TORONTO – The NBA’s Toronto Raptors will be seen on five different channels this year, including the CBC, the team announced Wednesday.
All 82 regular-season contests will be televised nationally and for the first time, all of them in high definition (HD). This also marks the sixth straight campaign that the entire regular season schedule will be aired locally.
"We are excited to once again partner with The Score, TSN and Rogers Sportsnet, plus welcome CBC,” said Tom Anselmi, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment executive vice-president and chief operating officer, in a press release. “In addition, Raptors NBA TV will also have exclusive games to ensure national exposure for all 82 Toronto Raptors contests.”
Canada’s national network, CBC, joins the Raptors broadcast schedule for the first time with seven games this season, all available in HD, and all on Sunday afternoons. The CBC schedule begins November 4 when the Raptors play host to the new-look Boston Celtics with all-star additions Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.
The CBC schedule also includes contests against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (January 6), and the Denver Nuggets, featuring Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony (March 23).
“There is great enthusiasm and anticipation surrounding the Raptors upcoming schedule and CBC is proud to be a broadcast partner for the 2007-08 season,” added Joel Darling, director of production, CBC Sports. “CBC is thrilled to welcome Toronto Raptors basketball to the network for the first time and we look forward to providing viewers across the country action-packed coverage of Canada’s NBA team.”
The Score will air 30 Raptors games for a second straight season, all in HD, including the regular-season opener Wednesday, October 31 versus Philadelphia. They will carry two meetings with Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat (March 5 and 19), two versus the Celtics (December 16 and January 23), as well as the one each with Cleveland (November 24), Phoenix (December 22), Vince Carter’s New Jersey Nets (February 13) and the Los Angeles Lakers (March 11).
The Score will also bring viewers a full schedule of non-Raptors NBA regular season games, including the first game of the TNT Thursday night doubleheader, and select playoff contests. A half-hour pregame show will lead into the Thursday night broadcast. In addition, the popular Court Surfing show will return on Wednesday nights.
The Score will be the exclusive Canadian broadcast outlet of the 2008 NBA Draft and the All-Star Game which is slated for February 17 from New Orleans Arena.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with MLSE during the 2007-08 Raptors season,” says David Errington, SVP and General Manager of The Score Television Network. “And for the first time, we are pleased to be broadcasting our entire Raptors schedule in HD this season. Viewers are going to feel like they are courtside even if they can’t make it to the game.”
TSN will televise 21 Raptors contests across Canada during the 2007-08 campaign, with all games being broadcast in HD. TSN’s schedule is highlighted by two contests against Cleveland (November 30 and March 21), and the lone Toronto appearances of the season by Steve Nash and his Phoenix Suns on December 5 and the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs on February 11.
TSN will also carry conference finals and select playoff games, NBA All-Star Weekend coverage, and exclusive Canadian coverage of the NBA Finals.
"The Toronto Raptors generated great interest and fanfare across Canada last season with their return to the playoffs. We’re looking forward to building on that momentum this year and delivering to viewers another exciting season of Raptors basketball," said Phil King, President, TSN.
Entering its ninth year as a broadcast partner of the Raptors, Rogers Sportsnet will carry 12 Raptors games nationally in HD, a host of non-Raptors NBA games in each of its four regions, and select playoff action during the 2007-08 season. The Rogers Sportsnet schedule begins Friday, November 9 in Philadelphia and features key late season match-ups with New Jersey (April 11) and Miami (April 14). In addition, the basketball-themed shows NBA Action and NBA XL return for another season.
“We’re pleased to have the Toronto Raptors back on Sportsnet,” said Doug Beeforth, president of Rogers Sportsnet, in the release. “They are an exciting young team, who play a great brand of team basketball.”
Raptors NBA TV will be the exclusive home of 12 Raptors broadcasts in HD in 2007-08, beginning with the road opener Friday, November 2 in a rematch of last season’s opening round playoff series with New Jersey. Other highlights include the lone Toronto visit by Kobe Bryant and the Lakers (February 1), as well games at Boston (December 7) and Miami (February 4).
Raptors NBA TV will also air the three Raptors pre-season game from the NBA Europe Live Tour against the Boston Celtics and Lottomatica Vitrus Roma from Rome, Italy (October 6 and 7), and against Real Madrid from Madrid, Spain on October 11.
Chuck Swirsky will return for his seventh season calling all the action on President’s Choice Raptors Basketball television broadcasts. He will be joined by Canadian National Team head coach Leo Rautins for broadcasts on CBC, TSN and The Score, and “The Coach” Jack Armstrong will lend his expertise on Rogers Sportsnet and Raptors NBA TV games.
