MUMBAI: Time Warner Cable and the Los Angeles Lakers have entered into a 20-year, wide-ranging agreement in the US for rights to distribute all locally available pre-season, regular season, and post-season Lakers games, beginning with the 2012-2013 season.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
To showcase the games, Time Warner Cable will launch two regional sports networks in HD, including the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, with new facilities
in Los Angeles, to bring fans Lakers content using the latest technology. The networks will be available to all satellite, cable and telco distributors in the Lakers’ territory, which includes all of Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii.
The networks will include a number of elements custom-designed for Lakers fans, including.
- A single destination where Lakers fans can find all locally-televised home and away games and a variety of new and original Lakers’ content featuring behind-the-scenes, personality and classic programming.
- All Lakers games will be produced in high definition, with state-of-the-art technology and high production values in English & Spanish. The Spanish-language channel is a stand alone RSN with its own dedicated production of game telecasts and other unique content tailored to Spanish speaking Lakers fans – not a SAP feed.
- All games will feature pre and post-game shows produced separately in both English and Spanish.
- A Lakers news and magazine show throughout the season.
- Joint community relations initiatives.
- New online and on demand multi-platform content featuring the Lakers.
Time Warner Cable chairman, CEO Glenn Britt said, “This long-term agreement represents a huge win for all Lakers fans, providing destination channels, more content and more platforms for the Lakers, one of the premier brands in professional sports today.
“It allows us to secure great ‘must-have’ content for our customers in an advantageous arrangement that affords us greater control over our own economic destiny for decades to come. We’ll be able to fully leverage our experience in local and regional programming; we have been at the forefront of the industry with 24-hour regional news and 24-hour regional news in Spanish, and now we’re breaking ground with the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, something that’s tailor made for Southern California.”
Lakers Owner Dr. Jerry Buss said, “The Buss family is thrilled to join forces with Time Warner Cable in building the TV home for Lakers fans. Time Warner Cable has been producing quality sports programming for over a decade and the Lakers have been producing championship seasons for even longer. I am particularly proud of being part of the first ever Spanish-language RSN in the country. Together I’m confident we will delight our fans.”
