LOS ANGELES, November 27, 2023 — Tennis Channel has appointed Matt Graham to the newly created position of senior vice president, direct-to-consumer and streaming business development. In this role, the veteran television-and-digital executive will spearhead the company’s strategy to make Tennis Channel’s television network available directly to customers (DTC) via a new streaming platform, planned for 2024. Based in the channel’s Los Angeles-area headquarters, he will report to Bill Simon, executive vice president, COO and CFO. Graham will also work closely with President Ken Solomon in the development, launch and evolution of the DTC product.
Offering Tennis Channel to the tens of millions of households that do not subscribe to a pay-TV provider has been a longstanding priority for the network. The company expects that, under Graham’s leadership, next year anyone in the United States will be able to watch – a first for the sport’s 20-year-old on-air home.
“Matt’s decades of experience in the worlds of traditional and evolving media make him unique to guide Tennis Channel’s availability in every American – and then who knows from there?” said Simon. “He’s created successful streaming platforms, programmed them to grow their subscriber base and expanded them into new marketplaces. For years fans have been asking us if there’s a way for them to just buy Tennis Channel, and Matt’s here to make that happen.”
Graham joins Tennis Channel from AMC Networks, where he had served as general manager of its streaming platforms Acorn TV and Sundance Now. Under his watch, Acorn TV won numerous awards – including two Emmy Awards – expanded to more than two-dozen countries and increased its audience 20-fold, becoming North America’s largest streamer specializing in premium British and international television.
Previously he spent six years at PBS Digital, where he founded and led PBS Digital Studios, a groundbreaking web-original programming division aimed at reaching young, diverse audiences through online video content. While there, Graham oversaw the development of more than 30 original digital series that redefined PBS for a new generation.
Winning five Webby awards and a Mashie for best YouTube Brand channel, PBS Digital Studios has gone on to build an audience of more than 25 million subscribers and two billion views.
Graham began his career in advertising as a commercial editor, working for Fortune 500 clients such as Sprint, Chevron, Virgin and Electronic Arts before co-founding Umlaut Films – one of San Francisco’s top film editorial facilities.
After receiving his Bachelor of English from the University of Virginia, Graham went on to earn his MBA from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Tennis Channel (www.tennischannel.com) which is owned by Sinclair Inc., is the only television-based multiplatform destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. The network has the most concentrated single-sport coverage in television in one of the world’s most voluminous sports, with multiple men’s and women’s tournaments and singles, doubles and mixed competition throughout the year. Tennis Channel has rights at the four majors – US Open, Wimbledon, Roland Garros (French Open) and Australian Open – and is the exclusive U.S. home of all men’s ATP World Tour and women’s WTA Tour competitions, Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, and Laver Cup. Direct-to-consumer streaming service Tennis Channel Plus is available to everyone in the United States and allows subscribers to select from another 4,500 live and on-demand matches and award-winning content from short-form to films throughout the tennis season. Tennis Channel International brings live competition and network content to markets in Europe and Asia via digital subscription and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels. Additional platform www.tennis.com is the largest digital outlet dedicated to the sport. Tennis Channel also manages a network of close to 20 podcasts.
About Sinclair, Inc.
Sinclair, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local news and sports. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 86 markets affiliated with all the major broadcast networks; owns Tennis Channel and multicast networks Comet, CHARGE!, TBD and The Nest; and owns and provides services to 21 regional sports network brands. Sinclair’s content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and the nation’s largest streaming aggregator of local news content, NewsON. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net.
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For further information:
Eric Abner, Tennis Channel, 310-314-9445, eabner@tennischannel.com, @TennisChannelPR