NBA extends Broadcast Partnership with Sony Six
–Sony SIX to Televise up to 14 Live NBA Games per Week–
MUMBAI, Oct. 20, 2015 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Multi Screen Media (MSM) announced yesterday a multiyear extension of their partnership that will provide fans with up to 14 live NBA games per week on Sony SIX, India’s premier sports entertainment channel and a part of Multi Screen Media Network. The NBA and MSM first announced their partnership during the 2010-11 NBA season.
With the expanded partnership, Sony SIX will broadcast up to two regular-season games per day, in addition to NBA All-Star, the playoffs and The Finals. Sony SIX will also create customized lifestyle-oriented, off-the-court programming that engages Indian youth by bringing together talent from the NBA, Sony Entertainment and Bollywood. “Our partnership with the NBA has seen basketball become the fastest growing sport in India over the last few years. This clearly indicates that the TV viewing audience for the NBA will continue to rise,” said Sony SIX and KIX Business Head Prasana Krishnan. “The launch of our customized local LIVE NBA wraparound program will also bring sports fans closer to the on-court action.” “We are excited to extend our partnership with Sony SIX to continue delivering comprehensive coverage of the NBA to our fans,”said NBA India Managing Director Yannick Colaco. “The popularity of the NBA continues to grow and, through the diversity of NBA programming on Sony SIX, we will continue attracting and engaging with existing and new viewers alike across India.” Sony SIX will continue to broadcast daily and weekly NBA highlight shows and integrate daily content from NBA TV, including team previews and recap shows. The daily 30-minute highlight programs will be broadcast in primetime every day of the season. The weekly highlight shows, hosted by a local anchor, will recap all the happenings around the NBA during the past week. For the first time in India, the NBA and Sony SIX will introduce a customized, local live NBA wraparound program every weekend throughout the season,bringing viewers closer to the game. The program will be hosted by a panel of basketball experts that will provide analysis and insight on all of the latest NBA news.
The NBA and Sony SIX will also continue their focus on the development of basketball in India, beginning with the return of NBA Jam – the league’s annual basketball festival – on Oct. 24.With the expanded partnership, more NBA players, legends and dance teams will visit India throughout the year. Sony SIX’s coverage of the 2015-16 NBA season will begin Oct. 28, 2015. For more information, fans can visit www.nba.com. Fans can follow the NBA on Facebook (facebook.com/NBAIndia) and on Twitter (@NBAIndia) and download the NBA App for the latest news, updates, scores, stats, schedules, videos and more. About the NBA: The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. The league has established a major international presence with offices in 13 markets worldwide, games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2014-15 season featured a record 101 international players from 37 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA.com and NBA Mobile, which achieved record traffic during the 2014-15 season, as well as NBA TV. The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 875 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.