America shut out from French Open television coverage

2009-11-06T10:20:16-05:00

2009-06-05T16:34:21-04:00

2009-06-05T16:34:20-04:00

2009-07-02T00:20:05-04:00

ryanh

New York 804944

31 If your unhappy about this please sign my petition against NBC for not playing the matches live. http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/nonbctennis/ 5949091

2009-06-09T20:11:06-04:00

Tennis-Fan

Tampa 792418

30 It's even worse than this story. NBC actually BLACKED-OUT mid- Sunday coverage (the Nadal upset) due to their ongoing feud with some of their affiliates. Last year, my NBC affiliate broadcast the mid-Sunday tennis on their DTV HD sub-channel. But this year, NBC denied them the right to that broadcast. Think about it - it's like you drive on a congested road, a second lane is built, but it goes unused because everyone insists on driving in the old lane.... 5689078

2009-06-08T17:13:03-04:00

GlennTN

Nashville 578339

29 My NBC affilliate didn't even broadcast the Soderling-Gonzalez match. Tennis coverage on TV has come a long way recently, except for NBC's weekday coverage of the French Open (men's SF) and Wimbledon, where they're going to screw up the second week for anyone who doesn't live in ET. 5674664

2009-06-07T23:23:13-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/952/44/thumb/USA3-2T.jpg 2945

U.S.M.N.T.

Marianas Trench 95544

28 Someone actually cared enough to try and watch tennis? Tennis hasn't been relevant in the U.S. since Borg/Connors/McEnroe/Lendl. 5664788

2009-06-06T06:14:39-04:00

GRAtl

Atlanta 790265

24 Taking a day off work is a big deal for me (don't get many!). I won't do it again if it NBC owns the tennis for the day. There are no words for how frustrating it was yesterday, meeting with friends to enjoy a long day of tennis, and then seeing one tape-delayed match, and nothing else. Awful 5656779

2009-06-06T03:52:53-04:00

Steve1973

Tucson 790244

23 NBC is so lame. Dedicated fans want to watch these things live, and not showing the Federer/Soderling match is yet another insult. Don't they have a clue that if they're not going to step up, people will find ways to view or listen elsewhere, namely online? Hey NBC, do us Americans a service, and show major world tournaments LIVE like the rest of the planet. 5656592

2009-06-06T00:23:54-04:00

FrankNac

No City 790185

22 I was so angry this morning - I didn't know what time the coverage was, but I figured it was on some channel...I took off from work and was flipping around to see where the match was...I couldn't believe it wasn't on TV!!! I tried the live feed from tennis.com, but somehow couldn't get that to work either...SO SO FRUSTRATING - what absolute inconsideration for tennis fans...absolutely selfish...and it ended up being a great, great match...thanks for nothing, NBC! 5655835

2009-06-05T23:50:57-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/789/413/thumb/rogerkiss.png 1 TX

JFKTx

Austin 790073

21 Who does NBC think they are? Even NBC sports updates the scores live! TV is behind the internet once again! NBC just pissed off all the tennis fans living in America. Why the hail do I want to watch the Today Show when there are 2 back to back 5 setters going on? Nevermind that Roger Federer, who is 2 matches away from becoming the Greatest of All time is playing. Thanks for nothing NBC. Next time, give the rights to a channel who is capable of showing the matches LIVE. 5655534

2009-06-05T23:38:05-04:00

Madhu K

Indianapolis 790209

20 How can you do this to the sport for more than 20 yrs? No wonder there's none from the US at the FO. How will anyone get inspired if all they get to see is your stale soap instead of epic Tennis matches ? 5655433

2009-06-05T23:34:53-04:00

Madhu K

Indianapolis 790209

19 People, if you haven't realized, NBC has been doing this every year (esp for French Open Men's Semis). So, I don't think, anything will change next year. What a shame ! NBC - Nothing But Cr+ap ! 5655461

By Richard Deitsch, SI.com It was a rough day for American tennis fans. As the rest of the world watched Roger Federer edge closer to his first French Open title -- the Swiss star survived a tough five-set tussle against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina -- here in the States tennis aficionados were left searching for (pirated) streaming international video feeds or radio coverage (quite good, actually) from the Roland Garros official site. Why wasn't the match shown in the States? NBC's contract with the tournament allows them to air one of the semifinals. On Thursday the network opted to air the first semifinal, giving them an exclusive time window between 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. EST. (The network does not own the cable or digital rights to the tournament.) NBC then aired the match featuring 23rd-ranked Robin Soderling defeating No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez. An NBC Sports spokesperson said that if the Soderling-Gonzalez match had ended before they came on the air, they would have aired the Federer match because the Tennis Channel had agreed to let them broadcast the match live. The Tennis Channel owns tape-delayed rights to that semifinal beginning at 4 p.m. (you can watch the Federer-del Potro match there.) "I think we'll look at ways to make this work next year," said an NBC spokesperson. What do you think? Did tennis get a raw deal today? 66581

The SI Staff

New York City 21244