monday that it has signed a multi-year partnership with Cignal TV and Smart Communications to bring NBA games and programming to fans in the Philippines through free satellite television and over-the-top streaming.
Starting Friday, July 31, coinciding with the restart of the 2019-2020 NBA season, the free-to-air channels TV5 and ONE Sports will broadcast NBA games live for the first time, including four games each week, announced the ‘NBA.
TV5 and ONE Sports will broadcast “seeding games” and playoff games during the first and second rounds, while the finals of the conference will be broadcast in full between the two channels. The 2020 NBA finals will be broadcast exclusively on TV5.
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Cignal will also launch NBA TV Philippines, a localized version of NBA TV – the league’s dedicated 24/7 channel – which will feature live games and original high definition programming, announced NBA Philippines.
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As an expansion of its existing partnership with the NBA to distribute NBA League Pass, Smart will stream NBA TV Philippines through its new over-the-top service, which will only be available to paid network subscribers.
“Restarting the NBA is a challenging time for our fans in the Philippines, who are among the most passionate and dedicated NBA supporters in the world,” said NBA CEO Asia Scott Levy.
Robert Galang, president and CEO of Cignal TV, said: “With three channels that broadcast games, Filipinos now have the chance to experience NBA live on the free TV5 and ONE Sports TV channels and on Cignal’s NBA TV Philippines High Definition TV. The game we all love is now truly at home. “
In addition, Smart will relaunch NBA.com/Philippines, the league’s official digital destination in the country, later this year.
“Like some of the biggest basketball fans in the world, hunger for live basketball is in our DNA,” said Alfredo Panlilio, president and CEO of Smart.
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Cignal initially made a joint offer for the NBA broadcast rights with ABS-CBN after the league’s long partnership with Solar Sports.
However, ABS-CBN has given up on the offer amidst its difficulties in securing a new franchise in Congress, paving the way for TV5’s entry.
Cignal sources said that TV5 will broadcast one NBA game over the weekend on free television, while One Sports will broadcast two games over the weekend.
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