(Stock image via Unsplash)
Sinclair Broadcast Group says it will deploy its tennis-centric streaming channel T2 to free broadcast television in markets where one of its stations has started airing content via the Atsc 3.0 standard.
The move will bring T2 to free television in 43 markets where a Sinclair station has started broadcasting in Atsc 3.0, which is better known by the consumer brand name NextGen TV. Currently, T2 is widely available on free, ad-supported streaming platforms like The Roku Channel and Amazon’s Freevee.
In a statement, Sinclair said T2 will appear as a “virtual channel” within the electronic program guide of TV sets that have NextGen TV tuners. The virtual channel will be delivered over the Internet when users select T2 from the electronic program guide of their NextGen TV-capable sets — which means only NextGen TVs connected to the Internet will be able to receive the channel.
Still, it opens...
Sinclair Broadcast Group says it will deploy its tennis-centric streaming channel T2 to free broadcast television in markets where one of its stations has started airing content via the Atsc 3.0 standard.
The move will bring T2 to free television in 43 markets where a Sinclair station has started broadcasting in Atsc 3.0, which is better known by the consumer brand name NextGen TV. Currently, T2 is widely available on free, ad-supported streaming platforms like The Roku Channel and Amazon’s Freevee.
In a statement, Sinclair said T2 will appear as a “virtual channel” within the electronic program guide of TV sets that have NextGen TV tuners. The virtual channel will be delivered over the Internet when users select T2 from the electronic program guide of their NextGen TV-capable sets — which means only NextGen TVs connected to the Internet will be able to receive the channel.
Still, it opens...
- 3/20/2024
- by Matthew Keys
- The Desk
A former Fox executive who served under Rupert Murdoch has emerged as an opponent of the network, arguing Fox News’ 2020 election coverage “undermined democracy” and lobbying for its broadcast licenses to be pulled.
As Murdoch was building the foundations of the Fox broadcast network in the 1990s, Preston Padden served as both chief lobbyist and organizer of Fox’s affiliated stations. He also helped to secure the regulatory waivers that allowed Fox’s growth, which made them competitive in the already saturated TV market.
After Padden left Fox in 1997, he and Murdoch remained in touch. “I’ve always admired Rupert’s vision and guts,” Padden said in an interview, describing him as a “father figure.”
Now, Padden is attempting to reverse course and convince federal regulators to strip Fox Corp.’s licenses to operate its TV stations.
Last month the former Fox executive joined the Media and Democracy Project, a nonprofit group,...
As Murdoch was building the foundations of the Fox broadcast network in the 1990s, Preston Padden served as both chief lobbyist and organizer of Fox’s affiliated stations. He also helped to secure the regulatory waivers that allowed Fox’s growth, which made them competitive in the already saturated TV market.
After Padden left Fox in 1997, he and Murdoch remained in touch. “I’ve always admired Rupert’s vision and guts,” Padden said in an interview, describing him as a “father figure.”
Now, Padden is attempting to reverse course and convince federal regulators to strip Fox Corp.’s licenses to operate its TV stations.
Last month the former Fox executive joined the Media and Democracy Project, a nonprofit group,...
- 8/9/2023
- by Natalie Korach
- The Wrap
Three former Fox executives expressed remorse Wednesday for helping build what they called Rupert Murdoch’s “disinformation machine,” saying that Fox News “has had many negative impacts on our society,” including the Jan. 6 insurrection on the capitol.
Ken Solomon, Bill Reyner and Preston Padden published a blog post torching what has become of Fox and lamenting their role in its conception. All three former execs took responsibility for “helping to give birth” to Fox’s broadcasting networks.
During their tenure at Fox in the 1990s, “we genuinely believed that the creation of a fourth competitive force in broadcast television was in the public interest,” the former executives said. “We all greatly admired Rupert Murdoch and his vision.”
However, Fox has evolved since their departure into a “disinformation machine” that none of them saw coming.
“In our opinion, the Fox News Channel has had many negative impacts on our society,” the blog continued,...
Ken Solomon, Bill Reyner and Preston Padden published a blog post torching what has become of Fox and lamenting their role in its conception. All three former execs took responsibility for “helping to give birth” to Fox’s broadcasting networks.
During their tenure at Fox in the 1990s, “we genuinely believed that the creation of a fourth competitive force in broadcast television was in the public interest,” the former executives said. “We all greatly admired Rupert Murdoch and his vision.”
