News

LOS ANGELES — Tennis Channel and Armstrong have reached a multiyear carriage agreement in time for this year’s Wimbledon competition, which began today in London. Patrick Wilson, senior vice president, distribution, Tennis Channel, and Jeff Ross, President, Armstrong, announced the partnership and launch.

Armstrong has started rolling out Tennis Channel in a number of markets, including Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Youngstown, Ohio, with the company’s entire customer footprint across five states expected to have access to the network by later this year. Tennis Channel, with a year-round lineup that includes Wimbledon, the US Open, French Open and Australian Open, as well as Davis Cup, Fed Cup and the men’s and women’s year-end championships, is available on Armstrong’s widely distributed Variety Pack and HD Advantage package.

As part of the launch, Armstrong is offering its customers TV Everywhere access to Tennis Channel at no additional charge. Authenticated Variety Pack and HD subscribers will be able to watch the network’s linear coverage stream away from home on a variety of platforms including smartphones, tablets and computers – from anywhere in the United States. TV Everywhere access is expected to be fully available to all Armstrong Tennis Channel subscribers later in July.

“We’re happy that Armstrong subscribers can watch Tennis Channel again for the first time in three years, and that this launch comes on the eve of Wimbledon,” said Wilson. “Tennis Channel shows more than 85 percent of the live tennis on U.S. television today, and fans are going to enjoy being able to watch this year-round coverage wherever they want with TV Everywhere.”

“Tennis Channel does a fabulous job of covering every aspect of the sport. We are pleased to add Tennis Channel back into our programming lineup,” said Ross.

During the two-week Wimbledon competition – the sport’s oldest of the four major Grand Slam events and the most prestigious grass-court tournament in the world – Tennis Channel will dedicate close to 215 hours of coverage via its Wimbledon Primetime. Hosted by Bill Macatee, the three-and-a-half-hour show offers a nightly encapsulation of everything that takes place each day at the hallowed All England Lawn and Tennis Club. Tennis Channel’s on-air team includes current Hall of Famers Martina Navratilova and Jim Courier, as well as Lindsay Davenport, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer.

Armstrong has carried Tennis Channel in the past, as part of the network’s initial National Cable Television Cooperative agreement.