• June 28, 2007

A big part of the new eight-year $7.4 billion NBA TV deal with ABC-ESPN and TNT, announced Wednesday, comes from extended digital rights. ESPN, for example, will have access to NBA content across multiple platforms, including ESPN.com, ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile Publishing, ESPN Mobile TV, and ESPN podcasts.

The deal represents a 21% increase over the previous six-year agreement, despite declining U.S. TV ratings--especially for the recently concluded playoffs. "The media tends to focus on ratings," said Neal Pilson, president of sports marketing consultant, Pilson Communications. "But in every meeting we have, our talks focus on digital. This deal doesn't surprise me."