ESPN acuires ALL WIMBLEDON RIGHTS!!!

[cnr1guy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=6739076

Thank goodness that NBC will no longer be able to embargo any of the Wimbledon matches! ESPN getting 100% of the Wimbldon rights means we'll be able to see all matches live!!!

 

[jackson vile]

Could be good, Could be bad.

 

[Totai]

it will be better than NBC

 

[srvnvly]

it will be better than NBC

depends on who ESPN has for their commentators for a given match; please, ESPN, get rid of Pam Shriver and Chris Evert

 

[Marius_Hancu]

let's hope it will be shown on ABC, their owner, non-cable channels too

 

[Carsomyr]

It's perfect if you have ESPN3 (which I don't think many outside the U.S. do), but ESPN's television coverage still leaves something to be desired - they're infatuated with Americans, even when they're terrible. I guarantee most people want to watch big names like Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic over any American prayers left in the draw.

 

[Tammo]

NBC looks like there are little bugs flying across the screen. ESPN will be better.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

Excellent news. This means that the men's semifinals will be televised live.

 

[Big_Dangerous]

depends on who ESPN has for their commentators for a given match; please, ESPN, get rid of Pam Shriver and Chris Evert

They won't get rid of Shriver, but Chris Evert was pretty bad, hopefully she goes.

 

[Big_Dangerous]

Could be good, Could be bad.

I think we can all agree live tennis is better than tape delay bs. And most of the users complain about the commentating pretty equally for both Espn and NBC.

Expanded coverage sounds good to me, and next year we get to see all the quarters and semis live. That's a huge plus.

 

[captainobvious]

let's hope it will be shown on ABC, their owner, non-cable channels too

Lets hope so. One of the benfits of the event being on NBC is that it is a freely available network. Now (if shown on ESPN/2/3/etc) the Wimbeldon event will be accessible to even fewer homes. :???:

My cable bill is high enough.

 

[gsharma]

let's hope it will be shown on ABC, their owner, non-cable channels too

ESPN is owned by Disney.

But I hope they show it on non-cable channels too.

 

[batz]

I wish you'd added 'for the US' to the title - I thought for a minute the BBC had lost the rights!

 

[hollywood9826]

Comcast probably didnt even attempt to keep the coverage on NBC. I think they felt they were losing money on the deal and thats a big reason so much was shown tape delay.

ESPN should do a good job. It mentioned ESPN would show all matches live and the the semis and the finals would be shown on tape delay on ABC at 3PM EST. so for those that dont have ESPN you can watch it on tape delay.

 

[BreakPoint]

I don't understand why anyone who's interested in watching sports wouldn't have ESPN.

 

[GOAT BAAH!!!]

This is great news.

<unless live coverage is repudiated in favor of bass fishing or World Series of Poker>

 

[RCizzle65]

Justice! I can finally stream tennis live on my TV!

 

[CCNM]

Like I said in the other thread-"they" (big media?) are going to force us all to get cable TV.

 

[Tony48]

Excellent

 

[TMF]

I don't know how purest sport fans don't have satellite or cable. I mean just get the basic package and you get your ESPN.

You can't rely on free OTA programming.

 

[AlpineCadet]

depends on who ESPN has for their commentators for a given match; please, ESPN, get rid of Pam Shriver and Chris Evert

Don't forget Manly Carillo.

 

[samster]

Awesome, I can't wait to have Mary Carillo on ESPN full time during Wimbledon.

 

[heftylefty]

depends on who ESPN has for their commentators for a given match; please, ESPN, get rid of Pam Shriver and Chris Evert

From your post to the Tennis Gods ears.

 

[svijk]

Not so fast my friends, ESPN has this annoying habit of interrupting key matches to conduct stupid interviews and show crazy documentaries on players and their choice of matches to televise in the earlier rounds is suspect.....we will however get the semis live unlike NBC.....does NBC still have French open?

 

[recreationalplayer]

ESPN to Air Wimbleton

So Bud Collins in a way outlived NBC. NBC now has nothing in the way of tennis and Bud Collins is still the most knowledgeable voice in tennis.
Congratulations to Bud. And props to Dick Enburg as well. Both better than what NBC replaced them with, I like Mac but he shouldn't have replaced Bud Collins. That other guy is mister Wonder Bread, no soul, no affection for the game what so ever that I could tell.

 

[recreationalplayer]

French Open

Sorry, I forgot about the French Open - I suppose NBC- still has that but,,,overall i think my point still stands

 

[OddJack]

For us viewers the best would be tennis channel acquire everything, but it wont happen anytime soon, if ever.

espn can switch to other events if they see fit, tc would not.

 

[jamesblakefan#1]

let's hope it will be shown on ABC, their owner, non-cable channels too

ABC will only show taped coverage of the finals after they air live on ESPN.

ESPN has acquired the exclusive U.S. television rights to live action from The Championships, Wimbledon, including both the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Singles Finals, in a 12-year agreement with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club beginning in 2012. Comprehensive coverage from start to finish across a variety of platforms will result in more tennis for fans and all of it live.

ESPN will present Wimbledon on its multimedia array of platforms, including both ESPN and ESPN2 simultaneously the second Monday-Wednesday. This will allow for expanded coverage of the Round of 16 and live telecasts of all quarterfinals. ESPN will televise the semifinals and finals. ESPN on ABC will broadcast a three-hour highlights show on the “middle Sunday” of the tournament, and will reair the finals on a same-day basis at 3 p.m. ET.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...n-coverage-12-year-deal-begins-in-2012/97196/

Like I said in the other thread-"they" (big media?) are going to force us all to get cable TV.

I thought the FCC forcing Digital TV a couple of years ago and getting rid of antennaes had more to do with that than anything.
http://www.dtv.gov/

 

[Standstill]

All I know is, I don't like Pam Shriver very much, and now I have to hear more of her.

