Tennis Channel Still Without Cablevision Deal As Open Begins

Standing on the grounds of the U.S. Open minutes before the tennis tournament was to begin, Tennis Channel Chair & CEO Ken Solomon said Cablevision subscribers will not be able to watch Tennis Channel coverage of the tournament, despite the company's statement it has a deal with a third party to air the channel. "We are not on Cablevision, they do not have our signal," Solomon said. "It is going to be an interesting day. We don't know what's going to happen." Asked if he thought the issue would end up in court, Solomon responded, "I would like it to not end up in courts. We would like it with the courts being seen by a lot of people." After launching a marketing campaign to pressure Cablevision to air Tennis Channel, which is airing part of the U.S. Open for the first time, the cable giant responded by taking membership in the National Cable TV Cooperative, a collection of mainly small- to mid-sized cable carriers. Several years ago Tennis Channel signed a deal with NCTC. However, Solomon says there are several provisions in its deal that preclude Cablevision from airing his channel, including but not limited to a 30-day window necessary before Cablevision's NCTC deal kicks in. Tennis Channel under NCTC rules can hold its signal until September 25 due to that 30-day window (Daniel Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal).

DIGGING IN THEIR HEELS: Cablevision in a statement said, "We have a valid agreement that will immediately make the Tennis Channel available to any Cablevision customer who wants it. Thus far, the Tennis Channel is claiming a technicality allows it to delay the launch by a few weeks, and is refusing to do the right thing by authorizing Cablevision to receive its signal. Any further delay by the Tennis Channel is at the expense of New York-area tennis fans. Fortunately, Cablevision customers can already view more than 130 hours of the best live U.S. Open coverage on CBS and ESPN" (THE DAILY). Solomon said, "We both want to strike a deal. But our goal is to make sure that tennis, which is the most democratized sport in the world, is able to be seen by a broad range of people. The deal that they've suggested would limit it to only about 3% of their viewers and we just think that that's not right for the U.S. Open" ("Squawk on the Street," CNBC, 8/31).

STEADY GROWTH: Solomon said subscribers to Tennis Channel have been “growing pretty precipitously" in recent years. Solomon: "The key really is nothing other than putting on great programming. Tennis is a sport that has broad appeal, and when you put it on and program it well with great announcers … (and) people know where to find it, the demand goes through the roof” (CNBC, 8/31). Tennis player Mike Bryan said, “We love the Tennis Channel. They've been covering doubles for years where doubles hasn't made it on the major networks." Mike Bryan: "It's going out to 55 million people, and we're excited they're covering the Open" ("Money for Breakfast," Fox Business, 8/31).