TENNIS CHANNEL TV SCHEDULE FOR THE 2017 AUSTRALIAN OPEN COVERAGE BUT – IT ALSO CUTS MARKETS IN AMERICA

Written by: Staff on 27th January 2017

TENNIS CHANNEL TV SCHEDULE FOR THE 2017 AUSTRALIAN OPEN COVERAGE BUT - IT ALSO CUTS MARKETS IN AMERICA |

TENNIS CHANNEL ADDS MARY CARILLO FOR 10TH YEAR OF AUSTRALIAN OPEN COVERAGE

Renowned Sportscaster’s Network Duties Now Include all Four Majors

For its 10th straight year of Australian Open coverage Tennis Channel is adding venerable sportscaster and journalist Mary Carillo to its on-air team. Carillo, who appears on Tennis Channel throughout the year and at each of the other three majors, will handle play-by-play duties as well as special features throughout the two-week event. Coverage begins on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m. ET, and runs through Jan. 29.

“I’m excited to join my Tennis Channel colleagues in Melbourne for the Australian Open,” said Carillo. “The year’s first major always comes with the unique energy and high expectations of a new tennis season.”

As always Tennis Channel will provide viewers with numerous live and encore Australian Open matches, highlights and studio analysis from Jan. 15-29. The channel will have nearly 30 hours of live coverage across 11 consecutive days and 12 total days at this year’s Australian Open. Between tournament lead-up programming, live matches, encore replays, highlights, Australian Open Today and Tennis Channel Live at the Australian Open, the network will devote nearly 200 hours to the season’s first major.

Tennis Channel begins its live Australian Open match coverage Monday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. ET, kicking off 10 straight days of primetime play starting at that time (complete schedule follows). The network will carry live singles matches from the first round through the quarterfinals and the women’s and mixed-doubles finals, as well as multiple encore presentations of the men’s doubles final. Tennis Channel will also bring fans same-day encore match coverage of the men’s and women’s singles semifinals and finals. Just as it has since its first year of Australian Open coverage in 2008, Tennis Channel will air all five of the tournament’s finals: men’s and women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles.

The network will air daylong blocks of encore matches and highlights with Australian Open Today. Premiering Monday, Jan. 16, from 7 a.m.-3 p.m., it will be followed by an abridged encore airing from 3 p.m.-6 p.m. The show will run for 10 consecutive days of the tournament, with varying start times over the following week-and-a-half (complete schedule follows). The channel will air 80 hours of Australian Open Today in 2017.

Tennis Channel Live at the Australian Open returns as the network’s nightly lead-in show and will debut Sunday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m. ET. The program will air each night (in the United States – morning in Australia) of the tournament and provide viewers with a review of the previous day’s action and a look ahead to the coming day’s play. The team will speak with guests, break down the action and storylines of the tournament, and provide special reports and features from Melbourne. The show is set to air nightly from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15-Wednesday Jan. 25, with the final show at 7 p.m.-8 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29.

Host Steve Weissman (@Steve_Weissman), Hall of Famer Tracy Austin (@thetracyaustin), Leif Shiras (@LShirock) and Mark Knowles (@knowlzee10s) will host the tournament’s bookend editions on the Jan. 15 and Jan. 29 respectively, both live from Tennis Channel’s Los Angeles studio.

Prior to the tournament, Tennis Channel’s Racquet Bracket: Australian Open will air on Friday, Jan. 13, from 5 p.m.-6 p.m., with replay telecasts during the next two days prior to the start of the Grand Slam. Racquet Bracket: Australian Open will feature the network’s Los Angeles team (Weissman, Austin, Shiras and Knowles) as they provide expert insight and opinion, their predictions for the next two weeks and potential adversity players will face.

Tennis Channel and ESPN continue their Grand Slam alliance with this year’s Australian Open and give fans nearly 24-hour coverage from Melbourne. Each network utilizes its own commentators and cross-promotes their television offerings.

Australian Open On-Air Talent

Carillo will have five special features that will air throughout Tennis Channel’s two-week coverage of the Australian Open. Through her signature style and humor, she will bring viewers a unique and offbeat look at Melbourne and everything the city has to offer.

Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova (@Martina) will return for her 10th Australian Open for Tennis Channel, and has been there each year the network has covered the tournament. Considered one of the greatest tennis players and athletes of all time, she has won 12 Australian Open singles, doubles and mixed-doubles titles as a portion of her 59 major championships. She will be joined by fellow Hall of Famers and analysts Courier and Lindsay Davenport (@LDavenport76). Both have claimed titles in Melbourne, as Courier won two straight from 1992-93 and Davenport took the crown in 2000. Courier will appear on Tennis Channel Live at the Australian Open, while Davenport will add commentary during the network’s two-week coverage.

