BNP Paribas Open Announces Broadcast Schedule
Tennis Channel and ESPN to Combine for 120+ Hours of Live Coverage;
ABC to Feature Coverage on Final Saturday
INDIAN WELLS, Calif., February 27, 2019 – The BNP Paribas Open, the largest ATP Tour and WTA combined two-week event in the world to be held March 4-17 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, will feature expansive television coverage on Tennis Channel and ESPN networks, with more than 120 total hours of live action.
Tennis Channel will begin its broadcast on Tuesday, March 5 with a full day of coverage of the ATP Tour Qualifying Round, followed by live coverage of the first-ever Eisenhower Cup presented by Masimo, a special one-night charity event headlined by World No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Live coverage of the BNP Paribas Open will continue through Saturday, March 16 with men’s and women’s doubles final action. In addition, the popular “Tennis Channel Live at the BNP Paribas Open” will be broadcast daily from a studio in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden Village, beginning Wednesday March 6 through Thursday, March 14 for a full 60 minutes of commentary and analysis prior to live tennis coverage. Tennis Channel broadcast talent for the BNP Paribas Open will include Mary Carillo, Ted Robinson, Brett Haber, Steve Weissman, Jim Courier, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Navratilova, Paul Annacone, Tracy Austin, Chanda Rubin, Leif Shiras, Jon Wertheim and Prakash Amritraj.
ESPN’s first-ball-to-last ball coverage across TV and on the ESPN app of the BNP Paribas Open will begin Wednesday, March 6. ESPN3 on the ESPN app will offer more matches and hours of competition than ever before, with fans having access to up to nine courts simultaneously (one more than last year) and a total of more than 600 hours, featuring all ATP Tour and WTA matches not on an ESPN TV network. Action on TV totaling 25 hours will commence earlier than ever before, beginning on ESPNEWS on Wednesday, March 13 with coverage of the women’s quarterfinals and the men’s Round of 16 live from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The men’s and women’s quarterfinals will air on ESPNEWS on Thursday, March 14, with coverage of the men’s quarterfinals wrapping up on Friday, March 15 on ESPN2, along with one of the women’s semifinals. Both men’s semifinals will be broadcast live on ABC on Saturday, March 16. The championship matches on ESPN2 will begin at 1:00 pm local time (4:00 pm ET) on Sunday, March 17. Chris Fowler will lead ESPN’s on-air team, joined by Darren Cahill, Chrissie Evert, Mary Joe Fernandez and Patrick McEnroe.
Additionally, ATP Tour, WTA and Tennis Channel will offer live streaming of all main draw singles matches from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
