Following up on their popular Masters Mix coverage, DIRECTV is now taking tennis coverage to another level this year at the French Open.
Again pushing the limits on sports coverage, this year DIRECTV will offer 350 hours of live tennis with their “French Open Interactive” coverage.
This year’s tournament runs from May 25th through June 8th. DIRECTV’s coverage will be heavy during the first 8 days of the tournament, as early round matches will be available like never before.
Complete coverage of play will be broadcast starting Sunday May 25th through Friday May 30th. Then DIRECTV will broadcast 8 hours worth of tennis on Saturday the 31st and Sunday, June 1st. DIRECTV is promising “Center Court” coverage via the French Open Mix channel.
The French Open Mix channel will feature multiple views of what is currently happening, similar to the Masters Mix. Promising up to 6 live matches at any given time, viewers will then be able to jump to a full-screen view of any match they are interested in seeing. Interactive features will also be available via the viewer’s remote control.
DIRECTV is working with the Tennis Channel and ESPN2 to present the expanded coverage. After the first 8 days of action, the rest of the matches will be on ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel only. There is not any additional charge for DIRECTV customers for the French Open Mix coverage.
Additional interactive channels that will be available to subscribers will be:
Matches On Now –Provides a view on the lower third of the screen of the latest scores of all current televised matches. Viewers can to tune-in directly to each one by pressing the Select button on the remote.
Matches On Later – This feature will present a schedule of upcoming matches on each of the court channels. Viewers see approximate starting times.
Instant Results – Viewers can access real-time scoring of all French Open matches in progress, and see scores for completed matches. Results from that day play as well as the day before will be available. Also upcoming matchups will be presented, all available without leaving the channel being watched.
Overall, DIRECTV proves once again they are head and shoulders above all others when it comes to sports programming. While tennis is more of a niche sport these days, DIRECTV will again pull in more viewers and satisfy sports fanatics with this package.
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I think French Open is going to be the most popular even everywhere on all satellite and cables.