[Tokyo / Beijing 8th Reuters]-China National Television's China Central Television (CCTV) on August 8th, General Manager (GM) of Houston Rockets of US professional basketball (NBA) will use Twitter to support the protests in Hong Kong In response to the submission, the company announced that it will cancel the NBA exhibition game in China within the week.
This issue was initiated by a post by Rockets ’Daryl Morley GM. Molly posted an image that says, "Fight for freedom. Let's get up with Hong Kong." The post was immediately deleted and Mr. Molly apologized on the 7th, but there were a series of accusations from Chinese sports equipment brand “Lining” and sponsor Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.
Under these circumstances, CCTV has clarified that it has reviewed its relationship with the NBA, saying that any statement that violates China's sovereignty and social stability is "not included in freedom of speech."
CCTV has exclusive broadcast rights for the NBA regular season starting this month.
China is one of the important markets for the NBA, but the smartphone manufacturer “Vivo”, the main sponsor of the NBA exhibition game in China, announced on August 8 that it has stopped all ties with the NBA, and the number of NBA players Chinese sports equipment retailer, 2020.HK, which has contracted with people, announced that it will cancel the contract renewal on that day.
In addition, Internet service giant Tencent Holdings <0700.HK>, which has a priority streaming distribution agreement in China, has announced that it will temporarily stop streaming distribution of Rockets games.
Tencent announced in July that 490 million people watched last season's NBA games on their platform. The number of viewers has increased to about three times that of 2014-15.