However, Fox has evolved since their departure into a “disinformation machine” that none of them saw coming.
“In our opinion, the Fox News Channel has had many negative impacts on our society,” the blog continued,...
- 7/12/2023
- by Natalie Korach
- The Wrap
When a stream of Democratic candidates trek to Los Angeles this month in likely their final effort to raise money before the midterms, they will be met by Hollywood supporters who are less deflated than they once were about the party’s prospects in November: Call them cautious, if maybe a bit more optimistic.
President Joe Biden’s recent legislative wins, coupled with a renewed focus on the chaos of Donald Trump, has given industry Democrats reason to believe that the party won’t face quite the drubbing that they did in the past. The backlash to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, fueling a new wave of activism within the industry, has raised hopes that it will translate into improved turnout, and perhaps even match what is expected on the GOP side.
The victory last week of Pat Ryan in a purple New York congressional...
President Joe Biden’s recent legislative wins, coupled with a renewed focus on the chaos of Donald Trump, has given industry Democrats reason to believe that the party won’t face quite the drubbing that they did in the past. The backlash to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, fueling a new wave of activism within the industry, has raised hopes that it will translate into improved turnout, and perhaps even match what is expected on the GOP side.
The victory last week of Pat Ryan in a purple New York congressional...
- 9/2/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Samsung, the world’s largest maker of connected TVs, is looking to flex more muscle in content distribution through a pact with Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Tennis Channel to carry a new free streaming channel in the U.S.
Dubbed T2, the Sinclair-owned channel will feature an advertising-supported 24/7 live stream of matches from major tournaments that might otherwise never be televised. The channel will be available only in the U.S. and exclusive to the Samsung TV Plus platform for the first 12 months. T2 will be accessible on TVs starting with Samsung’s 2017 models.
Samsung’s move to partner on the T2 exclusive channel launch underscores the consumer electronics giant’s ambitions to ramp up its content distribution biz. Samsung TV Plus is among the next-generation digital distributors embracing the rise of Fast (free ad-supported streaming television) channels like T2 as an alternative to traditional cable TV.
“As we see...
Dubbed T2, the Sinclair-owned channel will feature an advertising-supported 24/7 live stream of matches from major tournaments that might otherwise never be televised. The channel will be available only in the U.S. and exclusive to the Samsung TV Plus platform for the first 12 months. T2 will be accessible on TVs starting with Samsung’s 2017 models.
Samsung’s move to partner on the T2 exclusive channel launch underscores the consumer electronics giant’s ambitions to ramp up its content distribution biz. Samsung TV Plus is among the next-generation digital distributors embracing the rise of Fast (free ad-supported streaming television) channels like T2 as an alternative to traditional cable TV.
“As we see...
- 3/7/2022
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Amazon Prime Video is to live stream a “behind closed doors” tournament for British tennis players in the U.K. and Ireland, while Tennis Channel has the rights in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and Eurosport will stream it in the rest of Europe. Players will include Andy Murray, who competes in a tournament for the first time this year.
Schroders Battle of the Brits, a six-day long tournament taking place from June 23 to 28 at the Lawn Tennis Assn.’s headquarters at Roehampton, England, will see the U.K.’s top-ranked male players, including Andy and Jamie Murray, Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund, compete to be crowned singles and doubles champions. The event will raise a minimum of £100,000 for charities linked to Britain’s National Health Service.
Speaking at the launch, Jamie Murray said: “The last few months have been incredibly challenging times for everyone, and we see...
Schroders Battle of the Brits, a six-day long tournament taking place from June 23 to 28 at the Lawn Tennis Assn.’s headquarters at Roehampton, England, will see the U.K.’s top-ranked male players, including Andy and Jamie Murray, Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund, compete to be crowned singles and doubles champions. The event will raise a minimum of £100,000 for charities linked to Britain’s National Health Service.
Speaking at the launch, Jamie Murray said: “The last few months have been incredibly challenging times for everyone, and we see...
- 5/29/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Michael Bloomberg can take on Trump, but can he beat Bernie?
Over the past few weeks, many of the traditional donors who make up Hollywood’s center left are intrigued and maybe even enthralled by the former New York mayor, who has been wooing them with the prospect of beating Donald Trump with his own personal fortune. Bloomberg has poured hundreds of millions into TV advertising — enough to help drive up the stock price of some TV station groups — and has shown that he’s willing to put money behind his message.
