In the past, int'l TV coverage of the Italian Open
featured "cutaway shots of attractive women in the crowd,"
but Tom Tebbutt of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL wrote that after
last week's tennis event, "it appears" ISL wants TV "bereft
of fantasiosa, coverage that's cookie-cutter uniform whether
it's from Rome, Miami or Toronto." Tebbutt: "After seven
days of sanitized ESPN broadcasts via TSN, with nary a
stylish woman in sight, it's obvious that there is something
worse than a deluge of gratuitous shots of good-looking
women -- broadcasts that don't have any at all." Without
the "pretty women," fans could "just as easily have been
watching coverage" of the Heineken Open in Shanghai, the
Mercedes-Benz Cup in L.A. or the BMW Open in Munich.
Tebbutt: "That little bit of whimsy gave the Italian Open a
television identity and feel that couldn't entirely be
replaced by replays of great shots. ... While it's
understandable for ISL [which is paying $1.2B over the next
ten years as the Tour's marketing/TV agent] to try to
upgrade coverage and establish standards in terms of camera
work, sound quality and overall packaging, does that have to
mean losing what is distinctive and unique about each
event?" Lea Pericoli, commentator and former Italian No. 1
women's player, on the "disappearance of shameless
chauvinism": "I think it's because of ISL. For them, it's
important to do it that way" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/15).
