• Loading stock data...
Friday, June 20, 2025

Tennis Channel Adjusts To New Reality Of Live Coverage

  • After almost two months without professional tennis, Tennis Channel is back to bringing live matches to its viewers.
  • The Tennis Channel returned on May 1 with an exhibition series, and followed with the UTR Pro Match Series, a two-day round-robin tournament.
tennis-channel-live-coverage
Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Tennis Channel entered the 2020 Australian Open as the fastest-growing television network in the United States. Then the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancelation of the Indian Wells tennis tournament in March, starting a domino effect across the professional tennis circuit.

But while tour-sanctioned tournaments remain on hold until July 13, the reemergence of live tennis has suddenly breathed new life into Tennis Channel and its millions of viewers.

“We’ve been getting ready for this moment our whole lives,” Ken Solomon, Tennis Channel chief executive officer, said. “It’s pretty exciting, from on the ground making sure players are responsibly protected to distributing it to people on every platform.”

Most recently, Tennis Channel aired UTR Pro Match Series, a two-day men’s tennis event in West Palm Beach, Fla., from May 8 to 10. The spectacle drew emerging international players like world number 29 Hubert Hurkacz and 49th-ranked Miomir Kecmanović, as well as American youngsters Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul. Unlike an exhibition tournament, the quartet played for prize money and results that are included in each player’s Universal Tennis Rating, or UTR.

According to Nielsen, the first UTR Pro March Series event delivered 535,120 gross quarter-hour viewer impressions.

The event provided a look at the current state of tennis tournaments. It included enhanced screening, cleaning, and social distancing precautions for everyone involved. Each match was held at a private court without spectators or public access. The four players had to each supply their own drinks, towels, and were given their own set of marked balls to use during the match.

READ MORE: Tennis Channel CEO: Industry-Leading 2019 “Fifteen Years In The Making”

For the UTR Pro Match Series, Tennis Channel adapted accordingly. The network heavily leaned on its equipment to do the work for its four on-site employees, with 98% of its other workers working from home since mid-March.

Tennis Channel covered the two-day event with two 24-foot, wide-lens jib cameras that were based outside the court and revealed a different, more intimate angle than viewers were used to watching on television. Two robotic cameras were trained on each player from the middle of the tennis court, and a hand-held camera captured footage from the opposite. A drone camera was also used to film key moments and follow player entrances, with each competitor wearing headsets to interact with the network’s studio during play.

On the tech side, Solomon says that Tennis Channel has been unknowingly preparing for full remote production for 15 years. When the network launched, it brought as many as 200 people to broadcast major events like the French Open; now, it has a state-of-the-art studio in Lake Nona, Florida,  located in Orlando that also has plenty of remote-production capabilities.

“All that preparation has met this opportunity to bring live pro sports back – through the form of tennis – to American audiences broadly,” he said. 

Unlike other sports, where space is at a minimum, there are few risks in playing tennis. Players are generally 60 feet apart from one another and divided by a net that they are not allowed to cross. The only other person on the court is an umpire who sits in a chair high off the ground; no linespeople were used in any of tennis’s two most recent events.

Those elements are what Solomon believes will ensure that tennis’s return to the national sports scene will be much smoother than others.

“Tennis is about going out on a court alone and having to do everything by yourself,” he said. “You’re not even generally, with a few exceptions, allowed to be coached from a distance. The solitary nature of the competition – ‘boxing without the blood’ because you never get near your opponents – really is an interesting metaphor. It also physically gives us a great opportunity to get top-quality sports to a worldwide audience at a time when it’s going to be really hard for leagues and teams to be able to put that together.”

Last weekend’s UTR Pro Match Series event was the second national tennis tournament in as many weeks. On May 1, tennis made its return with the launch of the Tennis Point Exhibition Series, which was played in Germany.

The four-day series – which boasted eight German men’s players – was streamed live via Tennis Channel’s new OTT platform, Tennis Channel International. It was able to broadcast the event thanks to its partnership with sports data company Sportradar. The tournament drew 888,000 gross quarter-hour viewer impressions on Tennis Channel International – comparable to an ATP 250 and Challenger Tour-level event. 

“Sports fans are hungry for live sports content, and this event certainly reaffirmed that,” David Lampitt, managing director of sports partnerships at Sportradar, wrote in an email. “The level of interest in the event was extraordinary, with news outlets around the world covering it, everyone from BBC to CNN. We were also very pleased with the quality of the production, especially with it all being handled remotely, and with only a few people on-site.”

READ MORE: The Laver Cup: The Evolution Of Tennis’ Ryder Cup Event

Despite not having aired any live ATP Tour-level tournaments in months, Solomon is encouraged that tennis has returned in some form. Even with these low-stakes affairs, it has not kept Tennis Channel from continuing to grow its online presence.

