DIRECTV Serves up French Open Experience
May 19, 2011
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — This year, tennis fans can start early and stay late for more French Open TV coverage than ever before with DIRECTV’s expanded French Open Experience – an exclusive, interactive service that takes the viewer deep into grand slam tournament action with six court channels, an immersive interactive application and now two extra days of late round coverage of one of tennis’ most prestigious events. The action begins May 22 on the clay courts of the Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
“With the French Open Experience we are creating viewing opportunities for tennis fans that no one can match.”
Teaming up with Tennis Channel and ESPN, DIRECTV is offering the service, with its early round bonus coverage, trademark HD Mix channel and interactive menu features, free of charge to its customers. The French Open will also be available in 3D on DIRECTV’s exclusive 3D channel n3D™, powered by Panasonic (channel 103), airing May 28-30 from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET. For more details on the French Open Experience visit: www.directv.com/frenchopen.
“We are proud to once again serve tennis fans with an even more comprehensive product,” said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development for DIRECTV. “With the French Open Experience we are creating viewing opportunities for tennis fans that no one can match.”
Including the main network feed, the French Open Mix channel (701) will display five additional outer-court channels in HD that can be viewed simultaneously or selected for full-screen viewing. On each channel, at the touch of the remote button, viewers will enjoy access to interactive menu features that include:
“Match Guide” – Offers scores of matches in progress and upcoming matches.
“Recent Results” – Shows match results in real time, along with the day and time of upcoming matches.
“Women’s and Men’s Draw” – Provides a complete round-by-round chart of the tournament showing scores and who’s in and who’s out.
For the last three days of French Open Experience coverage (May 29-31), the Mix channel will change from six to four channels and each channel will be enlarged on the screen to enhance the viewing experience.
This is the fourth year that DIRECTV has offered extensive interactive coverage of the French Open. Once again, DIRECTV will offer expanded coverage and interactive applications for all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments this season.
About DIRECTV
DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is the world’s largest pay TV provider delivering the premiere video experience through state-of-the-art technology, unmatched programming and industry leading customer service to more than 28.9 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. In the U.S., DIRECTV offers its 19.4 million customers access to more than 170 HD channels and Dolby-Digital® 5.1 theater-quality sound (when available), access to exclusive sports programming such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET™, award winning technology like its DIRECTV® DVR Scheduler and higher customer satisfaction than the leading cable companies for ten years running. DIRECTV Latin America, through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and other Latin American countries, leads the pay-TV category in technology, programming and service, delivering an unrivaled digital television experience to 9.5 million customers. DIRECTV sports and entertainment properties include three Regional Sports Networks (Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Pittsburgh) as well as a 60 percent interest in Game Show Network. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please call 1-800-DIRECTV or visit directv.com.