Since ESPN's coverage started I have only seen about 3 men's matches and several hundred wonmens matches (seemingly). I am sick of this crap! Roddick went out early, giving ESPN an opporunity to begin creating new stars in the game to protect their ratings when AA retires and AR loses early, which will likely happen more and more. Instead we get yet another rehash of a Williams match. I didn't have enough interest to watch it live and most players I know didn't either. The mens quarters are going on now, can't we see at least someone besides AA?
Are The Men Even Playing This Week???
- Thread starter rlbjr
- Start date
tennissavy
Hall of Fame
I am a huge wta fan but all the quarterfinals should be shown. It is not right to re-broadcast matches in this day and age of vcrs, etc. we can record a match if we are not going to be or if we want to watch it again. I truly wanted to see Nadal play. They should at least show that match after the dementieva/clijsters broadcast tonight.
Kevin Patrick
Hall of Fame
Showing a taped match when there's live tennis going on is kinda lame, but is anyone that interested in Ferrer-Hrbaty?
Espn is showing Clijsters instead of Nadal tonight because of the schedule. If Nadal was scheduled first he would be shown. Espn is coming on the air at 10. Clijsters begins play at 7. From a broadcasting view, it would be hard to show Nadal because of the uncertainty of the start & finish time. Espn knows Clijsters will be done by 10, so the match fits right into their taped time slot.
And of course a rain delay would really screw things up if they wanted to show Nadal.
rlbjr,
you mentioned "I didn't have enough interest to watch it live and most players I know didn't either."
You aren't taking into account that tennis players are the least important demographic when it comes to tennis ratings. Casual tennis fans/non players want to see the Williams sisters & Agassi. They far outnumber hardcore fans.
They could care less about Nadal or Johansson.
That's the problem with tennis on tv. Every other major sport has enough of a large fan base, that the sport is the main attraction, not the players. If tennis had a large fan base(like it did in the 80s & early 90s) coverage would be more inclusive of all players. Players like Becker, Edberg, & Lendl were never slighted by american tv. Contrast that to the way Hewitt, Federer, & Safin are treated.
When Agassi & the Williams sisters retire, things will likely get worse. Espn may decide to scrap much of their coverage alltogether.
Espn is showing Clijsters instead of Nadal tonight because of the schedule. If Nadal was scheduled first he would be shown. Espn is coming on the air at 10. Clijsters begins play at 7. From a broadcasting view, it would be hard to show Nadal because of the uncertainty of the start & finish time. Espn knows Clijsters will be done by 10, so the match fits right into their taped time slot.
And of course a rain delay would really screw things up if they wanted to show Nadal.
rlbjr,
you mentioned "I didn't have enough interest to watch it live and most players I know didn't either."
You aren't taking into account that tennis players are the least important demographic when it comes to tennis ratings. Casual tennis fans/non players want to see the Williams sisters & Agassi. They far outnumber hardcore fans.
They could care less about Nadal or Johansson.
That's the problem with tennis on tv. Every other major sport has enough of a large fan base, that the sport is the main attraction, not the players. If tennis had a large fan base(like it did in the 80s & early 90s) coverage would be more inclusive of all players. Players like Becker, Edberg, & Lendl were never slighted by american tv. Contrast that to the way Hewitt, Federer, & Safin are treated.
When Agassi & the Williams sisters retire, things will likely get worse. Espn may decide to scrap much of their coverage alltogether.
AJ, Are you kidding? This is just the same old same old. Show the americans only, and if they don't have one playing, rehash a Williams match. They have PLENTY of recorded, unbroadcast matches to show. How much air time has Federer gotten this week? I could only find one match. By contrast I've seen Agassi nearly every match he's had. Fed was on court yesterday, show that if you can't find anything good today. What a joke.
aj_m2009
Professional
Uh dude, would you rather see all Americans and nobody else or almost all Americans and a few others? I understand they could do a lot better but at least its a start. And how do you know that they have plenty of recorded matches that they could show, do you work for them?
**And if you really care that much do like I did and e-mail them and tell them and stop complaining here because it isn't going to get you squat.**
**And if you really care that much do like I did and e-mail them and tell them and stop complaining here because it isn't going to get you squat.**
Kevin Patrick
Hall of Fame
Federer-Henman will be on espn2 tomorrow at 3.
tennisbutterfly
New User
Andrew. said:
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! thank you.
Brettolius
Professional
Andrew. said:
maybe in the twilight zone, but that sure doesn't seem to be the case from where i'm sitting. let's see, men they'll show-agassi, roddick. women-sharapova,venus,serena, davenport, and apparently kim clisters...
Kevin Patrick
Hall of Fame
have you been watching tennis very long, andrew? From '97 to '03 women received far more tv coverage during the grand slams (at least in the US)
In the 2000 or 2001 US Open, more women than men received Stadium court assignments for the first time in tourney history. This has continued every year since. Women's tennis is far more popular than men's in the US. Yes, last year the men did receive more coverage. That's because many of the top draws(williams sisters/capriati were injured or lost earlier than expected)
I'll bet you anything that espn's coverage of the women at the French will be double the amount they show the men.
In the 2000 or 2001 US Open, more women than men received Stadium court assignments for the first time in tourney history. This has continued every year since. Women's tennis is far more popular than men's in the US. Yes, last year the men did receive more coverage. That's because many of the top draws(williams sisters/capriati were injured or lost earlier than expected)
I'll bet you anything that espn's coverage of the women at the French will be double the amount they show the men.
alienhamster
Hall of Fame
Kevin, that general trend you outline does sound right, but doesn't it still depend a good bit on how many Americans play on either the men's or women's side? For example, we all know that all the American men are likely to crap out by the 2nd or 3rd round of the French, so of course ESPN will probably show more women's tennis. You'll probably have Venus, Serena, the somewhat Americanized Sharapova, and maybe Capriati in the second week, so they'll probably show more women's tennis overall.
