Of all the tennis Grand Slam tournaments, the Wimbledon Championship is the only one whose spectators have never decreased in number despite war interruptions and temporary controversies throughout its history. Since 1937, international fans unable to attend in person have been able to join in eager support of their favorite tennis players at Wimbledon by way of television and/or radio broadcasts.
The Wimbledon Championships were televised for the first time in 1937, on BBC in the United Kingdom. BBC has broadcast the event every year that it has occurred since then, splitting coverage between BBC One and BBC Two and distributing the feed to media outlets all over the world for broadcast in other nations as well. According to a government-issued mandate highlights of the majority of the tournament's events must be provided by stations throughout the championship, and the finals rounds must be broadcast live in their entirety. "Light and Tuneful," composed by Keith Mansfield, has traditionally been the opening music for the Wimbledon Championships on BBC. At its close, the station traditionally plays a song entitled "A Sporting Occasion." In more recent years, however, the closing theme has included a montage of highlights over a popular song, or no musical selection at all.
In July 1967, the Wimbledon Championships were broadcast in color for the first time on BBC2, the nation's only color channel at the time - and in fact became the first color broadcast in the history of the United Kingdom. Since 2007, matches from the Centre Court and Court No. 1 have been broadcast live on BBC HD, in high definition, along with an evening show called Today at Wimbledon which broadcasts highlights from earlier in the day.
Since the United States is between five and eight hours behind the United Kingdom, NBC specials called Breakfast at Wimbledon beginning in the early morning hours has become a yearly tradition for American tennis fans. During the championships, NBC continues broadcasting coverage, commentary, and interviews until late afternoon. On cable, ESPN broadcasts the Wimbledon Championships each year. From 1975-1999, the premium cable channel HBO also broadcast coverage of the championship during weekdays.
In the 1980s-90s, Ireland's RTE broadcast the Wimbledon Championships and evening highlights on its RTE Two channel. However, in 1998, RTE opted to cease broadcasting of the championship on its channels due to decreases in viewership and the realization that many who were watching tournament broadcasts were actually watching on the BBC network. Ireland's Irish language broadcaster has picked up coverage of the tournament since 2005.
Since 1992, during the championship, the All England Club has also broadcast Radio Wimbledon on 87.7 FM, including commentary and music, from its radio station located in the Centre Court building. The station is available to listeners within a five mile radius of (the grounds) as well as to online listeners. Presenters and reporters most often broadcast live from a tall building called the Crow's Nest, from which they have a view of most of the courts outside. Aside from 87.7 FM, the station has also added 96.3 FM as a second low-power frequency, and 97.8 FM to handle coverage from the No. 1 Court. From the opening serve to the presentation of the silver sports award, the Wimbledon tournament is broadcast in all forms.
The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.
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