Tennis Channel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tennis Channel

Launched	May, 2003
Owned by	Independent
Country	United States
Broadcast area	National
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California
Website	tennischannel.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 217
Dish Network	Channel 400
Cable
Available on many cable systems	Check local listings

Tennis Channel is an American digital cable television channel with programming devoted to the game of tennis. Founded in 2003, the network is owned by a group of investors including sports marketing firm IMG. Well known tennis professionals Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are two of the many investors in this channel. The network's CEO is Ken Solomon. It broadcasts out of Union City, New Jersey and is based in Santa Monica, CA.

1 Description and programming
2 Grand Slam coverage
3 Original series
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Description and programming

The network broadcasts 24 hours a day and features live tournaments, news, one-on-one interviews, game analysis and skills instruction. It also features programming from other racquet sports such as squash, badminton, racquetball, table tennis and paddle tennis. The Tennis Channel has extensive coverage of the Davis Cup, Fed Cup and Hopman Cup as well as other tournaments throughout the year. The Tennis Channel gained the U.S. broadcast rights to the French Open and first broadcasted same in 2007. The Tennis Channel also puts on an ATP tournament in Las Vegas called the Tennis Channel Open. As of March 1, 2007, The Tennis Channel is available across the United States from most cable providers and on Dish Network.

In April, 2007, the Tennis Channel reached an agreement to be carried on DirecTV. The agreement included a free preview of the 2007 French Open to all DirecTV subscribers. Full carriage of the Tennis Channel by DirecTV, in a premium channel group, was added as channel 217 on August 27, 2007. The network launched a second channel in High Definition in December 2007.

[edit] Grand Slam coverage

Tennis Channel scored a significant coup in August 2006, when it was announced that it had procured the U.S. cable television rights for the French Open beginning in 2007. [1] These rights were previously held by ESPN2 and prior to that, USA Network. Tennis fans and The Tennis Channel are hoping that such a prestigious event will encourage additional viewership of the channel as now available on many cable systems, Dish Network, and DirecTV.

In January 2007, The Tennis Channel gained rights for coverage of The Australian Open. The Tennis Channel will now share rights to the Australian Open with ESPN2. Both the Australian Open and French Open contracts with ESPN2 run through 2011. [2]

In July 2007, Tennis Channel secured the broadcast rights for Wimbledon through a multi-year deal with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the governing body of the most prestigious tournament in all of tennis. [3]

Tennis channel completed its acquisition of broadcasting rights for the Grand Slams with the signing of a multi-year deal with ESPN2 to share the rights for the US Open, starting in 2009. [4]