If any NBA-following Aussies didn’t already know this, Channel 10 is launching a 24-hour HD sports channel – called “One” – in April this year which will be featuring, among other things, live NBA. But it appears Channel 10 are jumping the gun a little and will be showing NBA ahead of schedule, on their current HD channel. Shout out to Ham for bringing this to my attention. The first game will appear on Monday before the Superbowl:

An NBA match between Detroit v Cleveland screens live on TEN HD at 6am and is repeated at 11pm. Boston v LA Lakers airs live 12 midday Fri Feb 6th and repeated 9:30pm.”

I just checked NBA.com’s International TV Schedule page and it looks like One’s entire NBA schedule has been released. Go check it out!

Here’s a breakdown of how many games we get to see of each team:

Lakers – 8
Cavs – 5
Spurs – 5
Suns – 5
Mavs – 4
Celtics – 3
Pistons -2
Clippers – 2
Nuggets – 2
Trailblazers – 1
Hornets – 1
Warriors – 1
Rockets – 1
Raptors – 1
Hawks – 1
Wizards – 1
Jazz – 1
76′ers – 1
Bulls – 1
Knicks – 1
Heat – 1

I don’t know how set in stone the scheduling is, but my first impressions are:

  • Holy shit we’re getting an extra 8-10 NBA games per month! Time to weigh up whether forking out $50 a month for Foxtel is really worth it
  • We get to see 21 different teams in the next three months. That is a pretty good range, unlike Foxtel who tend to constantly ignore the same 10-12 teams (although to be fair it’s not exactly their choice, it’s ESPNs, although sometimes it is their fault when they choose to show the wrong game of a double-header). Looking forward to watching the Hawks and Blazers in particular.
  • That is a lot of Lakers games! Which I guess isn’t so bad because they’re one of the most entertaining teams to watch
  • It would appear all those games are live. A lot of them are being shown at 4.00AM or 6.30AM, but a quick look at the NBA schedule tells me these are games starting at 1.00PM or 3.30PM in the US so it’s definitely live

This is certainly exciting news. After God knows how long, NBA is finally coming back to free-to-air television. It’s a massive step forward and an indication of the growing popularity of the NBA downunder.

I can see the next 6-12 months being very important in the promotion of basketball in Australia. NBA back on TV, the restructuring of the NBL, Bogut leading the Bucks to the playoffs, and Patty Mills perhaps declaring for the NBA draft. Exciting times.


Tags: , ,

Similar posts:
  1. NBA Playoffs on Australian TV
    2.
  2. The Australian 2009-2010 NBA TV Schedule
    3.
  3. Channel Ten - Let em' have it!
    4.
  4. Not getting enough NBA Downunder? International League Pass might be the go
    5.
  5. 2010 NBA Playoffs on Australian TV
  • Share

« « Previous Post: Detroit about to face the Ghosts of Pistons Past
» » Next Post: Sunday Six Pack – Bynum’s knee, Bogut’s return and Shaq’s love for Kobe