History
AKTV (2011–2013)
From October 2011 to May 2013, the coverage was known as PBA sa AKTV (lit. transl. PBA on AKTV). The games were broadcast on Sports5's AKTV program block on IBC. This was the third time that the PBA aired on IBC. The first was from 1996 to 2002 when Vintage Sports and later Viva Sports handled the television coverage, and the second in 2003, when IBC became one of the two networks (the other being NBN) that covered the PBA.
Games are being broadcast live and a pre-game and post-game show entitled AKTV Center was added.
Move to TV5 (2013–2014)
After TV5 decided not to renew their blocktime agreement with IBC upon its expiration by May 2013 due to high blocktime costs and poor ratings, the broadcast coverage of the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals was temporarily transferred to TV5 with simulcasts with AksyonTV, an all-Filipino news and public affairs channel of TV5. [3] [4]
Sports5 proposed to move the coverage of the PBA games to their sister channel AksyonTV starting with the 2013 PBA Governors' Cup. [5] The league however rejected this move since the contract between them and Sports5 states the league should be aired on a VHF channel. Sports5 then offered to air the second game of a doubleheader playdate on their main TV network TV5, one hour after the first game finishes, with the first game to be aired on a delayed basis after the second game (similar on what Vintage Sports did to the coverage of the PBA Games from 1982 to 1986). However, both games will be aired live on AksyonTV. This proposal was denied by the PBA Board of Governors since this violates the terms of their contract with Sports5. [6]
The broadcast of the games returned to IBC for the duration of the 2013 PBA Governors' Cup (up to the semifinal round) as a compromise after the PBA disagreed to Sports5's request to permanently transfer the coverage to TV5 and/or Aksyon TV. [7] The finals series for Governors' Cup were aired live on TV5.
In November 2013, Sports5 and Fox Sports Asia have entered in an agreement to air the Wednesday PBA games for the 2013–14 season live on the cable channel. It will have its own English speaking broadcast panel to properly cater the cable channel's audience. [8]
For the 2013-14 Philippine Cup eliminations, the games were aired on the following schedule: [9]
| Game day | TV5 | AksyonTV | Fox Sports Asia (Wednesdays only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | First Game: Delayed (11PM) Second Game: Live: (8PM) | First Game: Live (5:30PM) Second Game: Live: (8PM) | First Game: Live (5:30PM) Second Game: Live: (8PM) |
| Saturdays | First Game: Live (3:30PM) Second Game: n/a | First Game: Live (3:30PM) Second Game: Live: (5:30PM) | none |
| Sundays | First Game: Live (3:00PM) Second Game: Live: (5:30PM) | First Game: Live (3:00PM) Second Game: Live: (5:30PM) | none |
The schedule for the 2014 PBA Commissioner's Cup has been slightly altered starting March 17, 2014, having the Saturday doubleheader games being aired live on TV5, with a lone game scheduled during Mondays and Wednesdays, to maximize TV5's weekday schedule. [10] As a result, the simulcast at AksyonTV was discontinued. [11] The weekday live airing of the games was returned on starting March 26 [12] after several PBA fans reacted negatively about the delayed airing of the first game. [13] The following schedule was also applied for the 2014 PBA Governors' Cup.
| Game day | TV5 | AksyonTV | Fox Sports Asia (Wednesdays only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | First Game: Delayed (11PM) Second Game: Live: (8PM) | First Game: Live (5:30PM) Second Game: n/a | First Game: Live (5:30PM) Second Game: Live: (8PM) |
| Saturdays | First Game: Live (2:45PM) Second Game: Live: (5:15PM) | none | none |
| Sundays | First Game: Live (3:00PM) Second Game: Live: (5:15PM) | none | none |
Sports5 (2014–2020)
Beginning with the 2014–15 Philippine Cup, all games will be broadcast live on TV5 with simulcasts on AksyonTV and game days (all double headers) will be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Provincial games will be held during Saturdays which is the only single header game day. The coverage is also live-streamed via sports5.ph, where pre-game and post-game analysis are also featured. The radio coverage was also transferred to TV5's FM radio network Radyo5 from the previous DZSR AM network.
The same schedule is also being followed during the 2015–16 season, except that the AksyonTV simulcast was discontinued. When Sports5 got the exclusive airing rights of UFC, they re-activated the previously dormant Hyper HD channel and began simulcasting the PBA games in HD starting in January 2016.
To further utilize the simulcast setup of Sports5, they have assigned a different broadcast panel for TV5 and Hyper/Cignal. TV5 have the Taglish commentary while Hyper/Cignal have English language commentary.
A separate channel was assigned for PBA broadcasts beginning July 15, 2016, named "PBA Rush". The said channel also features game replays and specials.
In October 2016, TV5 President and CEO Chot Reyes told the media that the league renewed its contract with Sports5 for three more seasons. [14]
As Sports5 inked a partnership with global sports media network ESPN on October 12, the broadcast coverage of the PBA games were carried over by the new ESPN5, and the new service was soft-launched on Game 1 of the 2017 PBA Governors' Cup Finals on October 13.
One Sports (2020–present)
The program was rebranded as "PBA on One Sports" on March 8, 2020, to reflect the changes in TV5's sports division.
Since the 2023–24 season, TV5 has partnered up with multiple networks to broadcast the PBA games as TV5 President Guido Zaballero stated that the channel began shifting its focus on entertainment and news programs. In October 2023, PBA entered into an acquired agreement with ZOE Broadcasting Network and ABS-CBN Corporation to broadcast the league's games on A2Z, with all ABS-CBN programs being temporarily affected by the changes in programming during game days. The PBA games still airs on Cignal TV's PBA Rush through Pilipinas Live! streaming service. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] On February 12, 2024, Tiebreaker Times reported that A2Z had ceased broadcasting of the PBA games. [20]
In December 2023, TV5 Network Inc. entered into an acquired agreement with Nine Media Corporation to broadcast the PBA games on CNN Philippines every Saturday and Sunday from January 6, 2024. [21] [22] [23] Following the shutdown of CNN Philippines on January 31, 2024, [24] [25] the broadcast of the games was carried over to the replacement channel RPTV beginning with the 2023–24 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals, and were extended to weekdays. [26]
High-definition broadcast
Sports5 had its first high-definition broadcast of the league's games during the finals series of the 2014 PBA Commissioner's Cup. It was aired exclusively to Cignal Digital TV subscribers through a pay per view assigned channel for free. Since then, the HD broadcast has been airing for free on Cignal except during the 2015 Commissioner's and Governors' Cups, which became pay-per-view exclusive. On January 8, 2016, the HD broadcast has been airing on Hyper HD. The HD broadcast was later transferred to the league's exclusive channel in Cignal upon launching of "PBA Rush" in July 2016.
The TV5 feed became available also in HD upon launching of TV5's HD channel on Cignal starting April 1, 2023, in turn making the PBA games air in HD.
On-demand
One Sports uploads the highlights of all PBA games on the One Sports' YouTube channel. From 2021 to 2023, select games are being livestreamed through the Puso Pilipinas and Smart Sports Facebook pages.
Beginning with the 2023–24 season, the PBA games will be livestreamed via Pilipinas Live streaming service. Games from the 2020 season up to present are available for on-demand viewing.
