AMERICAN TV NEEDS MORE SPICE

ESPN blowing Aussie Open coverage

To: Head Honchos at ESPN

From: Tom A. McFerson, Tennis Fan

Re: Australian Open Tennis Coverage

To Whom It May Concern:

After carefully watching your coverage of the first five days of the Australian Open, I believe I speak for the entire American tennis viewing community when I say:
You’re blowing it.

I’m not in Melbourne this year, so what you televise is the sum total of my '04 Aussie experience. And I have to say, and this is said with all due respect, you’ve managed to take one of the great events in all of sports and turn it into one gigantic bore.

You’ve also managed, after five days of coverage, to take a loyal fan base – viewers who have been starved for tennis for two months – and make them angry and hostile.

And finally, you’ve managed to take your top-notch broadcasting crew (even without Jim Courier – a mistake not hiring him back, by the way) and let them cruelly twist in the wind, trying to make a blowout match seem interesting.

Not seeing where I’m coming from? Disagree? Some examples of what I’m talking about:
Why, may I ask, with Guga in a steel-caged death match against John Van Lottum (winning 8-6 in the fifth), do you never stray from center court? Showing us game after excruciating game of Justine Henin-Hardenne’s blow-out first round win?

Why, with Taylor Dent clawing his was to a five set, second round victory, are we stuck watching virtually every point of Agassi’s obliteration of some Czech teen?

Why, after Cecil Mamiit is forced to retire at the end of the second set against Hewitt, do you decide to show us the second set yet again?

I could go on and on, but since this letter is meant to be constructive, let me offer some advice instead. These are simple changes, but would have a profound effect on a viewer’s pleasure:

• Feel free to move around to other courts. On Monday, there were more then sixty matches played at Melbourne Park. ESPN showed, by my count, only five – and two were blow outs. Everyone understands Agassi attracts viewers, but tennis is tennis and a great match is a great match. Chances are you won’t lose viewers if you cut away to watch a bit of Todd Martin gutting his way back from two sets down.

• Give another country a chance. A casual fan, judging from the coverage so far, might think this tournament is for Americans only. That’s a slight exaggeration, but the airtime has definitely been American-heavy. Players from other countries play pretty good tennis, too. Give them a chance. (Hint: Tim Henman versus Guillermo Cañas is a good place to start).

• Get creative. After his second round win, Todd Martin said that the serve of Ivo Karlovic, his opponent, was truly phenomenal. Like nothing else on the tour. That should have sparked an idea: Maybe we could show the viewers this serve! Have Patrick McEnroe analyze why it is so great! Those are the kind of tidbits that keep viewers and tennis fans coming back for more.

Just few ideas for you to ponder. The good news is that you have time to correct things. Take a few chances and give us viewers some credit. Even if Agassi or Roddick or Williams isn’t on the screen, trust me, we’ll still be watching.