Turner Sports to Deliver Full Court Press for NBA Playoffs

ATLANTA -- Turner Sports, entering its 26th year of NBA Playoffs coverage, announced today its multi-platform plans for the 2010 NBA Playoffs across television, online, and mobile.

TNT and NBA TV will combine to air approximately 50 live playoff games, including TNT's exclusive coverage of the entire Western Conference Finals. NBA TV will also provide up to 305 hours of original programming during the network's 62 days of playoff coverage.

Set to stream one billion videos worldwide since the end of last season -- a record for video views for the site -- NBA.com will include companion coverage with mosaic live video streaming of three games in the first round, eight games in the second round, and the Western Conference Finals on TNT OverTime on NBA.com. NBA Mobile will offer NBA Game Time Playoff Edition featuring a playoff bracket and live play-by-play text.

"We are excited to bring fans around the world all of the excitement and drama of the NBA playoffs on so many different platforms," said David Levy, president of ad sales, distribution and sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. "Through our extensive and unique NBA portfolio, we've established a great position to capture NBA fans at multiple destinations, allowing them to access video and information anywhere at anytime."

TNT will look to build upon back-to-back years of double-digit ratings growth and record-breaking viewership for its coverage of last year's NBA Playoffs. In 2009, the network averaged a 3.1 U.S. HH rating for 43 games, up 19 percent over the previous year (41 games), with 4,708,000 total viewers, a 24 percent increase (3,795,000). TNT averaged a 2.6 U.S. rating (2,937,000 households) during the 2008 NBA Playoffs coverage, up 14 percent in average total viewers (3,795,000) over the 43 games in 2007.

• Will air approximately 43 games, including exclusive second round and Western Conference Finals coverage

• The TNT studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith will be onsite for the Western Conference Finals and on TNT Overtime on NBA.com, which will feature a special companion mosaic with unique camera angles and social media interaction during every game.

• TNT's Barkley, Smith, and Chris Webber will do a series of live streaming video chats on NBA.com and Yahoo.com throughout the playoffs.

• Will air approximately six live playoff games with pre- and postgame shows

• Will air Eastern and Western Conference preview shows prior to the start of the playoffs

• Will air a 30-60 minute postgame show every night in the studio throughout the playoffs. The shows will feature player interviews and live postgame press conferences, and will also feature TNT reporters integrated via Arenalink or satellite

• Will air exclusive pregame shows prior to every Eastern and Western Conference Finals game

• Will edit and produce "Playoff Playbacks," 60-minute versions of every playoff game for re-airs on NBA TV

• Will stream every postgame news conference live throughout the playoffs

• Exclusive content, analysis from TNT announcers and replays of Inside the NBA will be available on TNT OverTime on NBA.com.

• NBA TV's Dennis Scott will provide insight to playoff matchups with "3D's 3 points" via Twitter, which will also post to a landing page on NBA.com that aggregates the tweets of the NBA's best analysts, writers, and insiders.

• TNT and NBA TV talent will also produce a "Look Ahead" for NBA.com after every game.

• NBA.com will have "Series Matchup" pages for every series, with an in-depth look from the site's stable of award-winning writers, an NBA TV video preview and a special edition of the Hang Time podcast for each series. NBA.com will have a writer at every postseason game to stay on top of late-breaking news and offer instant analysis.

TNT's announcing teams for the network's playoff coverage, including exclusive coverage of the entire Western Conference Finals, will be led by play-by-play announcer Marv Albert and analyst Reggie Miller as well as Kevin Harlan (play-by-play) and Doug Collins (analyst). In addition, Dick Stockton will team with analyst Mike Fratello and NBA TV analyst Kevin McHale will work alongside an announcer that will be named later. Sideline reporters will include Craig Sager, David Aldridge, and Cheryl Miller, with Marc Fein, Dei Lynam, Marty Snider and Frank Isola returning to the network for onsite reports during early-round coverage. Miller will join the TNT studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith throughout the Western Conference Finals.

On Sunday, April 18, TNT's coverage of playoff action will tip off with a first-round tripleheader and studio coverage from its Emmy® Award-winning Inside the NBA studio team of Johnson, Smith, and Barkley. Webber will make regular appearances in the studio during the playoffs.

NBA Digital is the NBA's extensive cross-platform portfolio of digital assets jointly managed by the NBA and Turner Sports. This robust offering includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAGUE.com, and WNBA.com.

Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised and online sports programming. With events airing on TBS and TNT, Turner Sports' line-up includes NASCAR and NASCAR.COM, the NBA, Major League Baseball, professional golf, PGATOUR.COM and PGA.com. Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.

TNT, one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama and home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Men of a Certain Age, with Ray Romano; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott; as well as the newly acquired Southland, from ER creator John Wells. TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, CSI: NY and Numb3rs; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

All NBA.com date source: Omniture