For years, fans have complained about NBC’s outdated method of showing the premier grass court Slam on TV.  In the old days, which includes this year, NBC felt it was much more important to show the event when they wanted to show the event, and not live.  Even as fans clamored for Wimbledon to be shown live, NBC raised a deaf year.  This year, in particular, the second men’s semifinals was shown at noon in the US, and that’s noon regardless of which timezone you were in.  East coast fans were lucky that the previous semifinals finished late enough that only a few games had been played when NBC went on the air at noon and decided to show the event live.

ESPN had already been carrying mid-week coverage with Tennis Channel doing replays later in the evening.  Now, they will be able to carry first and final weekend coverage.

The French Open will still be carried by NBC (although there is a similar arrangement for ESPN to carry non-weekends).