Besides the new scrutiny that Bloomberg now faces, the bigger question is whether he can stop Bernie Sanders.
Leading in a number of polls and boosted by a torrent of small-dollar donations, Sanders also is a pop culture favorite, drawing endorsements from the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Cardi B and Ariana Grande. But there are plenty of showbiz...
Over the past few weeks, many of the traditional donors who make up Hollywood’s center left are intrigued and maybe even enthralled by the former New York mayor, who has been wooing them with the prospect of beating Donald Trump with his own personal fortune. Bloomberg has poured hundreds of millions into TV advertising — enough to help drive up the stock price of some TV station groups — and has shown that he’s willing to put money behind his message.
Besides the new scrutiny that Bloomberg now faces, the bigger question is whether he can stop Bernie Sanders.
Leading in a number of polls and boosted by a torrent of small-dollar donations, Sanders also is a pop culture favorite, drawing endorsements from the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Cardi B and Ariana Grande. But there are plenty of showbiz...
- 2/18/2020
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
The Sports Emmy Awards may not be the most obvious focal point for the future of television documentary production, but Tennis Channel contender “Strokes of Genius,” which commemorates the 10-year anniversary of a historic match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, provides an intriguing case study. A fast-paced retelling of the nearly five-hour 2006 showdown between the champions of the sport, it marks the first time that the network has produced a nonfiction feature in-house for wide release, with a serious Emmy campaign to boot. (Sports Emmy voting runs February 22 through March 8.) But it almost didn’t happen that way.
“We had a lot of outside interest,” said Tennis Channel president Ken Solomon in an interview at the U.S. Open, shortly after the documentary first aired last fall. “Obviously, people knew the story.” However, the decision to adapt L. Jon Wertheim’s 2009 book required access to reams of archival footage...
“We had a lot of outside interest,” said Tennis Channel president Ken Solomon in an interview at the U.S. Open, shortly after the documentary first aired last fall. “Obviously, people knew the story.” However, the decision to adapt L. Jon Wertheim’s 2009 book required access to reams of archival footage...
- 2/16/2019
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Hollywood’s fastest-rising executives and actors gathered Wednesday for The Hollywood Reporter's annual Next Gen party at Nightingale Plaza in Los Angeles. Next Gen Talent honorees Suki Waterhouse, Alexandra Shipp, Tye Sheridan and Glen Powell turned out for the bash, which celebrated this year’s class of up-and-comers. But the mood was bittersweet as the town was still taking in Tuesday night’s surprising presidential election results. “It was a bright spot in an otherwise murky day,” said Verve agent and Next Gen honoree Melissa Solomon, whose father, Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon, previously made the list. (The two
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- 11/10/2016
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sinclair Broadcasting will serve up $350 million for the Tennis Channel, a niche pay TV service that currently reaches 30 million homes — but is about to rise to 50 million with some recent carriage deals. Tennis’ CEO Ken Solomon, an industry veteran, will continue to be involved in the new structure, though the announcement doesn’t describe his role. "Tennis Channel is an established property with high-quality content and advertisers, and is vastly under-compensated and…...
- 1/27/2016
- Deadline TV
Tennis great Martina Navratilova popped the question to her longtime girlfriend Julia Lemigova while at the U.S. Open in New York City on Saturday.
Martina Navratilova Engaged To Girlfriend
Navratilova, who was doing color commentary at the U.S. Open, asked Lemigova to marry her during a break in the action, reported People magazine. The proposal appeared on the Jumbotron at Arthur Ashe stadium in Queens, New York.
While Ken Solomon was interviewing Navratilova, 57, in the Tennis Channel suite, she opted to direct her own question at Lemigova, 42. Getting down on one knee, the former athlete asked Lemigova to marry her. Saying yes, Lemigova embraced and hugged Navratilova, tearing up while sliding the diamond-studded ring on her finger.
In celebration of the engagement, the happy couple popped open a magnum bottle of Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial champagne.
Navratilova, a 59-time Grand Slam winner, has been dating Lemigova, a onetime Miss Ussr,...
Martina Navratilova Engaged To Girlfriend
Navratilova, who was doing color commentary at the U.S. Open, asked Lemigova to marry her during a break in the action, reported People magazine. The proposal appeared on the Jumbotron at Arthur Ashe stadium in Queens, New York.
