The start of the NBA season tonight is “set to test whether the NBA rights package will be a slam dunk or an air ball” for NBCUniversal, which is returning as a rightsholder for the first time since 2002. NBCU management expects the NBA “to bring a younger and more diverse audience to its platforms.” The rights are “part of a broader sports and live entertainment strategy” at Comcast, NBCU’s parent company. Some senior NBCU entertainment executives and Wall Street analysts “have questioned the price” -- $27B over 11 years -- “and all that has to go right for the deal to be a success.” For the deal to be “considered a success for NBCU, Peacock would need to see significant subscriber growth.” The streaming service’s base of subscribers “lags behind its rivals” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/21). NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an interview that the league’s move to NBC “is more of a homecoming than a transition” (L.A. TIMES, 10/20).
NBC’s first NBA test comes tonight, when it “unveils the first in a series of doubleheaders: a game from East Coast markets followed by one from West Coast markets.” NBC stations “will show the match-up closest to their time zone, but NBA die-hards can watch both, no matter where they live, through Peacock.” It’s “not the first time a media company has tried such a maneuver,” says NBC Sports President Rick Cordella, “but it may be the first time one has tried it during weekday primetime.” NBC “believes the plan will bring in large groups of more engaged fans across the nation,” who will “want to watch a team that is closer to the region in which they live.” The Tuesday night games will also “help set the tone for even bigger efforts.” Peacock will feature NBA games on Monday nights, a bid NBC “feels will bring younger sports fans under its umbrella” (VARIETY, 10/20).