"NBA.com TV represents the convergence of the Internet, television and basketball," said Stern. "By combining the immediacy and depth of information from NBA.com with current and historical television programming from the NBA, NBA.com TV will offer our fans complete, round-the-clock coverage of the league. NBA.com TV will be the place to turn for anything and everything about the NBA as it's happening."

This marks the first time a sports league has created a full-time television network. Produced by NBA Entertainment, NBA.com TV will combine real-time statistics, scores, and news from NBA.com, the league's Official Internet site, with live studio-based programming, live "look-ins" of games in progress, game highlights, vintage NBA games, NBA videos and specials, basketball-related talk shows, basketball-themed movies, and programming from the award-winning archives of NBAE.

"We see this as an opportunity to tap into the rich array of information available on NBA.com and the vast television programming from NBAE's video and film library," said Adam Silver, President and COO, NBA Entertainment. "This is also an opportunity to produce and acquire new and original basketball-themed programming specifically for the network."

At its launch, NBA.com TV will be available to more than 5.6 million homes on satellite through DIRECTV, the nation's largest direct broadcast satellite service, and in more than 1 million homes with upgraded digital cable systems through Viewer's Choice.

"As the exclusive satellite TV distributor of NBA LEAGUE PASS, DIRECTV is delighted to offer our customers NBA.com TV," said Stephanie Campbell, senior vice president of Programming for DIRECTV. "DIRECTV is the destination for sports fans to tune to and NBA.com TV will complement the unparalleled lineup of sports programming already available to our customers."

NBA.com TV will be provided at no additional charge to DIRECTV customers who subscribe to NBA LEAGUE PASS, Total Choice Platinum or Total Choice Gold.

"We are thrilled to be offering NBA LEAGUE PASS for the first time to digital cable operators," said Rob Jacobson, senior vice president of Distribution and Product Development for Viewer's Choice. "NBA.com TV is the perfect complement to the coverage provided on NBA LEAGUE PASS."

NBA.com TV will be included in subscriptions to NBA LEAGUE PASS, which offers viewers up to 40 games per week from outside the subscriber's local area and more than 1,000 over the course of the season. NBA LEAGUE PASS is available to residential and commercial subscribers of DIRECTV and residential subscribers of digital cable systems.

NBA Entertainment (NBAE) — the Emmy Award-winning production and programming division of the NBA and WNBA — is one of the largest suppliers of sports television and Internet programming in the world.

NBAE produces several weekly television shows, including NBA Inside Stuff, NBA Matchup, Vintage NBA, NBA Action, WNBA Action and NBA Jam; creates exclusive content for NBA.com and WNBA.com; and packages NBA and WNBA games along with highlight and lifestyle shows for distribution to 199 countries around the world.

NBAE also manages publishing ventures for the NBA and WNBA, including NBA Inside Stuff and Hoop magazines, children's titles published by Scholastic Books, and NBA and WNBA championship books published by Harper Collins and Random House.