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Richard Deitsch: A MAJOR win for the @WNBA and USA Network. Game Six of the WNBA Finals averaged 1.5 million viewers across USA Network, E!, and SYFY and Peacock. Fifth most-watched WNBA Finals game on cable on record. The number bumps up to 1.7 million viewers of you include the encore presentations on USA Network and CNBC at 8 p.m. ET. They avoided a disaster rating. A big win.
Stephen Curry called him “kind of the full package” after the game on Peacock. “He’s just got composure and feel, obviously his size on the court, he’s a matchup problem,” Curry said. “But he’s never really in a hurry and he’s starting to see the pictures really well. Distributing, being aggressive, getting to the free throw line, offensive rebounds.”
All NBA games are now available on streaming platforms, but that doesn’t mean they’re equally available nationwide. Regional TV territory zones still determine how fans can consistently watch their teams. There are wide disparities in how many nationally televised games different teams play. And now, there’s also a spread in how teams are distributing their games locally. Put it together, and some New Orleans Pelicans fans only need to shell out $9 to watch their team all season long while certain New York Knicks fans will need more than $200 worth of services for access to the team’s entire title defense, playoffs not included. An antenna could come in handy too. After the dissolution of the FanDuel Sports Networks, fewer than half of NBA teams will have their games primarily available on paid cable channels this season. Every team’s games will stream locally, with many franchises also airing contests on freely available over-the-air broadcast stations. Meanwhile, up to 34 games per team will be on ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video or NBC/Peacock nationally, with many of those games also available on a team’s regional platform.
NBA Communications: Tuesday’s 76ers-Knicks and Thunder-Spurs doubleheader was the NBA’s most-watched opening night ever, averaging 6.41 million viewers on NBC/Peacock. The 76ers’ victory over the Knicks was the league’s most-watched primetime opening night game ever, averaging 7.71 million viewers and peaking at 9.1 million viewers at 9:45 p.m. ET. American Express NBA Tip-Off – which also featured an afternoon matchup between the Celtics and Pistons – generated more than 700 million views across social media, an opening night record.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, McGrady discussed a novel two-year strategic partnership with NBC Sports. Peacock will stream select games from the Ones Basketball League that McGrady founded in 2022, an idea that emerged from one of his sleepless nights. The network will collaborate on live tapings of “Cousins,” the podcast featuring McGrady and Carter, which debuts its second season Wednesday. In addition, NBC is exploring content related to the ABCD Basketball Camp, the storied high school showcase in which McGrady acquired a controlling stake, reviving it in July after 20 dormant years. When he joined NBC, McGrady sought more than a job. He wanted an alliance. “It’s crazy, but I visualized this,” McGrady said. “I saw it, and it was just about, ‘OK, what steps do I need to take for this to happen?’”
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Doc Rivers joins an NBC roster that also includes his son Austin, who last season primarily contributed to the network’s “On the Bench” broadcasts on Peacock — wherein game analysts are situated aside the competing teams rather than behind the broadcast table. Flood said “On the Bench” will expand to all Monday night games on Peacock this season, rather than one a week. “We think it’s a signature element for Monday nights, and the league was on board with us to help the access and get us on those benches,” Flood said, “so we’re all in with that.”
The network announced on Monday that Rivers will be an analyst on games this season across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN, along with the possibility for some studio work. “I honestly can say I’m absolutely retired,” Rivers said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “I had a long run. It ended up in the (Naismith) Hall of Fame (earlier this year) and I am so thankful that I was able to coach and played as long as I did. For the first time, I can focus on giving TV my 100% attention, which I’m really looking forward to. “I think I’ve always been pretty honest. I’ve always celebrated the game in general, but told the truth. I don’t think anyone has ever had a problem with honesty and the way you tell the truth. There are always times where you offend people because of the truth, but I’ve never really worried about that.”
Doc Rivers -- a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coaching inductee, 2008 NBA champion head coach of the Boston Celtics, 13-year player, and veteran broadcaster -- is joining NBC Sports as an NBA game analyst when its coverage of the association continues next month across NBC, Peacock, and NBCSN. Rivers has more than 40 years of NBA experience as both a player and head coach.
Noah Reed joins Altitude as the new Nuggets play-by-play announcer, alongside Katy Winge who will serve as the new lead color analyst. Reed spent the past five years calling college basketball and football for ESPN, NBC/Peacock and FOX Sports. Winge has been with Altitude since 2018. Winge becomes the third full-time female analyst for an NBA team’s regional network, Altitude said.
The NBA will increase its broadcast TV presence during the 2026-27 regular-season, with ABC and NBC combining for 90 games, up from 79 last season. In total, there will be 247 national games across ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Prime Video, even with last year and up from 172 two seasons ago. The league already rolled out its first opening day national tripleheader on NBC Sports, with streaming on Peacock, as well as its five-game Christmas Day slate on ABC/ESPN.
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The NBA today released its complete game schedule for the 2026-27 regular season, along with the broadcast and streaming schedules for Disney (ABC/ESPN/ESPN Radio), NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock/NBCSN) and Amazon (Prime Video). As part of the NBA Schedule Release presented by Ticketmaster, the day-by-day and team-by-team schedules are attached and available at NBA.com/schedule.
After previously announcing the dates and groups for its third annual in-season tournament, the NBA today revealed the schedule for the group play portion of the event. The group play stage of the tournament, which is formally known as the Emirates NBA Cup, will begin on October 30 and run through November 27. The group play games will take place on five consecutive Fridays, with a handful of games also played on Tuesday, Nov. 24 and Wednesday, Nov. 25. The NBA has published its schedule by date, as well as its schedule by team. Each Friday will feature a doubleheader on Amazon Prime Video, while NBC/Peacock will nationally broadcast a doubleheader on Nov. 24 and ESPN will air a tripleheader on Nov. 25. The full schedule of nationally televised NBA Cup games, starting with Knicks at Sixers and Lakers at Warriors on Oct. 30, can be found right here.
NBA: Opening week is must-see 🍿 NBA Champions raise a banner. Superstars debut with new teams. Rivalries pick up where they left off. The 2026-27 NBA season tips off Tuesday, October 20. Watch all the action on NBC/Peacock, ESPN and Prime. NBA Schedule Release presented by @Ticketmaster: Wednesday, October 21: Timberwolves-Heat and Warriors-Lakers Thursday, October 22: Cavaliers-Sixers and Nuggets-Thunder Friday, October 23: Knicks-Celtics and Rockets-Spurs
James’s Sixers are expected to get the maximum 34 national game telecasts/streams across Disney’s ABC/ESPN, NBCUniversal’s NBC Sports/Peacock, and Amazon’s Prime Video during the upcoming NBA season, say sources. That would more than double the 14 national games that Joel Embiid’s team was featured in during the 2025-6 campaign.