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Tennis Channel, ESPN Expand BNP Paribas Open Coverage

Two networks will give fans plenty of chances to view action

Site Staff Tennis

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The BNP Paribas Open, the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined two-week event in the world set for March 7-20 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, will feature expansive television coverage on Tennis Channel and the ESPN networks, according to CEO Raymond Moore.

Tennis Channel will begin its coverage of live action March 9 and continue through March 19, with live men’s and women’s quarterfinal and doubles final action. The network’s eight consecutive days of 12-hour telecasts contribute to more than 100 hours of live coverage and 145 hours of encore coverage of the 2016 tournament.

In addition, the popular “Tennis Channel Live” pre-game show will expand from 30 minutes to one hour leading up to live tennis coverage from March 9 through March 20, and be broadcast from a new set in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden Village. Tennis Channel broadcast talent will include James Blake, Brett Haber, Jim Courier, Lindsay Davenport, Tracy Austin, Justin Gimelstob, Paul Annacone, Mary Carillo and Jon Wertheim.

ESPN will expand its coverage of the tournament, and beginning March 17, eight hours of quarterfinal action will be shown on ESPN2. ESPN’s 23 hours of television coverage will include matches Friday and the final weekend of the tournament, including the finals beginning March 20, at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. local time).

In addition to ESPN’s television schedule, the tournament will continue to be available on ESPN3, ESPN's live multi-screen sports network, starting March 9. ESPN3 is a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually via WatchESPN and the ESPN app. In addition, Spanish-language coverage of ATP matches will be streamed on WatchESPN.

In total, more than 400 hours of action from the BNP Paribas Open will be broadcast across ESPN platforms. ESPN’s commentator team will include Chris Fowler, Patrick McEnroe, Brad Gilbert, Chris Evert and Pam Shriver.

As in previous years, TennisTV will stream BNP Paribas Open matches live on its website, www.tennistv.com, and this year coverage will include four additional match courts – for a total of eight – and more than 50 additional matches will be produced. Fans can buy a monthly pass to watch over 180 BNP Paribas Open matches live or on demand, or buy an annual pass to watch the BNP Paribas Open plus up to 2,000 more tennis matches over the next 12 months.