Basketball TV (BTV) was a Philippine pay television sports channel with offices on Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong. It was owned by the Solar Entertainment Corporation. It was launched on October 1, 2006, rebranding the Sports Plus channel.[1] On September 25, 2019, it announced on its official Facebook page as well as on its Instagram and Twitter accounts that the channel and NBA Premium TV will cease their operations on October 1, 2019. The final program to air on this channel was a replay of NBA Playoff Playback on September 30, 2019, before signing off at 12:00 m.n. on October 1, 2019.
Upon the channel's termination, Sky Cable and Cignal in their joint statement said that they were jointly negotiating directly with the NBA to make games and programming available to millions of fans in the Philippines. “We have submitted an offer to the NBA and are awaiting a response.” [2]
A supplementary channel, NBA Premium TV (now defunct), was launched in time for the 2010–11 NBA season, featuring over 400 games with no local commercials.[5]
On April 10, 2017, Sky Cable, Destiny Cable & Sky Direct dropped Basketball TV along with NBA Premium TV, Jack TV, Solar Sports & CT (now defunct) allegedly due to Sky Cable's unpaid carriage fees. However, on October 16, 2018, the channel was restored on Sky Cable & Sky Direct after 18 months of carriage disputes.[6] On October 28, 2018, the channel was dropped again on Sky Cable & Sky Direct.[7]
The channel ceased broadcast on October 1, 2019, after 13 years of broadcasting.