Wimbledon On The Go!
In watching Wimbledon this year, I have been able to see more matches in more places than ever before. Armed with my laptop and a wireless PC card, I was able to follow the Wimbledon Championships from my patio, at the pool and even having lunch at a local outdoor café. I have not watched a match on TV and yet I feel like I have seen more of Wimbledon this year than ever before. Wimbledon coverage is available on NBCSports.com, ESPN360.com and Wimbledon.org, each of which are major broadband sites that offer live video from the Championships along with extra content for tennis fans. All three sites can be accessed using either a PC or a Mac. During the opening week, I spent a great deal of time on all three sites, paying attention to the quality of the live video, the amount of both live and archived content and the ease of access to the sites. So how did the three sites fare?
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NBC Provides Users Access To More Than 45
Video Clips Featuring Previews And Interviews |
First up, the free service at NBCSports.com. Users might find the site a little difficult to navigate, as I had to click on three “Live Wimbledon” icons before actually getting to the action. A suggestion to the network: One simple “Live Wimbledon” icon that launches the video player would be nice and cause less confusion. Once the video window is up, you can watch exactly what the network offers on TV, except the commercials are eliminated. When the network goes to break, a full screen graphic appears telling fans they are watching “Wimbledon on NBC.” The biggest strike against the NBC site is that it offers the least live content to the viewer of the three broadband sites. The first weekend of NBC’s live coverage featured primary coverage of the match between Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Kiefer. While there were other matches going on, the network chose to offer the one match on both TV and the Web site. NBC did give users additional access to more than 45 video clips ranging from previews of coming matches to interviews and press conferences.
The site offered two video player options, and though a full-screen video mode was fuzzy, the quarter screen was very clear. The clarity depends on the quality of your monitor and the broadband connection. But you can’t go wrong using the quarter screen -- it is always clear.
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ESPN360 Offers Opportunity To Watch
Up To Four Matches With Its Mosaic Feature |
I then tried the free ESPN360 service, where viewers could watch the BBC feed of the Nadal-Kiefer match. However, they also had the choice to watch the Leander Paes-Rennae Stubbs vs. Jonas Bjorkman-Alicia Molik mixed doubles match or Radek Stepanek vs. Mikhail Youzhny singles match. So those who watched ESPN360 had three feeds to choose from, or, in a mosaic mode, you could watch them all at one time. ESPN360 offers more than 250 hours of live action throughout the fortnight of the tournament. Through the Mosaic feature, a user can watch as many as four courts at one time. They can also choose to watch a single feed in a number of different picture sizes. Again, the full screen option is grainy, but the three-quarter screen option is clear and easy to view. Like I mentioned, this depends on your screen size, but I recommend the three-quarter screen, as it is clear and easy to view.
As with the NBC site, there are no commercials, only ESPN promos. A viewer also has a chance to catch up on archived matches that might have been missed earlier in the day. The only major downside to ESPN360 is that not everyone can get it -- though 24 million homes have access to the service through more than 20 major broadband providers like AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway and Grande, cable/broadband giants like Comcast, Time Warner and Cox do not offer it.
One interesting item is that when NBC is telecasting Wimbledon, ESPN360, because of contractual reasons, must use the BBC feed. Otherwise, ESPN360 offers its network feed with the entire stable of ESPN announcers in the main screen of the four offered. The three other video options offered are provided by the BBC with its commentators.
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Wimbledon.org Offers Access To Every Centre
Court Match As Well As Archived Matches |
Wimbledon.org offers two pay options for commercial-free broadband video. I bought the full tournament pass for $24.99, but you can purchase a day pass for $9.99. I find the full tournament pass to be the best value. Subscribers get access to live BBC feeds of every match played on Centre Court and up to six additional courts of live action. There are also press conferences and a number of player features that offer the user an in-depth look at some of the world’s top players. One of my favorite features is the VOD library, which contains not only matches played throughout the fortnight, but also classic Wimbledon matches like the ‘01 fourth-round battle between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. The video on this site can be seen in three sizes and has the best clarity of all the broadband offerings. It was the only one of the three sites where live action viewed in a full-screen mode was not fuzzy. You can also follow action from Wimbledon for free on two audio broadband sites.
Wimbledon.org offers “Radio Wimbledon,” which gives users play-by-play audio from as many as four courts. For those who have never heard the speed and clarity of tennis play-by-play, it is as fast as listening to hockey on the radio. It was very entertaining and I recommend you check it out just for the experience of hearing tennis done in this style. To get to the free site, just click on the radio icon at www.wimbledon.org. Podcasts of each day’s action, as well as previews of upcoming matches, are also offered for no charge.
BBC 5 Live, the final free audio offering, focuses mainly on the action on Centre Court and Court 1. Though BBC 5 Live does move onto other courts as the competition merits, Radio Wimbledon provides the more robust coverage. Fans can find BBC 5 Live at www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/sport/. Both Radio Wimbledon and BBC 5 Live are audio-only sites. They are free and can be accessed by a user who does not want to watch tennis, but prefers to listen to the matches.
Overall, I found the best site on which to follow the action was ESPN360. It gives viewers plenty of live action and features to choose from at no cost. My second choice is Wimbledon.org, where you can access everything that ESPN360 has, plus more. Yes, you have to pay to access the site, but it is worth it. In addition, on Wimbledon.org, you can listen to the Championships for free on Radio Wimbledon, a good option for those at work.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Sports Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer who lives in Baltimore. He will be reviewing sports programming occasionally for SportsBusiness Daily and SportsBusiness Journal. He can be reached at jameswilliams360@comcast.net.
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