While Ken Solomon was interviewing Navratilova, 57, in the Tennis Channel suite, she opted to direct her own question at Lemigova, 42. Getting down on one knee, the former athlete asked Lemigova to marry her. Saying yes, Lemigova embraced and hugged Navratilova, tearing up while sliding the diamond-studded ring on her finger.
In celebration of the engagement, the happy couple popped open a magnum bottle of Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial champagne.
Navratilova, a 59-time Grand Slam winner, has been dating Lemigova, a onetime Miss Ussr,...
- 9/7/2014
- Uinterview
"Love" was a good thing for a change at Saturday's U.S. Open tennis championships. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, 57, got engaged to girlfriend Julia Lemigova, 42, in a moment that was telecast on the Jumbotron during the day's play at New York's Arthur Ashe stadium. Navratilova popped the question during a break while she was providing color commentary for the men's matches. The tennis legend was being interviewed by Ken Solomon in the Tennis Channel suite when she turned to Lemigova and said she would be asking the questions this time. Navratilova got down on one knee and offered her girlfriend a diamond-studded ring.
- 9/6/2014
- by Gabrielle Olya, @GabyOlya
- PEOPLE.com
"Love" was a good thing for a change at Saturday's U.S. Open tennis championships. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, 57, got engaged to girlfriend Julia Lemigova, 42, in a moment that was telecast on the Jumbotron during the day's play at New York's Arthur Ashe stadium. Navratilova popped the question during a break while she was providing color commentary for the men's matches. The tennis legend was being interviewed by Ken Solomon in the Tennis Channel suite when she turned to Lemigova and said she would be asking the questions this time. Navratilova got down on one knee and offered her girlfriend a diamond-studded ring.
- 9/6/2014
- by Gabrielle Olya, @GabyOlya
- PEOPLE.com
Hollywood stars rubbed elbows with politicians at Tuesday night's state dinner for French President Francois Hollande at the White House. The event, held in a tent on the South Lawn, was packed with actors, directors, executives and TV personalities. The Hollywood stars in attendance included Bradley Cooper, Stephen Colbert, J.J. Abrams, CNN head Jeff Zucker, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, MSNBC's Rev. Al Sharpton, Tennis Channel's Ken Solomon, The Mindy Project's Mindy Kaling and Veep's Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Photos: Inside Mindy Kaling's Wardrobe Room Kaling and Louis-Dreyfus not only attended but they took to Twitter and Instagram to document
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- 2/12/2014
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper is expected to join President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama — and 349 other guests — for a state dinner honoring French President Francois Hollande Tuesday night at the White House. Other expected guests include Stephen Colbert, J.J. Abrams, CNN head Jeff Zucker, Veep's Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, The Mindy Project's Mindy Kaling, MSNBC's Rev. Al Sharpton and Tennis Channel's Ken Solomon. With the midterms looming, the first couple is throwing one of its biggest social affairs ever, abandoning the traditional White House dining rooms for a tent on
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- 2/11/2014
- by Tina Daunt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Four big-time Hollywood donors are on Barack Obama's shortlist for ambassadorships, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The new report claims White House decorator Michael Smith, money manager John Emerson, Tennis Channel executive Ken Solomon and philanthropist Colleen Bell are among those being considered for the diplomatic assignments. All are either based in Los Angeles and/or have strong ties to the entertainment sector.
A number of other entertainment and media figures have already been floated. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour -- one of the campaign's most determined surrogates -- is rumored to be interested in a position in the U.K. or France (and even Donald Trump is a fan of the idea).
The Obama campaign received heavy support from the entertainment industry, with celebrities from Jay-z to Harvey Weinstein coming through in big ways for the President's reelection bid.
Some of Obama's top donors, however, are unlikely to have time for an ambassadorship.
The new report claims White House decorator Michael Smith, money manager John Emerson, Tennis Channel executive Ken Solomon and philanthropist Colleen Bell are among those being considered for the diplomatic assignments. All are either based in Los Angeles and/or have strong ties to the entertainment sector.
A number of other entertainment and media figures have already been floated. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour -- one of the campaign's most determined surrogates -- is rumored to be interested in a position in the U.K. or France (and even Donald Trump is a fan of the idea).
The Obama campaign received heavy support from the entertainment industry, with celebrities from Jay-z to Harvey Weinstein coming through in big ways for the President's reelection bid.
Some of Obama's top donors, however, are unlikely to have time for an ambassadorship.
