NBA China and BesTV, a member of the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group, announced a multi-year expansion of their partnership to deliver NBA games and programming to fans in China. The announcement was made on Sunday in Shanghai at the Mercedes-Benz Arena by SMG President Wang Jianjun and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. As the official multimedia partner of the NBA in China, nearly 1,300 NBA games each year and programming will be available across BesTV and SMG's media platforms. NBA games and programming will be made available through the NBA Zone subscription service on a variety of BesTV's platforms, including via IPTV, OTT boxes, BesTV's mobile app, BesTV and Funshion-branded smart TVs and the Xbox game console. Fans will also be able to view NBA games on-demand through these services. On SMG, fans will be able to access NBA content through GreatSports, SiTV and Dragon Satellite TV via cable, digital cable and satellite TV. As part of the expanded partnership, BesTV will use its resources to advertise and promote the NBA games and content, as well as NBA events and activities in China (NBA).
IN ITALY: The NBA and Sky Italia announced a multi-year expansion of their existing broadcast partnership that will see Sky Italia host www.nba.com/italia, the NBA's new official online destination in Italy. As part of the partnership, Sky Italia will broadcast four live games per week including 22 primetime "NBA Sundays" games during the '16-17 regular season. Set to launch during the '16-17 season, the new online destination, hosted in a dedicated section of www.skysport.it, will provide fans in Italy with video highlights, news, stats and scores and original digital content (Sky).