NBA’s fans in the Philippines are not likely to get their basketball fix soon as NBA Philippines is reportedly playing hardball with local cable TV operators by jacking up its asking price three times its previous arrangement with Solar.
According to a report in The Manila Times, NBA Philippines’ demand from Cignal and Sky Cable, which are jointly bidding to the local rights to air NBA games, is asking for the “moon and the stars” or too much.
“The price for the TV rights which was offered to us is something we can not even recover,” TV5 president Jane Basas said in a report by Fox Philippines.
But NBA Philippines is reportedly feeling the public pressure to watch the games on free-to-air television and reportedly bought airtime or blocktime with CNN Philippines.
Times’ news report stated that NBA Philippines “is paying P500,000 per game to air select matches as block timer to bring the games every weekend.”
NBA Philippines’ contract with Solar ended recently. Solar terminated its Basketball TV and NBA Premium channels last October 1. It is currently negotiating with Cignal and Sky, which have reportedly submitted a joint bid to bring the games to more Filipino viewers on pay and free TV.
Who will blink? Will NBA Philippines choose to stick with its free livestreaming on social media and continue to pay for airtime on CNN Philippines? Or will it choose to reach more viewers by asking for a reasonable price from Cignal and Sky?
