ITV gets French Open rights

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has won free-to-air rights to the French Open tennis championships.

ITV has struck a three-year deal with the Fédération Française de Tennis, brokered by MP & Silva, under which it will broadcast live coverage from the Roland Garros tennis Grand Slam throughout the 15-day tournament. ITV4 and ITV.com will broadcast around six hours of live coverage from each day’s play as well as highlights, with four matches, including both the men’s and ladies’ singles finals, also shown live on ITV1.

The deal marks the first time ITV has won rights to a grand slam tennis tournament.

Pay TV rights to the tournament are currently held by Eurosport, with a new deal pending.