 

[Fee]

whoops, forgot to hit multi quote and too lazy to go back...

Comcast/NBC did put in a bid to keep Wimbledon, but they would not guarantee live coverage of all matches during the second week until the year 2014. Apparently, Wimbledon has been listening to all of our complaints about NBC for the last few years, even if they weren't responding to us.


Mary Carillo left ESPN. She now works for Tennis Channel. Since we don't know the reason she asked to be let out of her ESPN contract one year early, I think it is hard to say whether or not she would consider going back to them, or they would consider asking her.

Sorry to see the NBC Wimbledon theme song go, and their coverage of the finals was always excellent, but other than that all I can say is good riddance.

 

[kanamit]

whoops, forgot to hit multi quote and too lazy to go back...

Comcast/NBC did put in a bid to keep Wimbledon, but they would not guarantee live coverage of all matches during the second week until the year 2014. Apparently, Wimbledon has been listening to all of our complaints about NBC for the last few years, even if they weren't responding to us.

Where have you seen this reported about NBC's tape delaying coverage being a decisive factor in the awarding of the rights?

 

[jamesblakefan#1]

Where have you seen this reported about NBC's tape delaying coverage being a decisive factor in the awarding of the rights?

Comcast fought hard to hold serve with Wimbledon. The NBC deal for the tournament expired with this year's event, which concluded Sunday, whereas ESPN's cable deal still had two more years to go.

NBC wanted to extend its broadcast deal for two years and then move the cable rights to Versus. News Corp.'s Fox also aggressively went after Wimbledon.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, however, wanted Wimbledon to have one home and didn't want to wait two years for that to happen.

"We felt it was very important to have a single narrative across the two weeks of the championship," said Ian Ritchie, the club's chief executive.

One of the deciding factors in sealing the deal was ESPN's willingness to air many of the matches live, rather than using tape delay, as NBC does.

Tennis fans have been unhappy with NBC for delaying the telecast of the matches, as it has done in favor of its "Today" show.

"We want to see as many games live and on TV as can be managed," said Ritchie, adding that this was something he had discussed with NBC for some time.

"I'm sure tape delay has its place, but certainly in my mind live is preeminent," he said.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/TEN-ESPN-WIMBLEDON_5513566/TEN-ESPN-WIMBLEDON_5513566/

Kudos to AELTC for their smart and forward thinking.

Also, ESPN already has reached out to John McEnroe to join its coverage.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/espn-looks-add-john-mcenroe-208068

 

[kanamit]

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/TEN-ESPN-WIMBLEDON_5513566/TEN-ESPN-WIMBLEDON_5513566/

Kudos to AELTC for their smart and forward thinking.

Also, ESPN already has reached out to John McEnroe to join its coverage.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/espn-looks-add-john-mcenroe-208068

Good. I'm glad that this was cited as an important factor. NBC was simply disgraceful. Come to think of it, there's a certain seven-time Wimbledon champion who lives on the west coast, who probably tired of the lack of live coverage of matches, and placed a phone call or two to some friends at the All England Club.

 

[Raphael]

So we can all tune in to ESPN8...The Ocho, to watch the men's semis.

 

[Praetorian]

<sarcasm start> Oh noooooo! How will I ever get my fix of the Williams sisters, and the constant replay during Wimbledon <sarcasm end>

 

[Fee]

Good. I'm glad that this was cited as an important factor. NBC was simply disgraceful. Come to think of it, there's a certain seven-time Wimbledon champion who lives on the west coast, who probably tired of the lack of live coverage of matches, and placed a phone call or two to some friends at the All England Club.

Nice theory, but I seriously doubt it. He's said in the past that he doesn't watch a whole lot of tennis, I'm sure he was happy to tune in for the finals and pretty much ignore the rest of it. There are also rumors that his relationship with the AELTC is still a bit 'strained', so I doubt he would be calling them for anything much at all.



http://nyti.ms/mQgKxe
Enough with the Delays: Why Wmbledon Switched to ESPN (NY Times)
if you want to do more reading, can't be bothered to post it.

 

[FEDEXP]

same story from NYTimes today:
http://snipurl.com/27xmlo

 

[Defcon]

I doubt NBC cares at all. In fact they are probably celebrating that they no longer have to pretend to care about Tennis, and can go back to the beloved Today show.

The most amazing thing is, all these years, never once did NBC apologize for the way it treated viewers, cutting off live coverage, spoiling results etc. We were just supposed to be thankful for 'breakfast at Wimbledon' which wasn't very tasty at all!

 

[Defcon]

Isn't this bad news for people without cable? Now they get no live tennis at all.

 

[FedEx23]

Can we all agree that the only good thing about NBC was the theme song which they didn't even use this year?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQhAzYM0zWs

It's legendary, along with NBA on NBC. I'm going to miss this.

 

[Fee]

The opening theme is legendary, not so much the closing theme.

http://youtu.be/syNT9rkjDs4

 

[jamesblakefan#1]

Another good article about the Wimby deal and what it could mean for televised sports in general.

http://deadspin.com/5818607/espns-wimbledon-bid-is-the-future-of-televised-sports

And the NBC Wimby music will be the only thing I miss as well.

 

[flyinghippos101]

Not gonna lie, will miss that NBC Wimby theme

btw I just found out it has a name too

World Champion (1977)

Composer: Keith Mansfield

 

[Lsmkenpo]

Good, maybe they can pressure Wimbledon to speed up the courts to favor offense again. Americans like to see offense, not 3-4 hour matches between defensive baseliners.

 

[Defcon]

Yup, I'm gonna miss that music as well. Not surprised its by a well known composer.