There were a lot of skeptics when TNT took the reins of the U.S. coverage of the French Open (more about the name below). The outlet hadn’t aired tennis since 2003, the incumbent NBC had broadcast from the red clay for nearly half a century, and TNT’s move was viewed as part of a desperate scramble to acquire rights to fill the void left by the loss of the NBA.
But the fortnight in Paris changed that outlook and left many tennis fans wishing TNT could do more tennis. Beyond the solid ratings, studio commentators Andre Agassi and Sam Querrey were breakout stars, and the studio set outside the main stadium became a go-to stop for players (women’s singles champion Coco Gauff appeared four times). TNT’s efforts to mic players and coaches was illuminative, though limited and an area the network needs to work through to get more participants.
Awful Announcing spoke with Craig Barry, Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief content officer and veteran of sports telecasts about why TNT would not call the event the French Open, Andre Agassi’s possible return, and TNT’s coverage compared to the other three Slams. The conversation is edited for clarity and conciseness.
Awful Announcing: How was your first French?
Craig Barry: The thought process was can we create an experience for fans that is kind of more engaging and more fun… I want to be careful, because I’m not saying the older, the coverage before us is bad. I just felt like there was an opportunity to grow and push the sport forward…And whenever you feel like you’ve pushed something a little bit forward, or set the bar, humbly at a Pacific height that you’ve accomplished something that’s pretty special in your career.
Tennis fans loved Andre Agassi’s commentary. Will he be back, will his role expand?
Barry: This was the first time that Andre had done it. And there’s no question his tennis IQ is next level to say the least. He brought a level of analysis that we haven’t seen in the sport. His analysis, philosophy is just so unique and interesting that it’s interesting for the hardcore player, and it’s also interesting for the casual player. Look, this being the first time, I like to think that he had a good time, and he’d like to continue to contribute, but I can’t speak for Andre. He came on the pretense of, ‘I’m going to try this out, and then we’ll kind of see where it goes from here.’
Have you had any follow up discussions with him?
Barry: No; other than thanking him and telling him how special it was having him,
Another top new performer was San Querrey, why did you choose him?
Barry: The truth is John (Tobias) who represents Sam, sent me a bunch of links of him on Tennis Channel, and he was really, decent, like nothing that really stood out to be honest with you. And then I caught his podcast with (John) Isner and I was like, `Oh, this is interesting.’ And then I went to social media, and I saw a bunch of his posts. Some were pickleball posts, some were tennis posts. And there I saw what I would say was the real Sam; kind of really opinionated, outspoken, really great timing, like some comedic timing, and he didn’t take himself so seriously. Was authentic, everything that we believe in from our DNA. And that was all it took.
Going into the French TNT’s plan was to mic coaches during matches and players at practice, but there wasn’t a lot of this.
Barry: That’s regulated by the (French Tennis) Federation. And then you have to go to each player. It’s not like you’re dealing with a players’ union. You’re dealing with each individual player and their ecosystem. And so you’re going to each player individually, and then, of course, you’re going to the Federation and saying, like, “Hey, is it okay if we do this or try this?:
So you have to get an agreement from the Federation, and then go and get an agreement from the player, and specifically the player’s coach. And it took, it kind of took form in different ways. Ben (Shelton) was live on two different instances, Brian, his father (and coach), was live when Ben was playing, and (Darren) Cahill was, we would be live while he’s practicing right where he was practicing with (his client Jannik) Sinner.”
TNT studiously called the event Roland-Garros, which while its formal name, is not what Americans know it as. Were you contractually obligated to do so?
Barry: It is called Roland-Garros.
TNT’s Charles Barkley said calling it Roland-Garros and not the French Open is stupid.
Barry: Domestically, you can call it the French. You got to call it what it is. But if you refer to it as the French Open, I think it’s fine; I reference it as the French Open occasionally, but when you’re presenting it, it is Roland Garros… It’s not a contractual thing.”
Do you want more tennis on TNT?
Barry: We’d love to do more, but, it comes down to rights and availability. I’m sure you’re familiar with the NBA on TNT and NHL and TNT and in, I think, when you talk about what we were the most proud of it felt like it’s a TNT show, right? Like it felt like it had TNT DNA.