Fledgling Tennis Channel Gains Momentum

The Tennis Channel was only an idea 2 1/2 years ago, and some thought it was a harebrained one.

Sure, the Golf Channel has enjoyed moderate success since its inception nearly eight years ago. But a tennis channel?

Today, a week before the start of Wimbledon, the Tennis Channel takes a big step toward becoming a reality before the end of the year.

Although no launch date has been set, the Tennis Channel and Time Warner Cable are announcing that they have entered into an unprecedented 15-year affiliation agreement. No financial aspects of the deal were announced.

David Meister, chairman and CEO of the Tennis Channel, said the agreement is important because he now expects other major cable operators to follow suit and soon be jumping on board.

DirecTV is also a possibility, but probably further down the road because it is in the midst of a proposed merger with EchoStar.

“But the most important aspect of our agreement with Time Warner Cable is that it gives us credibility with potential sponsors,” Meister said.

Time Warner Cable, the country’s second-largest multiple-system operator, reaches 12.8 million homes.

Meister said the cable company plans to put the Tennis Channel on a special digital “sports tier,” which would include other sports channels such as the Golf Channel and the Speed Channel.

Other channel owners, such as Fox, have resisted such an arrangement, believing a pay sports tier would lessen the number of viewers, thus adversely affecting ad rates.

“We believe the people who are going to be watching the Tennis Channel will spend the couple of bucks a month it will cost for a sports tier,” Meister said. “So we don’t believe that will hurt our viewing audience.”

Meister said the length of the contract evolved during negotiations.

“It just kept getting longer and longer,” he said. “I think what Time Warner’s concern was that we wouldn’t be coming back to them after three years, or five years, and say we need more money. Then they would have to pass that cost on to their customers.

“The length of the contract guarantees them that we will show financial responsibility.”

The Tennis Channel, which is headquartered in Santa Monica, provides Time Warner Cable with a vehicle for getting more of its customers to switch to digital cable.

“The Tennis Channel is just the type of network we’re looking for as we expand our consumer offering,” said Fred Dressler, Time Warner Cable executive vice president. “It’s a compelling concept, based on the proven appeal of tennis.”

The Tennis Channel is the brainchild of Meister and Steve Bellamy, an energetic tennis teacher and entrepreneur.

Bellamy, the Tennis Channel president, is best known for renovating the Palisades Tennis Center, where his pupils have included actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Goldie Hawn, Hilary Swank and Sally Field.

Meister is an experienced television executive, having been a top executive at HBO Sports in its infancy and having launched Cinemax.

Bellamy and Meister met at a holiday gathering in 1999, and not long afterward began working nonstop on getting the Tennis Channel up and running.

The lead investor is Frank Biondi, former head of Viacom. A number of other former Viacom executives also have put up money, and so has Pete Sampras.

It generally costs about $100 million to launch a channel, but the Tennis Channel has found ways to cut costs. It made an arrangement for Comedy Central to line up affiliates and made another arrangement with Sports Marketing Partners to handle ad sales and marketing.

These deals, industry sources say, will save the Tennis Channel millions of dollars that it would have cost to hire full-time people.

The channel will devote 40% of its content to live, early-round tournament play, 40% to instruction, resorts and equipment, and 20% to tennis news and player profiles.

“Our main goal is to serve this country’s 70 million tennis enthusiasts,” Bellamy said. “Tennis is the most underserved sport on television--by far. And when it’s on, you never know where to look. Tennis is on 14 different channels right now.

“Tennis is a great sport. It just hasn’t been presented well by television.”

One exception is Wimbledon. This year, in addition to 37 1/2 hours of coverage on NBC, TNT will offer 86 1/2 hours, with another 28 on CNN-FN.

The Tennis Channel has been well-endorsed by the tennis world. Its 18-member advisory board is made up of some of the biggest names in the sport, including Billie Jean King, Brad Gilbert and ATP board member Charlie Pasarell.

“Tennis fans are the most passionate in the world and will be ravenous to get this network,” King said. “It is something I am passionate about and something that is long overdue.”

Said Pasarell: “I will do anything to support these guys. I have known Frank Biondi for years and understand that he does not fail at anything. Combined with Steve Bellamy’s love for tennis and the management team they have, the Tennis Channel is sure to be a reality.”