The tennis season will begin with unprecedented coverage of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year: 137 hours of coverage on ESPN2, as well as more than 480 hours - all live, with users choosing between action on six courts - on broadband
ESPN360.com. Play will begin on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com on Sunday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. ET and will continue through the women's and men's finals Friday, Jan. 25, and Sunday, Jan. 27, respectively. ESPN has televised the Australian Open since 1984; last year's women's final drew ESPN2's best tennis rating ever, a 1.9 for Serena Williams' victory over Maria Sharapova.
In addition, where appropriate ESPN's SportsCenter and ESPNEWS will endeavor live look-ins to the action; ESPN Deportes has a greatly increased Spanish-language schedule; and ESPN International has expanded rights.
ESPN360.com will expand its broadband coverage to include no fewer than six live feeds from various courts - including the women's, men's and mixed doubles finals - plus a simulcast of ESPN2's live coverage, totaling more than 480 hours. For the first 11 days (Jan. 13 - 23), coverage will commence at 7 p.m. (11 a.m. in Melbourne, when play begins). The courts to be included are the "TV courts," the ones most likely to have top matches: Rod Laver Arena, Vodafone Arena, Margaret Court Arena, plus Courts 2, 3 and 6. Coverage will be the "world feed" from the host broadcaster, with graphics, natural sound and no commentary. For the remainder of the tournament, ESPN360.com will continue the ESPN2 simulcast, and will carry the women's (Jan. 24), men's (Jan. 25) and mixed (Jan. 26) doubles finals.
Each window of coverage will be available for on-demand replay following its completion. With ESPN360.com's dynamic new interface, tennis fans will be able to fast-forward, rewind and pause action - during both on-demand replay and live action coverage.
The coverage is part of ESPN360.com's most robust monthly schedule ever. In January, the broadband network will deliver at least 390 live sports events, including its 100th event since the September 4 relaunch. The new ESPN360.com is a 24/7 live sports destination, delivering more than 2,500 live global sports events per year (more than ESPN and ESPN2 combined). The service offers high-quality live video and a mosaic of screens, letting users follow multiple events simultaneously. ESPN360.com is available at no charge to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection from an affiliated service provider. It has more than doubled distribution since November 2006, and is available in 20 million households via more than 25 Internet service providers including AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway and Grande Communications. Consumers wanting more information about ESPN360.com should go to www.espn360.com.
ESPN.com will feature blogs from Peter Bodo and Tennis.com's staff, daily ESPN video highlights and features, original podcasts from the ESPN PodCenter (http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/index), and news and analysis from ESPN.com and Tennis.com. Other contributors: ESPN.com's Bonnie DeSimone, ESPN The Magazine and Page 2's LZ Granderson as well as Patrick McEnroe, Pam Shriver, Bodo and more.
ESPNdeportes.com, the leading sports Web Site for Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. and Latin America, will provide unmatched coverage with a recently re-designed tennis section featuring the latest news and results, high-quality video segments (daily SportsCenter clips, chats and columns), Australian Open blog by Simón, daily polls and more.
ESPN M OBILE TV ESPN Mobile TV, a 24/7 channel for wireless, will provide more than 50 hours of live coverage. ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN's first 24/7 wireless channel that is not a simulcast of any existing ESPN network, offers full-length live events including college football and basketball, NBA, NASCAR, MLS, Arena Football and more. It also offers content from Mike & Mike in the Morning, First Take and Pardon the Interruption. ESPN Mobile TV is available through MobiTV and on MediaFLO USA's mobile entertainment service.