FOR NBC, SHE'S THEIR VENUS, THEIR FIRE, THEIR SOLE DESIRE
NBC's coverage of the men's Wimbledon final on Sunday,
which featured Patrick Rafter-Pete Sampras and had four-
hours of rain delays, earned a 5.0/14 overnight Nielsen
rating, even with last year. NBC's coverage of the women's
Wimbledon final on Saturday, featuring Lindsay Davenport-
Venus Williams, earned a 4.4/14 overnight (NBC). USA
TODAY's Rudy Martzke reports that NBC's eight-day, big-
market overnight rating average for its Wimbledon coverage
through Saturday was a 3.3, up 18% from last year. Martzke
attributes the increase to Saturday's Davenport-Williams
match, as well as Thursday's "lofty" 5.0 rating for
Williams' semifinal win over her sister Serena. Martzke: "A
case can be made that women's tennis, headed by the Williams
sisters, has become more compelling than the men's" (USA
TODAY, 7/10). In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers reported that TNT
averaged 1.1 million homes during its last week of Wimbledon
coverage, and its overall 1.1 average rating (858,000 HHs)
"has exceeded expectations." Rogers noted last year's U.S.
Open coverage on USA Networks averaged a 1.1 rating, "but 50
percent of its coverage was in prime time." On the daytime
parts of USA Networks' U.S. Open coverage, which "more
closely matched TNT's schedule," the average was a 0.8
rating. Rogers wrote, "Maybe, just maybe, tennis will mark
2000 as the year it began to take a step up as a television
property" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 7/8). In Boston, Jim Baker
wrote that the Williams sisters are a "huge factor" in NBC's
Wimbledon ratings surge (BOSTON HERALD, 7/9). CBS
SportsLine's Mike Lurie: "Perhaps it won't last, this
groundswell building again for the sport. But thanks to
Venus Williams, the buzz is back" (CBS SportsLine, 7/8).
But ESPN's John Feinstein questioned the Williams' ability
to revive interest in women's tennis: "Not without some
help. They can certainly be a starting point because people
were actually watching tennis Thursday when they took the
court. But they're going to need some help from the morons
who run the sport." ESPN's Mike Lupica added, "Women's
tennis and this renaissance is these two young women. It's
all them" ("The Sports Reporters," 7/7).
BONUS COVERAGE: NBC's "Today" provided live coverage of
the Williams sisters' victory in the Wimbledon women's
doubles championship. NBC's Katie Couric: "What an
incredible tournament for these two girls" (NBC, 7/10).
JUST CALL HIM THE MC-ENROE: In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich
reviews NBC's Wimbledon coverage and writes that John
McEnroe "has become a competent analyst who wisely chooses
his times to speak up." But Zelkovich adds that McEnroe "is
not without flaws," as he "talks far too much about his
beloved Davis Cup team and mentions his own career a tad too
often." Meanwhile, Chris Evert "seems to have misplaced her
internal mute button" (TORONTO STAR, 7/10).
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