- 12/19/2012
- by Kia Makarechi
- Huffington Post
This story first appeared in the Jan. 10 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Attention, Hollywood political donors: The Obama administration has begun the delicate post-election process of deciding which key supporters to reward with coveted diplomatic appointments, and THR has learned that at least four fundraisers with close showbiz connections are under consideration. Among the Barack Obama loyalists under consideration for ambassadorial appointments are Los Angeles-based White House decorator Michael Smith, 47; Hollywood philanthropist and television producer Colleen Bell, 45; industry money manager John Emerson, 57; and Tennis Channel chief Ken Solomon, 49. And the Westside L.A.
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- 12/19/2012
- by Tina Daunt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Iconic balladeers Neil Diamond and Burt Bacharach made a visit to the Obama campaign's Culver City call center Sunday to surprise the phone bank volunteers with an impromptu concert. Southern California DNC co-chair Ken Solomon told The Hollywood Reporter that "the place went crazy" when Diamond and Bacharach plugged in their microphones and started to sing "Sweet Caroline." Photos: 15 of the Best Election-Themed Movies "They wanted to do something to thank the volunteers," said Solomon, who helped organize the singers' visit with friend Chuck Lorre. "It was like the '60s or something. Everyone was singing along.
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- 11/5/2012
- by Tina Daunt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
President Barack Obama wrapped up a two-day fundraising swing through Southern California Thursday, having collected $4 million during a trio of events designed to cement his reelection campaign’s ties with younger voters and the area’s business and legal communities. The Democratic National Committee’s Southern California finance chairman, John Emerson and Ken Solomon, confirmed the total to The Hollywood Reporter. The complete breakdown is yet to be released, but in all likelihood only a portion of that sum came from Hollywood sources. Photos: 10 Hollywood Players That Will Make a Difference in the 2012 Elections These fundraisers, in fact, were
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- 2/16/2012
- by Tina Daunt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gop Candidates Seeking Hollywood Help “We were discussing the new season of Glee,” tweeted Modern Family‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson about what he and President Obama said to one another last night at the Sunset Strip’s House of Blues. It’s where the actor emceed one of two Hollywood fundraisers for Obama’s re-election campaign Monday. According to a White House pool report, Obama greeted Ferguson, turned to the microphone, and said, “I was telling him that Michelle and the girls love them some Modern Family.” Some in the crowd chanted “Four more years”. Roughly 900 people paid ticket prices starting at $250 and as much as $10,000 (to secure a photo with the president). The second fundraiser cost $17,900 for each of the 120 people in attendance at Melrose Avenue’s Fig & Olive restaurant. The private event’s co-hosts included Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, his longtime political adviser Andy Spahn, and Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon.
- 9/27/2011
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline TV
Gop Candidates Seeking Hollywood Help “We were discussing the new season of Glee,” tweeted Modern Family‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson about what he and President Obama said to one another last night at the Sunset Strip’s House of Blues. It’s where the actor emceed one of two Hollywood fundraisers for Obama’s re-election campaign Monday. According to a White House pool report, Obama greeted Ferguson, turned to the microphone, and said, “I was telling him that Michelle and the girls love them some Modern Family.” Some in the crowd chanted “Four more years”. Roughly 900 people paid ticket prices starting at $250 and as much as $10,000 (to secure a photo with the president). The second fundraiser cost $17,900 for each of the 120 people in attendance at Melrose Avenue’s Fig & Olive restaurant. The private event’s co-hosts included Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, his longtime political adviser Andy Spahn, and Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon.
- 9/27/2011
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline Hollywood
New York - The FCC has restarted the clock on its review of the planned acquisition of a controlling stake in NBC Universal by cable giant Comcast Corp., for now leaving it on track to make a decision before year's end.
The government agency had recently stopped the review clock until the submission of additional materials by the companies.
Critics of the deal have also been trying to gain more time to argue their case by requesting certain deadline extensions, but for now observers say decisions by the FCC and the Department of Justice look to come around the end of the year. A Comcast spokeswoman Tuesday also reaffirmed that expectation.
Merger partners typically want to close a deal sooner rather than later to avoid investor and other insecurity.
After pausing its process on June 11 to collect additional information from Comcast and NBC Uni, the FCC said Tuesday it restarted...
The government agency had recently stopped the review clock until the submission of additional materials by the companies.
Critics of the deal have also been trying to gain more time to argue their case by requesting certain deadline extensions, but for now observers say decisions by the FCC and the Department of Justice look to come around the end of the year. A Comcast spokeswoman Tuesday also reaffirmed that expectation.