Since early March, the network is averaging 7.5 million weekly impressions across its Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles – a 13% increase from the 6.6 million it averaged during the same time period in 2019. Total social media impressions in 2020 so far have totaled more than 155 million – a 7.6% increase from 144 million at the same point in time in 2019.

Solomon says that Tennis Channel will continue to find new ways to produce content for both its online and TV viewers. It is already thinking ahead to its next dose of live content, when four WTA players – Amanda Anisimova, Danielle Collins, Alison Riske, and Ajla Tomljanovic – compete in a similar event from May 22 to 24. Solomon also speculates that future events will be hosted in the densely populated tennis region of Southern California.

While the future of the 2020 ATP and WTA Tour seasons are out of his hands, Solomon is confident that his network has developed a sustainable model to continue airing these batches of regional events through the end of the year.

“The challenge for tennis tours, the ATP and the WTA – and it’s also the charm – is that the individual competitors come from all over the world and earn their way into these events based on merit and ranking,” he said. “If they can’t travel the world freely, that can’t happen. So it’s not a question of whether they can play; it’s a question of whether they can get there.”

“I really believe this is a metaphor for real life of other sorts,” he added. “As we show how to do this safely and right, and if we can prove the model – which I know we will – of protocol and that everybody does this, and it’s safe – then I really am confident in that.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Jun 16, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) is introduced before the game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers in game five of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center.

NBA Taking Cues From NBA Twitter in Restoring Finals Pageantry

The NBA and ESPN/ABC made several changes on the fly.
Washington's Ben Gorsage, right, and Orland Park Sandburg's Mateo Ramiro-Garcia tangle at the start of the Class 3A state 800-meter run Saturday, May 31, 2025 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Gorsage took third place, followed by Ramiro-Garcia in fourth.

Dozens of Olympic Sports Have Been Cut in Wake of House v...

Tennis, track and field, and swimming and diving appear heavily impacted.

Streaming Tops Linear for First Time, Sports Still Key to TV’s Resilience

Streaming hits another critical milestone in an accelerating media transition.
Sloane Stephens

WTA Adds Player Ranking Protection for Fertility Treatment 

The new policy is believed to be the first of its kind. 

Featured Today

Dec 5, 2024; Miami, FL, USA; FIFA president Gianni Infantino presents the FIFA Club World Cup trophy during the Club Word Cup draw at Telemundo Studios.

Revamped Club World Cup Is FIFA’s Billion-Dollar Gamble

The revamped soccer event debuts amid controversy.
Jun 10, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino stands during the anthem against the Switzerland during the first at Geodis Park
June 14, 2025

Gold Cup Is Complicated for USMNT—but U.S. Soccer Has Its Eyes on..

Uncertain tournament success isn’t fazing forward-looking U.S. soccer.
Jan 24, 2017; Davidson, NC, USA; The Davidson Wildcats student section cheers during the first half against the Duquesne Dukes at McKillop Court at John M. Belk Arena. Davidson defeated Duquesne 74-60.
June 6, 2025

Every College Wants a Flashy Basketball GM Hire Right Now

The role is more important than ever, and the definition is ever-evolving.
August 31, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; The Goodyear blimp flies over Ohio Stadium during the first half of Saturday’s NCAA Division I football game between the Akron Zips and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
June 6, 2025

Why the Goodyear Blimp Is at Every Major Sports Event

The airship wasn’t built to cover sports. Now it’s a regular presence.

UFC’s Vegas Sphere Fight Should Set Records

The MMA fight has big aspirations and a budget to match.
August 13, 2024

Duael’s One-On-One Racing Brackets Are Yet Another Stab at Saving Track

Duael will debut in March 2025 with the inaugural Duael 100.
September 8, 2024

Guardian Caps Make NFL Debut

Multiple NFL players wore Guardian Caps over their helmets Sunday.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Ted Leonsis unpacks basketball’s global rise, media rights, and portfolio ownership.
August 11, 2024

Guardian Caps Have Arrived in the NFL—Ahead of Schedule

Colts star Jonathan Taylor strapped one on for Sunday’s preseason game.
August 5, 2024

How Omega Timing Determined Noah Lyles Won Olympic Gold

Omega touches every corner of the Olympics.
The Adidas ball has changed over the years.
July 25, 2023

The Most Advanced Tech at the Women’s World Cup Might Surprise You

This year’s OCEAUNZ introduces connected ball technology to the women’s game.
Sponsored

Rewriting the Sports Media Playbook

WSC’s highlight automation improved Clemson’s content strategy and overall growth.