The NBA has entered into multiyear distribution deals with three cable providers that will more than double the domestic availability of NBA TV, the league's 24-hour television network.

The agreements with Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Cablevision were announced Monday and, beginning in October, will make NBA TV available to the approximately 22 million combined customers of the three cable providers.

The network broadcast 50 games last season, the first in which it televised games, and plans to broadcast 96 this season.

NBA TV will now be available to more than 40 million customers in the United States, and is in a total of 5 million homes in 30 other countries. The network, which launched in 1999 and began broadcasting games in January, had been available to approximately 20 million U.S. subscribers through satellite systems DirecTV and the Dish Network.

However, many customers of the three cable providers would have to upgrade their cable systems or pay for premium digital services in order to receive the network.

"Time Warner Cable, Cox and Cablevision are among the most powerful players in the cable industry and NBA TV's added cable distribution marks a significant milestone in the development of the network," NBA commissioner David Stern said in a statement.