Merger partners typically want to close a deal sooner rather than later to avoid investor and other insecurity.
After pausing its process on June 11 to collect additional information from Comcast and NBC Uni, the FCC said Tuesday it restarted...
- 7/13/2010
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
By Associated Press
The Tennis Channel has filed a complaint with federal regulators accusing Comcast of discriminating against its programming.
The Tennis Channel alleges that Comcast isolates the network on a premium sports tier that reaches only a small fraction of subscribers, even as it carries Comcast-owned networks such as the Golf Channel and Versus on basic tiers that reach many more customers.
The Tennis Channel filed its complaint with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday. The company's chief executive, Ken Solomon, called the case "a litmus test for unaffiliated progr...
The Tennis Channel has filed a complaint with federal regulators accusing Comcast of discriminating against its programming.
The Tennis Channel alleges that Comcast isolates the network on a premium sports tier that reaches only a small fraction of subscribers, even as it carries Comcast-owned networks such as the Golf Channel and Versus on basic tiers that reach many more customers.
The Tennis Channel filed its complaint with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday. The company's chief executive, Ken Solomon, called the case "a litmus test for unaffiliated progr...
- 1/6/2010
- by Dylan Stableford
- The Wrap
New York -- The Tennis Channel has filed a complaint about Comcast with the FCC, alleging the cable giant is discriminating against networks it doesn't own.
The Tennis Channel's complaint, filed Tuesday, points to Comcast's carriage of the channel on a premium sports tier that is different from the one on which the cable operator carries its own Versus and Golf networks.
Comcast said in a statement it is offering the Tennis Channel in accordance with a carriage deal the two signed a few years ago.
The dispute comes at a time when Comcast is ramping up work to get regulatory approval for its deal to take a 51% stake in entertainment firm NBC Universal.
Collins Stewart analyst Thomas Eagan said in a note to investors Wednesday that the regulatory review of the proposed acquisition could be burdened by recent carriage and retransmission consent battles.
"Ironically, we expect Comcast will be...
The Tennis Channel's complaint, filed Tuesday, points to Comcast's carriage of the channel on a premium sports tier that is different from the one on which the cable operator carries its own Versus and Golf networks.
Comcast said in a statement it is offering the Tennis Channel in accordance with a carriage deal the two signed a few years ago.
The dispute comes at a time when Comcast is ramping up work to get regulatory approval for its deal to take a 51% stake in entertainment firm NBC Universal.
Collins Stewart analyst Thomas Eagan said in a note to investors Wednesday that the regulatory review of the proposed acquisition could be burdened by recent carriage and retransmission consent battles.
"Ironically, we expect Comcast will be...
- 1/6/2010
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tennis Channel president Ken Solomon was sitting in his office on the grounds of the French Open in Paris six weeks ago when, rifling through some press coverage of the network, he proudly showed a blurb from a story that proclaimed the net "the future of television."
When it comes to tennis, the future is heavily on the minds of television execs these days. It's not a stretch to say that televised tennis is at its most critical point in decades. During the past 18 months, a number of new rights deals have rezoned the landscape. Digital platforms are providing new content and fan opportunities (though the monetization prospects are less clear). And for the first time in years, the men's game finally is generating some top-tier rivalries -- and rivalries always are a ratings savior.
As the sport's banner weekend, the Wimbledon finals, begins, the question hangs in the air like a high baseline lob: Will all these changes return tennis to widespread popularity -- or cement its status as a niche sport whose main appeal lies only with its high-income demos?
Like all sports, televised tennis has seen ratings dip during the past decade as entertainment choices multiply. The sport also has faced a tough era on the men's side of the game, enduring first a period of parity and then of dominance by Roger Federer, welcome developments for hardcore fans but a tougher sell to the casual viewer.
Still, there are more programming hours today than ever. Some of that charge is being led by the Tennis Channel. The net now has rights to broadcast matches at the French Open, to highlights and other packages at Wimbledon and, starting in 2009, to matches at the U.S. Open. Under former Universal Television executive Solomon, the network is now in 25 million homes, an increase of about 800% over where it started five years ago.
Espn also has offered an unexpected boost. The net was close to reducing its investment in all things rackets but jumped back in last year, buying back a piece of the French Open rights that the Tennis Channel had just acquired. Espn senior vp Len DeLuca said that the net now wants tennis majors to be a part of the net's strategy of showing banner international events -- the kind that it has tirelessly promoted – like last month's UEFA Euro Cup. (USA Network, meanwhile, recently decided to end its commitment to the U.S. Open.)
