Tennis fans of the world (living in the U.S.)… UNITE! From Adrian. Thanks.
Posted by tennisplanet on April 5, 2008
Tennis fans of the world (living in the U.S.)… UNITE!
I have lived in the U.S. for several years now and I have been extremely frustrated with the T.V. coverage for most tennis tournaments abroad… but things have become even worse in recent months… and the last straw is this Fox Sports Network b.s. which about 4 people in all of the U.S. have been able to get. I have been able to watch the IW and Miami matches only because I subscribe to atpmastersseries.tv… and I just read this ticker on the tennis.com website… this is just RIDICULOUS! There MUST be something we can do to put pressure on the media, no? I feel so frustrated and hopeless…
“Coverage of Miami on Fox Sports Net has proven frustrating for US viewers, thanks to the channel’s limited and rigid broadcasting windows as well as an affiliate-distributed organization that has created inconsistency in the timing and amount of coverage available from area to area.
Even players competing in Miami have frequently been unable to watch the tennis unless they’re on the tournament grounds.
Jankovic will go into the final against Serena Williams without having seen how Williams played in her three-set semifinal against Kuznetsova on Thursday afternoon. “For some reason, in my hotel, they don’t show Fox Sports or something,” Jankovic told reporters after winning her own semifinal match later in the evening.
Kuznetsova, too, went into her encounter against Williams without watching her unexpected 6-2, 6-0 destruction of top seed Henin in the previous round. “I didn’t see anything,” said Kuznetsova, who had to settle for reality TV a more contrived kind. “I guess she played unbelievable, but I was in my hotel watching Next Top Model or whatever I was watching. I was not watching any of tennis. It was not on TV. I wanted to watch. It was interesting.”
Roddick’s upset of Federer was tape-delayed till 10:00 pm because of a baseball game, and Nadal went online to track the match from his hotel on Thursday evening. “I followed the match on the internet before going for dinner,” he wrote in his blog for TENNIS.com this week.”
Tennis Planet 
Anon said
Yes, it is so frustrating that I bought ATP masters tv on the 2nd day of IW open. Someone has to do something about the coverage in the US. May be we all need to sign a petition or something..whatever it takes, count me in.
I was watching the replayed NHL match with the post match game during IW. Tennis is a dying breed in US…people really need to do something about it.
Katie said
How about flooding the network that’s showing the tournament with emails? Also, perhaps we could enlist the help of the players, the announcers, etc. We should push for an all-inclusive, every tournament no ifs ands or buts network, which includes choice of match, or even better, split screen coverage. For all the aggravation we tennis fans go through – mid-point during the Roddick (AN AMERICAN PLAYER FOR FREAK’S SAKE) and Davydenko match the screen went black and the Knicks appeared, how much would YOU pay to be able to see any match you wanted during any given tournament? How about every presser? Every trophy presentation? Documentary’s about players, tournaments? Guest appearances by TP & the Goats?
My best guess is to organize through the tennis forums, then find a rich, entrepreneurial-type HUGE tennis fan who would see the potential for making money to undertake the endeavor of starting just such a channel. This could perhaps be done through the forums as well. Then once such a channel was in place, browbeat the stations that SAY they want to cover certain tournaments by saying they can only have exclusive coverage if they show every ounce of coverage, and ABSOLUTELY NEVER CUT OFF A MATCH BEFORE IT IS FINISHED OR HEIDI WILL CUT THEIR FREAKING FINGERS OFF!
ricke said
Count me in as well! What do we do? I purchased a more expensive DISH package to get the Tennis Channel and their coverage of Masters Series or any events in Europe is null and void. What a waste of money. I spend my time on video stream.
sceral said
Absolutely agree with this post! I e-mailed ATP and FSN with outraged e-mails. Did I get a response? You guessed it right! Not even an acknowledgement! I had to order something called Multi-sport package from Dish Network to be able to watch the matches not covered by my local FSN – obviously poker tournamnet are so much more exciting to the local public! Question is – how do we unite? Maybe our dear TP will come with some brilliant idea other than electing “local” person to broadcast from the tournaments with a hidden camera under their bra/shirt.
avidtennisfan73 said
Hi Adrian,
I’m equally as frustrated as you with FSN’s “coverage.” I went on their website (fsn.com) and sent my comments/feedback. Anyway, maybe a petition to FSN or ATP may help. I’ll be happy to sign.
Adrian said
Oooh yeah! I also forgot to mention that, me too, I paid extra money to get the Tennis Channel with my Comcast package… before it used to come with the regular package… but not anymore… starting this year, they ask you to get the sports package if you want the Tennis Channel. For what? So that they could pocket more money AND pay less for TV broadcasting rights? This is ridiculous! I am tired of seeing this year’s Tennis Channel Open final replayed for the 100th time!!!!! It was not even a good match!!!!!
But yeah, I’m willing to write something and pass it along to you guys to sign… but do you think it will help? Has anybody done something like this? It’s frustrating and depressing to realize we can do nothing against these ridiculous institutions… or can we????