TWC Will Make Tennis Channel Free In Blacked-Out CBS Markets During U.S. Open

Time Warner Cable yesterday said that it "would make the independent Tennis Channel free to its digital subscribers in CBS blackout markets who might be miffed that they could miss CBS' coverage of the U.S. Open" beginning next week, according to Meg James of the L.A. TIMES. TWC "tried to mollify tennis fans" by doing so amid the now three-week-long blackout. The MSO said that Tennis Channel would be provided for free during the tournament, which runs from Aug. 26 to Sept. 9. Tennis Channel will televise 75 hours of live coverage during the tournament, "including prime-time matches over the Labor Day weekend." Still, the "marquee action will be on CBS." Tennis Channel also "plans to replay the men's and women's semifinals and the men's and women's finals after those matches air live on CBS" (L.A. TIMES, 8/22). Tennis Channel PR Exec Dir Eric Abner said that TWC is "taking advantage of an offer" that the cable net has made every year since '09. Abner added that TWC "did not take advantage of the free preview" of Tennis Channel last year, and said that the net "made the same offer to almost all cable and satellite providers." The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Alex Ben Block reported DirecTV and Dish Network also are "offering the Tennis Channel for free during the U.S. Open period" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 8/21).