ESPN2, The Tennis Channel to join forces |
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Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:25
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BRISTOL, Conn. (AFX) - ESPN and The Tennis Channel will share U.S. cable TV and multimedia rights for the French Open and Australian Open through 2011 under an agreement announced Tuesday.In August, The Tennis Channel bought the U.S. cable TV rights to the French Open previously held by ESPN. With the new deal, The Tennis Channel will air more than 100 hours of the clay-court Grand Slam, while ESPN2 will have 55 hours.Beginning with the 2008 Australian Open, ESPN2 will continue as the main network from Melbourne; it's aired more than 120 hours of the tournament in recent years. The Tennis Channel will now be able to show up to 100 hours of that tournament when ESPN2 is not on the air.Serena Williams' upset of Maria Sharapova last Friday night in the Australian Open women's final drew a 1.9 rating, the highest ever for a tennis broadcast on ESPN2. The previous best was a 1.5 rating for the Australian Open women's final in 2005, when Williams beat Lindsay Davenport.ESPN is a unit of The Walt Disney Co.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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