• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 15, 2011

Between labor disputes and shifting consumer habits, it gets harder every year for pro sports to post winning seasons. Heading into the playoffs, however, the National Basketball Association is boasting strong viewership across all key channels.

During the regular season, NBA TV claims to have featured more live NBA games -- 96-- than any other network, which helped it increase distribution to 55.2 million U.S. homes in April.

At NBA.com, meanwhile, more than 1.94 billion videos were viewed, which represented an increase of more than 140%. The site also saw nearly 5.9 billion page-views, for an increase of more than 35%.

"This year's performance across every single metric, on every single platform, is a testament to how our mission resonates with fans -- the best NBA content anytime, anywhere, any way," says Bryan Perez, senior vice president/GM of NBA Digital. "Our efforts this year on emerging platforms like tablets and connected devices show we will continue to innovate toward this goal."

Year-over-year, NBA Mobile Web page views increased 140%, while NBA GameTime App downloads delivered a 130% increase across all platforms.

NBA GameTime, the league's digital application, is now available on Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Vizio, LG, iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, iPad, Panasonic and Samsung, making it one of the most far-reaching sports applications.

Through the playoffs, NBA Digital will serve as the home for NBA fans. NBA TV plans to offer about 1,500 hours of NBA-related programming, including 195 hours of live studio coverage.

NBA.com, through the launch of the new NBA Playoffs Pulse application, will let users track conversations, vote, and share content in real-time about NBA players and teams.