The cast of new NBA TV show "The Starters," formerly known as "The Basketball Jones" when the program was on Toronto-based The Score, will "continue their witty take on everything basketball," as the moves to NBA TV, according to Raju Mudhar of the TORONTO STAR. The six-man-strong lineup will "work on a daily all-things NBA show, and continue to create web content for a blog." Cast member Tas Melas said of NBA TV execs, "They just realized that this is the way that the world is going, fans just talking about the game, and we had such a presence doing it independently, and with The Score as well, so now, it is just going to be tenfold here." After starting out seven-and-a-half years ago "as a podcast which grew to include a blog and video podcast ... they were eventually picked up by The Score." Now they "continue their upward journey by joining NBA TV." Cast members "want to assure their fan base that the style will remain the same." Mudhar noted the name change "happened because of copyright issues and would have been a hassle and likely cost some money to change." Their show will air live on NBA.com daily at noon ET, and they "want their fan base to tweet along." The show will then "be packaged with highlights and air on NBA TV" at 6:00pm ET Monday-Friday in the U.S. The audio also "will be embedded on their NBA.com blog, and available on iTunes" for their "hardcore podcasting fans." Cast member J.E. Skeets said that he has been told the show "will also air on NBA TV Canada, but he is not yet aware of the time slot" (TORONTO STAR, 10/13).
