At a time when many cable networks examine how to keep their status in a multichannel operator's bundle, Tennis Channel is rounding the turn from one calendar cycle to the next in relatively grand shape. The programming service devoted to tennis and similar pastimes using a racquet was available to 37 million subscribers when Sinclair Broadcast Group assumed ownership on March 1, 2016. Three months later, 10 million more cable and satellite customers came aboard. As the rare network devoted to one sport or group of sports managed by a top owner of TV stations -- Sinclair being the biggest station owner nationwide -- Tennis Channel will end 2016 with around 50 million subscribers and expects to reach 60 million or more next summer, on or near par with the rest of its single-sport rivals.
For Sinclair, Acquisition of Tennis Channel is Game, Set, Match