Some of the new energy couldn't come at a better time. During the past five years, ratings have held relatively flat; household ratings for the 25 hours of Wimbledon NBC aired last year averaged a 1.8, off just slightly from the 2.1 five years ago. The numbers indicate that the serious fan is there but cry out for an expansion to more casual viewers.
Some elements, certainly, are proven viewership boosters -- the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) and longstanding rivalries, to name two. While the appeal of tennis to so many fans is the continuing emergence of new players, it's the long-term rivalries -- as seen in the golden era of Connors-McEnroe in the 1980s or complementary styles of the Sampras-Agassi duels of the late '90s and early '00s -- that drive mainstream success.
"We don't root, but we do have facts," DeLuca says.
Those facts are starting to tilt in the networks' direction, as NBC Sports president Ken Schanzer notes. Federer and Rafael Nadal have played three straight French Open finals and, if form holds, will play a third straight Wimbledon final Sunday, with this year posing the greatest possibility for Nadal to dethrone the five-time champion.
Meanwhile, the Williams sisters could be poised to play their third-ever final against each other at the All England Club. After years of a top-heavy field, the women's game is evolving into what executives hope will be the best of all possible worlds: both Williams sisters in the mix but a growing number of younger -- and telegenic -- stars from Serbia and Russia who are desperately needed as Venus and Serena get closer to the tennis dotage of 30.
But even rivalry-fueled ratings boosts, like ABC's recently ended Lakers-Celtics series, may also be a case of relative gain: better than the lows of the past few years but nowhere near the highs of 10 or 20 years ago. That's why for many executives -- and the press coverage heralding Tennis Channel as the future of television -- the real upside lies online. Just as cable during the last decade began opening up more programming hours than the nets ever could, execs hope that online offers more programming opportunities than the cable nets.
And tennis, more than most sports, lends itself to digital distribution. As CBS has done with March Madness on Demand, the Tennis Channel and Espn 360 have begun using digital media to stream matches -- ad-driven, for the moment -- in the early days of a Slam, when a linear net can't show the 10 or 12 matches taking place simultaneously. "We're going to continue to see an evolution of how people consume the content," said Solomon, who touts his net's 44% traffic increase for the 2008 French Open.
Still, even with new platforms and the choicest rivalries, some executives urge realism about the ability to grow the sport.
"For the moment we're in a good place," NBC's Schanzer said. "But it's not going to be a quantum leap. What we can hope for is stabilization and then incremental improvement."
?...
When it comes to tennis, the future is heavily on the minds of television execs these days. It's not a stretch to say that televised tennis is at its most critical point in decades. During the past 18 months, a number of new rights deals have rezoned the landscape. Digital platforms are providing new content and fan opportunities (though the monetization prospects are less clear). And for the first time in years, the men's game finally is generating some top-tier rivalries -- and rivalries always are a ratings savior.
As the sport's banner weekend, the Wimbledon finals, begins, the question hangs in the air like a high baseline lob: Will all these changes return tennis to widespread popularity -- or cement its status as a niche sport whose main appeal lies only with its high-income demos?
Like all sports, televised tennis has seen ratings dip during the past decade as entertainment choices multiply. The sport also has faced a tough era on the men's side of the game, enduring first a period of parity and then of dominance by Roger Federer, welcome developments for hardcore fans but a tougher sell to the casual viewer.
Still, there are more programming hours today than ever. Some of that charge is being led by the Tennis Channel. The net now has rights to broadcast matches at the French Open, to highlights and other packages at Wimbledon and, starting in 2009, to matches at the U.S. Open. Under former Universal Television executive Solomon, the network is now in 25 million homes, an increase of about 800% over where it started five years ago.
Espn also has offered an unexpected boost. The net was close to reducing its investment in all things rackets but jumped back in last year, buying back a piece of the French Open rights that the Tennis Channel had just acquired. Espn senior vp Len DeLuca said that the net now wants tennis majors to be a part of the net's strategy of showing banner international events -- the kind that it has tirelessly promoted – like last month's UEFA Euro Cup. (USA Network, meanwhile, recently decided to end its commitment to the U.S. Open.)
Some of the new energy couldn't come at a better time. During the past five years, ratings have held relatively flat; household ratings for the 25 hours of Wimbledon NBC aired last year averaged a 1.8, off just slightly from the 2.1 five years ago. The numbers indicate that the serious fan is there but cry out for an expansion to more casual viewers.
