DIRECTV continues its run of interactive Grand Slam tennis coverage beginning May 23 with its exclusive French Open Experience, offering tennis fans more than 350 hours of the best of all the clay court action during the first eight days of the tournament at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.
With coverage provided by ESPN2 and The Tennis Channel, DIRECTV’s exclusive French Open Mix channel (701) will return in HD allowing fans to simultaneously view up to six live matches, including the featured match on the Tennis Channel or ESPN2, highlight each cell to listen to the live audio feed, and tune to each match full screen. On each court channel viewers will have instant access to live scores, a look at current and upcoming matches, match results and the men’s and women’s draw.
DIRECTV’s interactive service will be available through May 30 and Draws and Results features will continue to be available on Tennis Channel and ESPN2 during their live broadcasts through the conclusion of the event, Sunday, June 6. More information about the French Open Interactive service is available www.directv.com/frenchopen
The popularity of interactive TV features continues to grow among tennis fans, according to usage data from DIRECTV’s Australian Open Experience broadcast in January. Compared with the prior year, overall viewers were up 32 percent, interactive application users increased more than 29 percent, and application impressions improved by more than 46 percent. Average daily viewing time was more than 106 percent higher among app users over non-app users. Cumulative viewing time was nearly 344 percent higher among app users.
Tennis fans also have access to French Open programming on DIRECTV On Demand. A preview of the event provides a guide to players to watch, current rankings and a variety of other information to enhance fans’ enjoyment of the tournament. During the event, on-demand will feature a program of daily highlights that will include the best rallies and shots of the day and a focus on how featured players are faring in tournament play.
