Category: Associations & Organizations - Company: Tennis Channel |
Tennis Channel First U.S. Network To Offer Fans Five Australian Open Finals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Eric Abner, Public Relations Director
2850 Ocean Park Blvd., Ste. 150
Santa Monica,
310-314-9445
eabner@thetennischannel.com
01/23/08 - Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and passionate lifestyle of tennis, will make history this weekend when it broadcasts five finals from the 2008 Australian Open. This marks the first time that one network will offer five championship matches – men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
Tennis Channel’s Australian Open finals coverage will include three live telecasts and two replays originally aired by Grand Slam alliance partner ESPN2. Primary commentators for the network are veteran sportscaster Bill Macatee and tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who are joined by long-standing network announcer and commentator Leif Shiras, the recently retired Justin Gimelstob and current player Renae Stubbs when she is not competing in the tournament.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s championship match broadcast schedule:
Thursday, Jan. 24 @ 11 p.m. ET – Women’s Doubles Final (Live)
Friday, Jan. 25 @ 11 p.m. ET – Men’s Doubles Final (Live)
Sunday, Jan. 27 @ 12 a.m. ET – Mixed Doubles Final (Live)
Sunday, Jan. 27 @ 3 p.m. ET – Men’s Singles Final (same-day replay of ESPN2’s live coverage at 3:30 a.m. ET)
Sunday, Jan. 27 @ 6 p.m. ET – Women’s Singles Final (replay of ESPN2’s live coverage Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET)
In addition to more than 30 hours of live 2008 Australian Open coverage over the two-week tournament (most of them in prime time), broadcasts of the five finals this weekend and the network’s morning show Australian Open Today, Tennis Channel has offered a host of online activities in conjunction with the year’s first Grand Slam. This includes daily video highlights, real-time scoring, fan blogs, the ongoing “Thursdays with Bud” podcast with tennis authority Bud Collins, regular column “Flink on Tennis” with veteran tennis reporter Steve Flink and a sweepstakes that allows visitors to win a trip to the 2009 Australian Open.
Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and passionate lifestyle of tennis. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network is home to every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, with telecast rights to Wimbledon, Roland Garros (the French Open), the Australian Open, US Open Series, ATP Masters Series, top-tier Sony Ericsson WTA Tour championship competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and Hyundai Hopman Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by eight of the top 10 MSOs and has a national footprint via DIRECTV and Echostar’s DISH Network.
# # #
|
|
