Phil said:
Where does cowardice or courage come in? It's a business decision, pure and simple. Network execs only consider the criteria of $$$. Match quality is probably not even on their list until the end of the tournament.
The Williams-Sprem match was a good quality match; and I was happy to see it live. I liked the Roddick-Popp match as well. What bothers me is when there is a rain delay or another quality match being played and they decide to replay a bogus match. It's a safe decision since it will garner some views in America. The benefits to american tennis from Roddick/Williams exposure has reached a point of diminishing returns. If you don't know about Venus & Serena by now, you're probably not watching or playing tennis.
It's riskier to show a Federer or Hewitt match b/c you don't have those names are not familiar to the public. Of course, if they were given more exposure, this could change. Imagine if Becker and Edberg matches had not been shown instead of just repeats of Connors and McEnroe? Foreign skilled players are a tappable asset. Just ask the NBA?
I'm not in the ESPN meetings; my guess is that they see the bleak ratings from the 3rd or 4th replay of Venus Williams and say, See, what kind of ratings would be get w/ a no name!