ESPN2 is in the midst of showing taped blowout wins by Serena and Nadal. Obviously they want to show big names, but can’t they do better than that with several interesting matches in progress?
Insider Response:
“The reason they are doing it is because Serena draws higher ratings for ESPN than any other player including Federer, Nadal, Sharapova, Roddick, etc. Serena has drawn a larger audience for ESPN than even Agassi did. So they do it because they know it will spike ratings and then they can show advertisers – during the noon to 1 p.m. hour on Friday – a day when most people traditionally travel for memorial day weekened – ‘Our French Open coverage generated a (fill in the blank) rating…'”
“It’s stupid – they sacrifice audience at the alter of a rating point to throw a crumb to a sponsor.”
(Insider name withheld upon request)
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