Written by Richard Pagliaro | @Itenisi_Manje | Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Photo credit: Fred Mullane of Tennis Channel Facebook
The tennis channel has become a familiar face as its new leader.
Bill Simon has been named interim TC President, Tennis Channel announced today.
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Simon joined the network as CFO in 2005 and has served in various roles for Tennis Channel in recent years.
Here is the Tennis Channel announcement released this afternoon:
Sinclair, Inc. named Bill Simon of the Tennis Channel as interim president of the network. Simon has been in senior leadership positions since joining the channel as CFO in 2005, in recent years serving as EVP, COO and CFO. He has been directly involved in key decisions that have guided the network over the past two decades and will oversee all aspects of its business.
Simon takes over three weeks after TC’s parent company, Sinclair, sacked its long-serving chief executive Ken Solomon.
Sinclair fired Solomon from the position of a member of the board of advisors of Dr. Phil McGraw of Merit Street Media, according to the report. Wall Street Journal report earlier this month.
The Journal reported that Sinclair executives saw Solomon’s work with Dr. Phil as a “growing distraction.”
Meanwhile, sources close to Solomon say he served in similar roles as advisory board members during his tenure at TC and it did not become a problem until Sinclair began looking for a cause of action.
The tennis channel grew in viewership during Solomon’s reign, although it has not been profitable since its founding under the founder. Steve Bellamy.
Media giant Sinclair is reportedly trying to launch the Tennis Channel and firing Solomon may be part of its plan to fix the sale.
However, in conversation no interview with SportsBusiness Journal Sinclair COO Rob Weisbord downplayed Solomon’s role over the past 18 months, saying that Simon and the executive team ran TC’s day-to-day operations while Simon was “the spokesperson for the network.”
Weisbord told SportsBusiness Journal that while Solomon was “the face of the network” the executive team actually owned the network. Weisbord said Simon’s senior management team, Senior Vice President of Production Bob Whyley, Senior Vice President David Edges, Senior Vice President of International Programming Andy Reif, Senior Vice President of Sports Sales Irv Schulman and Vice President of Marketing Christina Tesauro have been driving this program. network, suggesting that Solomon’s role has diminished over the past year and a half.
“When Sinclair writes a check to an employee, we expect them to be 100% focused on what we’re paying them and not on many other things,” said Weisbord. “We have to focus on the assets we have.
“Ken was the face of the Tennis Channel, but it takes a village to run a network.”
Sinclair COO Weisbord also told Sports Business Journal that the company has “never said publicly” that the tennis channel is for sale.
Despite that statement, Sinclair is reportedly looking to sell TC, which launched its PickleballTV last year in an effort to capitalize on the growth of local soccer.
“We had some questions. “If we can find an acceptable price for any property, we’re always open to looking at it,” Weisbord said. “Right now, we’re not focused on the sale – if that happens, great – but we’re focused on the fact that we own this project and that we’re really committed to the growth of tennis.”
Weisbord also pointed out that Tennis Channel International is now available in eight countries and Sinclair sees that as a source of potential international growth, although none of those eight markets are as large as the United States.
Back in 2016 Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired Tennis Channel for $350 million.
Three months before that 2016 sale, the Wall Street Journal reported that the majority owners of the Tennis Channel, Apollo Global Management, Bain Capital Ventures, Battery Ventures, CCMP Capital and Columbia Capital, were in talks to sell Sinclair for a price costing “north of $500 million.”
Although the final price was far short of that, Sinclair provided the Tennis Channel with a much larger media platform.
When Sinclair bought TC, the actor envisioned more exposure and sales opportunities across multiple platforms that would generate increased ad revenue for both Tennis Channel and Tennis Channel Plus, the network’s subscription-based channel.
“In Sinclair we have found the perfect ownership partner to accelerate the growth of Tennis Channel’s brand and fan base of our sport to the next level,” former Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon said in a 2016 statement. “The unique size and position of Sinclair’s media ecosystem will facilitate significant distribution growth to match our competitive set and expand our brand assets and unique value as a destination for all things tennis in the US and beyond.”
The tennis channel has also enjoyed an influx of advertising dollars from betting properties, although some viewers are frustrated by TC’s repeated claims that feed issues are shown before and during matches as an annoying distraction that puts gamblers ahead of real tennis fans.
Launched on May 15, 2003 by founder Steve Bellamy, Tennis Channel has added health and fitness programming, travel and pop culture to its tennis coverage in an attempt to expand viewership without alienating the core audience that comes to TC to watch tennis.
