Tennis Australia has announced an extension to its partnership with Japanese broadcaster Wowow which looks to strengthen its coverage of the Australian Open (AO) to more viewers in Japan.
From January 2022, the broadcaster is expanding its viewership with more than 14 hours a day of the AO on its linear sports channels, and for the first time, the company will live stream matches from all 16 broadcast courts – including AO lead-in events.
“We are delighted to extend our agreement with Wowow, one of our most long-standing broadcasters, as we celebrate 30 years of partnership,” Australian Open Tournament Director, Craig Tiley, noted.
“Our fans in Japan treat the Australian Open as their ‘home’ slam, and with Wowow’s innovation and commitment to their most comprehensive coverage ever of the AO, our Japanese fans will be able to follow the action from every court in January.”
Wowow is celebrating its 30th anniversary of partnership with Tennis Australia, and this year, the enterprise launched a new service called Wowow Tennis World from AO 2021 in a bid to ‘offer more fun’ to fans.
The platform’s President and CEO, Akira Tanaka, expressed her gratitude for the long-term partnership, adding: “In the past, we have broadcast many historic moments from the AO that brought huge excitement to Japanese tennis fans.
“In 1994, Kimiko Date, who is currently working with us as an Ambassador, reached the women’s singles semifinals, and in 2012, Kei Nishikori proceeded to the quarterfinals as the first Japanese men’s singles player in 80 years.”
Furthermore, the Australian Open will be the first Grand Slam that Wowow has broadcast with all matches live via its Wowow On Demand and Wowow Tennis World platforms.
“We will continue to provide services to convey the fascination, excitement and emotion the players create, through our new initiatives, and with the support of Tennis Australia, that should help raise the level of tennis culture in Japan,” Tanaka added.
