NBAtv - on basic cable?

While exciting to me, this might not affect too many of you.

Contracts for the league’s out-of-market package, NBA League Pass, also expire this fall, and the NBA is trying to use League Pass to induce cable and satellite operators to provide better penetration for NBA TV.

According to multiple sources on both sides of the talks, some cable operators are warming to the idea. NBA TV’s distribution has stagnated on sports tiers at 12 million subscribers. A move from a sports tier to digital basic would add between 6 million and 10 million subscribers, depending on the operator.

“It’s going to happen,” said one cable operator executive, of NBA TV’s pending move to digital basic. “It will happen in the next year.”