The Tennis Channel Re-Launches Web Site

The Tennis Channel Re-Launches Web Site



New-look www. TheTennisChannel. com adds tennis lifestyle component, broadband video content, and greater advertising opportunities.



Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) June 27, 2006



The Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to tennis and the healthy, active lifestyle that surrounds it, has re-launched its Web site to provide viewers with an online destination that is easier to navigate and offers significant upgrades. The new look of www. TheTennisChannel. com features a clean, sophisticated design and includes a comprehensive tennis travel section, extensive original broadband video content and expanded advertising space.



Beyond reorganizing along more user-friendly lines, the site introduces passionate lifestyle content that complements similar programming found on The Tennis Channel. Visitors can find local hitting partners, select instructors who best fit their needs and search for tennis courts in both their areas and around the world, among a vast array of other choices.



“This is literally a second network launch for The Tennis Channel,” said Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO, The Tennis Channel. “TheTennisChannel. com gives everyone in the world access to valuable sports and lifestyle information they’re not going to find anywhere else on TV or the Web. At the same time, it demonstrates the wide range of broadband and new media applications for this sport. Tennis, perhaps more than any other sport because of the year-round season, number of players, and simultaneous matches and tournaments, is tailor-made for wide-bandwidth media platforms that can house and facilitate volumes of up-to-the-minute data.”



The site’s unique travel section offers far-reaching tennis-destination material, with advice and contact information on adult tennis and fantasy camps, and more than 50 resort listings. Additionally, a new city guide section gives tennis aficionados details on the finest hotels, restaurants, spas and public courts in some of the best tennis towns on the planet. Paris, Los Angeles and Las Vegas are the segment’s first installments, with guides for London and New York in the works. The travel section also gives visitors the ability to book tournament vacations.



The revamped site also uses Flash video technology, a first for www. TheTennisChannel. com The Tennis Channel created and produced all of the exclusive short-form content in the new video section, programming that focuses on tennis instruction, news, players, tournaments, and health and fitness. Visitors, for instance, can get tips on sun protection while on the court, view demonstrations on how to improve a one-handed backhand or watch news updates on American star Andy Roddick in Rome or Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal after winning his second consecutive French Open.



“We wanted to offer our visitors a site that adds value to their tennis lifestyle experience,” said Lynn Forbes, vice president, Web and new media, The Tennis Channel, who oversaw the site re-launch. “At the same time, we’re driving toward utilizing its tremendous potential as both a community-creating and revenue-generating resource. This re-launch represents the first of many improvements we’re bringing to TheTennisChannel. com and, hopefully, to the tennis world overall.”



Increased advertising opportunities on the re-launched www. TheTennisChannel. com include a wide leaderboard at the top of the site and the ability to run broadband ads.



The site continues to offer in-depth tennis information, with player news and rankings, tournament updates, live scores, rules of the game, and the history of the sport and its events. This is in addition to television programming information that includes The Tennis Channel’s on-air schedule, tournament details, and background on the network’s series, specials and documentary films. Visitors can also enter sweepstakes and sign up for the channel’s electronic newsletter.



The Tennis Channel worked on the re-launch with interactive design agency Digital Media Graphix.



About The Tennis Channel



The Tennis Channel (www. TheTennisChannel. com) is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to tennis and the healthy, active lifestyle that surrounds it. As the most concentrated single-sport network on television, the brand combines comprehensive sports coverage with health, fitness, pop culture, lifestyle and travel programming. Fifty-two week tournament telecast rights include the US Open Series, ATP Masters Series, top-tier WTA Tour championship competitions, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, Fed Cup and Hyundai Hopman Cup, offering compelling coverage of the game’s most dramatic rivalries and energetic personalities.



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