TDF: John, you're part of NBC's Wimbledon coverage, and they showed a lot of tape-delayed matches they embargoed, that weren't available anywhere else live on American TV. Do you think, in this age of instant updates, Twitter, and up-to-the-minute news, there's still a place for tape delay sports broadcasts?
John McEnroe: "Well...that's a question that requires more than a two sentence answer. But I think that NBC has been part of Wimbledon for, I believe, 41 years. And, in a lot of ways, the success when they started showing it live--you weren't born when they were not showing the finals live, or before they had 'Breakfast at Wimbledon.' When you used to only hear it on the radio.
"So now, all the sudden, people are wondering why it's not on Twitter. You wanna watch it on Twitter? I think that you should keep a little perspective, because NBC pays a lot of money for the rights, which helps a lot of different things, including the players.
"And I believe that some of these matches are streamed online live, so if you choose to, if you insist on seeing a match live, or getting the score, you are capable of doing that, just as a lot of other networks provide that same situation.
"So, I wouldn't frame it in what appeared to be a somewhat negative light. Because there's a lot of people--I know working with them that they did as much as they possibly could live. Because, of course, all of us want to do it that way. The producers wants to, I want to--it's more fun that way, there's no question about it."
--On this day on which ESPN2 is showing both US Open Series finals on tape delay, I thought this quote from John McEnroe at a WTT press conference could be of interest to people.
over 1 year ago
Ben Rothenberg
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He just doesn’t get it. NBC, and ESPN to some extent, need to get with the times. And the tournament organizers need to work with them on that.
Wimbledon must “get with the times”. That’s a good one!
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by Bruce Peter on Aug 17, 2010 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions





