The NBA is set to change TV partners, leaving longtime broadcaster NBC in favor of a complicated new agreement that tilts coverage towards cable suppliers.

The New York Times' Richard Sandomir reports that ABC and ESPN, both owned by Walt Disney Co., will pay $1.6 billion over four years.  This is more than NBC's bid of about $1.3 billion.  It is less than the $1.75 billion in NBC's old four-year contract. However, TNT is also purchasing a package valued at close to $1 billion over six years.

Sandomir says: "What is striking about the deal is the N.B.A.'s ability to emerge with more money than before in negotiations that took place during the worst advertising market in decades. The deal was also made amid sliding N.B.A. ratings."

It would be the third big sport to leave NBC since 1998, after the NFL and major league baseball. NBC has aired the NBA for 12 years.