Tennis Channel Names Patrick Wilson Senior VP, Distribution
July 13, 2009
LOS ANGELES — Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and passionate tennis lifestyle, today announced the appointment of Patrick Wilson to senior vice president, distribution. Located in the network’s Los Angeles headquarters, the veteran affiliate sales executive will report to Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO, Tennis Channel.
“We’re thrilled to have Patrick on board to lead us through this exciting period of exponential household growth, a time when we now have all four tennis majors in our lineup,” said Solomon. “His distribution track record at multiple well-known television brands as well as his relationships with major cable operators, satellite providers and the phone companies are second to none. We’re very excited to add him to our senior-leadership team and look forward to his immediate impact on our business.”
With more than 25 years of extensive cable television senior management experience, Wilson will focus on adding to Tennis Channel’s rapid distribution rollout during the past four years. Since 2005, the independent network has grown from 3.5 million homes to 25 million, and more than 55 million during major tournaments. Expanding its reach by more than 20 percent in 2008 alone, Tennis Channel is currently in 18 of the top 20 MSOs, with satellite carriage on DIRECTV and DISH, as well as Verizon.
Wilson most recently spent seven years with Lifetime Networks, where he negotiated multi-million dollar affiliation agreements with major distributors and developed initial VOD services. Before this he was vice president, affiliate relations, west, for E! Entertainment Television, and drove sales distribution, marketing and local ad sales for two national cable networks, E! and Style. Prior to E! he directed nationwide sales for FX and Fox Movie Network as senior vice president of affiliate sales and marketing, after having led sales and marketing teams at both The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon/MTV Networks.
Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. A hybrid of comprehensive sports, health, fitness, pop culture, entertainment, lifestyle and travel programming, the network is home to every aspect of the wide-ranging, worldwide tennis community. It also has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television, with telecast rights to the US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open), Australian Open, Olympus US Open Series, ATP Masters Series, top-tier Sony Ericsson WTA Tour championship competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and Hyundai Hopman Cup. Tennis Channel is carried by eight of the top 10 MSOs and has a national footprint via DIRECTV and DISH Network.