Some elements, certainly, are proven viewership boosters -- the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) and longstanding rivalries, to name two. While the appeal of tennis to so many fans is the continuing emergence of new players, it's the long-term rivalries -- as seen in the golden era of Connors-McEnroe in the 1980s or complementary styles of the Sampras-Agassi duels of the late '90s and early '00s -- that drive mainstream success.
"We don't root, but we do have facts," DeLuca says.
Those facts are starting to tilt in the networks' direction, as NBC Sports president Ken Schanzer notes. Federer and Rafael Nadal have played three straight French Open finals and, if form holds, will play a third straight Wimbledon final Sunday, with this year posing the greatest possibility for Nadal to dethrone the five-time champion.
Meanwhile, the Williams sisters could be poised to play their third-ever final against each other at the All England Club. After years of a top-heavy field, the women's game is evolving into what executives hope will be the best of all possible worlds: both Williams sisters in the mix but a growing number of younger -- and telegenic -- stars from Serbia and Russia who are desperately needed as Venus and Serena get closer to the tennis dotage of 30.
But even rivalry-fueled ratings boosts, like ABC's recently ended Lakers-Celtics series, may also be a case of relative gain: better than the lows of the past few years but nowhere near the highs of 10 or 20 years ago. That's why for many executives -- and the press coverage heralding Tennis Channel as the future of television -- the real upside lies online. Just as cable during the last decade began opening up more programming hours than the nets ever could, execs hope that online offers more programming opportunities than the cable nets.
And tennis, more than most sports, lends itself to digital distribution. As CBS has done with March Madness on Demand, the Tennis Channel and Espn 360 have begun using digital media to stream matches -- ad-driven, for the moment -- in the early days of a Slam, when a linear net can't show the 10 or 12 matches taking place simultaneously. "We're going to continue to see an evolution of how people consume the content," said Solomon, who touts his net's 44% traffic increase for the 2008 French Open.
Still, even with new platforms and the choicest rivalries, some executives urge realism about the ability to grow the sport.
"For the moment we're in a good place," NBC's Schanzer said. "But it's not going to be a quantum leap. What we can hope for is stabilization and then incremental improvement."
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- 7/2/2008
- by By Steven Zeitchik
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- The Weinstein Co. and Hubbard Media Group lead a group of private investors who have acquired struggling cable channel Ovation: The Arts Network, the new owners announced Tuesday. Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO of the Tennis Channel, will be chairman of the newly configured network in a nonoperational role and Charles Segars, a founding member and former executive at cable channel Fine Living, will be CEO. Solomon will stay on at Tennis. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Other investors in Ovation include Arcadia Investment Partners, Perry Capital and Corporate Partners II.
- 8/29/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- The Weinstein Co. and Hubbard Media Group lead a group of private investors who have acquired struggling cable channel Ovation: The Arts Network. Tennis Channel chairman and CEO Ken Solomon will be chairman of the newly configured network in a nonoperational role, and Charles Segars, a founding member and former executive at cable channel Fine Living, will be CEO. Solomon will stay on at Tennis. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Other investors in Ovation include Arcadia Investment Partners, Perry Capital and Corporate Partners II. Segars said they are planning on rebranding and relaunching Ovation in the near future and that they will consider changing the name of the network. The focus, though, will remain on fine arts and creativity, an area in which the channel's executives said there is a void in the cable television landscape.
- 8/29/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- The Weinstein Co. and Hubbard Media Group lead a group of private investors who have acquired struggling cable channel Ovation: The Arts Network, the new owners announced Tuesday. Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO of the Tennis Channel, will be chairman of the newly configured network in a nonoperational role and Charles Segars, a founding member and former executive at cable channel Fine Living, will be CEO. Solomon will stay on at Tennis. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Other investors in Ovation include Arcadia Investment Partners, Perry Capital and Corporate Partners II.
- 8/29/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ken Solomon has stepped down as president of Fine Living, a digital cable network owned by Scripps Networks. After nearly four years at the fast-growing channel at which he was instrumental in launching, Solomon is leaving to pursue unspecified entrepreneurial interests outside Scripps. "I waited until the point when the network was ready for me to leave," said Solomon, an industry veteran who has held senior management positions at companies including Universal Studios, DreamWorks TV and Fox Broadcasting Co.
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