Paul Annacone, the legendary former coach of two of tennis’ biggest stars in Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, returns for another year of Australian Open coverage with Tennis Channel.

Tennis Channel’s roster of former players that are a part of its Australian Open coverage team (including Austin from Los Angeles) boast a remarkable collective résumé with 16 Australian Open championships and 74 major titles.

Digital Coverage

New for this year, Tennis Channel will feature expanded digital coverage with exclusive content on www.tennischannel.com and on the network’s social media channels. This content includes additional stories from reporters that will not air on television. Also, fans will have digital-only behind-the-scenes access to the Tennis Channel talent during the tournament.

On Tennis Channel’s digital subscription service, Tennis Channel Plus, fans can catch live Australian Open Qualifiers beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 6 p.m. ET, which includes rising young American Frances Tiafoe. On-demand replays will be available throughout the Australian Open. Tennis Channel Plus is available on the Tennis Channel Everywhere app to all Apple and Android users as well as Amazon Fire, Apple TV and Roku owners, regardless of whether or not they subscribe to Tennis Channel.

Tennis Channel viewers are able to take the Australian Open with them on their mobile devices through the free Tennis Channel Everywhere app. Subscription authentication with select distribution partners enables the app’s TV Everywhere function, and allows fans to tune into the network’s round-the-clock coverage from Melbourne throughout the workday back in the United States.

Tennis Channel’s Australian Open encore match coverage includes same-day replays of the men’s and women’s singles third-round, semifinals and finals as well as the men’s and women’s doubles finals, as follows (ET):

Thursday, Jan. 26 – 6 a.m.-2 p.m.: men’s and women’s semifinals;

6 p.m.-10 p.m.: men’s and women’s semifinals

Friday, Jan. 27 – 6 a.m.-2 p.m.: men’s and women’s semifinals;

6 p.m.- 3 a.m.: men’s semifinal and women’s doubles final

Saturday, Jan. 28 – 11 a.m.-8 p.m.: men’s doubles final and men’s semifinal;

8 p.m.-3 a.m.: women’s final and men’s doubles final

Sunday, Jan. 29 – 6:30 a.m.-9 a.m.: women’s final;

2 p.m.-7 p.m.: women’s final and men’s semifinals

8 p.m.-3 a.m.: men’s final

ESPN Live 2017 Australian Open Schedule

DATE TIME (ET) EVENT NETWORK

Jan. 15 7 p.m. – 7 a.m. First round ESPN 2

Jan. 16 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. First round ESPN 2

Jan. 17 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. Second round ESPN 2

Jan. 18 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. Second round ESPN 2

Jan. 19 11 p.m. – 7 a.m. Third round ESPN 2

Jan. 20 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. Third round ESPN 2

Jan. 21 9 p.m.– 7 a.m. Round of 16 ESPN 2

Jan. 22 9 p.m. – 7 p.m. Round of 16 ESPN 2

Jan. 23 9 p.m. – 7 a.m. Quarterfinals ESPN 2

Jan. 24 3 a.m. – 6 a.m. Quarterfinals ESPN 2

Jan. 24 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. Quarterfinals ESPN 2

Jan. 25 3 a.m. – 6 a.m. Quarterfinals ESPN 2

Jan. 25 9:30 p.m. – 2 a.m. Women’s Semifinal ESPN 2

Jan. 26 3:30 a.m. – 6 a.m. Men’s Semifinal ESPN 2

Jan. 27 3:30 a.m. – 6 a.m. Men’s Semifinal ESPN 2

Jan. 28 3 a.m. – 5:30 a.m. Women’s Final ESPN

Jan. 29 3 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. Men’s Final ESPN

Tennis Channel’s Australian Open Today Schedule (all times ET)

Tennis Channel’s Australian Open Today includes encore match coverage, highlights, interviews and a general review of the activity that took place during the tournament which occurs during the night in America. The show runs daily from Monday, Jan. 16, through Wednesday, Jan. 25, 10 days in total. As the tournament comes to a close the show is replaced with encore semifinal and final matches.

Australian Open Today will air from 7 a.m.-3 p.m., on the tournament’s first Monday, with an encore replay from 3 p.m.-6 p.m. A similar schedule will follow over the next four days, Tuesday, Jan. 17, through Friday, Jan. 20, with the show running from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. On Saturday, Jan. 21, Australian Open Today will appear from 12 p.m.-6 p.m., and on Sunday, Jan. 22, from 1 p.m.-6 p.m. On Monday, Jan. 23, the show will air from 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m., before its last two days, Tuesday, Jan. 24, and Wednesday, Jan. 25, when it will be on from 6 a.m.-3 p.m.