The Tennis Channel placed its first cable serve into Iowa.
The 24-hour service dedicated to racquet sports inked a distribution deal, terms of which were not disclosed, with Mediacom Communications Corp. Tennis will launch on the cable operator’s Des Moines system -- which the network said feeds other markets in the state -- April 15.
“People tend to associate tennis with Sun Belt communities in Florida or California, but Mediacom’s decision to make The Tennis Channel available throughout Iowa is just another example of the sport’s widespread appeal from coast to coast,” Tennis senior vice president of distribution Randy Brown said in a prepared statement. “We’re excited to bring our network’s live sports and passionate lifestyle programming into the region.”
On the programming side, Tennis has begun rolling out a series of 20 short segments. Appearing at the 15- and 45-minute marks of each hour, Tennis Shorts tickle the strings of a number of sport-related items, including finding the right equipment, proper warm- up techniques and planning themed vacations.
Tennis introduced the shorts in February with “Match Day Eating” and “Finding a Tennis Partner,” which are sponsored by Sun-Maid Raisins and eHarmony.com Inc. (www.eharmony.com), respectively.
“Tennis Shorts not only provide great takeaway information for viewers who are active in the tennis and fitness lifestyle, but they also give us the opportunity to offer completely sponsorable content to our marketing and advertising partners,” Tennis VP of marketing Faye Walker said in a prepared statement.