At Wimbledon it will likely be more balanced. I felt like they showed a good bit of men's tennis last year, if only because Roddick does well on grass. Fish and Dent likely will too, this year, and Agassi will probably get to the second week.
So yeah, generally there's more women's tennis coverage overall. But they did show a lot of men's tennis last week at IW when Agassi, Roddick, and Dent were doing well and Davenport was the only American woman. I think the "We only show Americans" rule generally guides their scheduling more than anything else.
At Wimbledon it will likely be more balanced. I felt like they showed a good bit of men's tennis last year, if only because Roddick does well on grass. Fish and Dent likely will too, this year, and Agassi will probably get to the second week.
So yeah, generally there's more women's tennis coverage overall. But they did show a lot of men's tennis last week at IW when Agassi, Roddick, and Dent were doing well and Davenport was the only American woman. I think the "We only show Americans" rule generally guides their scheduling more than anything else.
Kevin Patrick
Hall of Fame
I think "We only show americans" is part of it but not the only reason. TV Networks like to be sure that the same names will always be in the latter round of tourneys. Familarity is a good thing when you want casual fans to watch. Generally the woman always make the latter rounds so they feel comfortable showing non-american women who always win (Graf, Sanchez, Hingis for example) Last year was the most unpredictable year for women's tennis in the open ara. 4 different winners, 3 first time winners. There hasn't been enough time to see which of the 3 are the read deal. But let's be honest Sharapova is popular more for her looks than her results or american ties. I remember them showing her in '03 Wimbledon when she was very low ranked & playing on an outer court. I also remember Harkleroad shown a few times at slams, regardless of her low ranking. Doubt that will be the case if, say Monfils was playing. If Mauresmo, Clijsters & others looked like Kournikova, there would be even less men's tennis being shown.
I think Federer is getting more respect from american tv than safin or hewitt ever did. that's because he wins so much, it's hard to ignore him. out of the non-americans, he will definitely get the most airtime at the french & wimbledon. certainly far more than dent or fish. those 2 are american but are unlikely to ever become familiar with american fans because of their results. dent was shown last week because he played safin, the aussie champ. If he was playing nalnadian, chances are it wouldn't be on center court. fish & dent are not elite players & networks care more about familiar faces than nationality. yes agassi & roddick get priority,but they are top players who generally make the later rounds of big events consistently.
The 90s were the best time for american men's tennis(in terms of titles) but i never felt it was bigger than the womens game which just had graf, seles, & sanchez. I would say it was a tie, both sports were treated equally(as they were in the 80s as well)
But in the late 90s, they was a definite shift to the women. For the most part that is still the case today.
It's also hard to judge these 2 events, because the sisters/capriati/henin didn't play last week, so men got more attention. This week davenport/capriati aren't playing. If they were, the women would be even more of a focus.
I think Federer is getting more respect from american tv than safin or hewitt ever did. that's because he wins so much, it's hard to ignore him. out of the non-americans, he will definitely get the most airtime at the french & wimbledon. certainly far more than dent or fish. those 2 are american but are unlikely to ever become familiar with american fans because of their results. dent was shown last week because he played safin, the aussie champ. If he was playing nalnadian, chances are it wouldn't be on center court. fish & dent are not elite players & networks care more about familiar faces than nationality. yes agassi & roddick get priority,but they are top players who generally make the later rounds of big events consistently.
The 90s were the best time for american men's tennis(in terms of titles) but i never felt it was bigger than the womens game which just had graf, seles, & sanchez. I would say it was a tie, both sports were treated equally(as they were in the 80s as well)
But in the late 90s, they was a definite shift to the women. For the most part that is still the case today.
It's also hard to judge these 2 events, because the sisters/capriati/henin didn't play last week, so men got more attention. This week davenport/capriati aren't playing. If they were, the women would be even more of a focus.
Oh. What have I watched in every slam since Wimbledon 2003? Andy Roddick. American superstar. He is what we should all aspire to be. Before that, I could tolerate it. But I'll never forget watching his match on delay for the third time while a women's match was deep into a third.
What did we see tonight, kids? Oh. Agassi. Did we see the live women's match? No. So, let's stop the yapping. By Wimbledon, full normal scheduling will recommence, and we can watch Duck boy's third round win for the third time in a day.
What did we see tonight, kids? Oh. Agassi. Did we see the live women's match? No. So, let's stop the yapping. By Wimbledon, full normal scheduling will recommence, and we can watch Duck boy's third round win for the third time in a day.
tennissavy
Hall of Fame
Andrew. and Tennisbutterfly, I totally agree with you. Espn has once again shafted wta fans. Even though the Mauresmo match was a blowout, it was a semi-final match featuring the current world #1 and former world #1 players. It was outrageous to not broadcast that match. I cannot ever remember that happening with atp matches in the semi-finals. Kevin Patrick is completely wrong in claiming that wta matches have been shown more than atp matches over the past several years and any WTA fan knows that. I love both ATP and WTA but I cannot stand that espn chooses to eliminate more wta matches than atp matches. It has made me mad enough that when I attend tournaments, I focus on attending the women's matches and set my vcr at home to see the men later and guess what- it ALWAYS works out that I would have missed the WTA matches even though they featured higher ranked players that the men's matches that were aired on tv.
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