ServusTV sports director Christian Nehiba - Even more tennis, even more Dominic Thiem
For the first time in the history of the Erste Bank Open, ServusTV, a private TV broadcaster, will act as host broadcaster. We spoke to head of sport Christian Nehiba .
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Oct 21, 2020, 08:09 am
tennisnet : Mr. Nehiba. Some will remember: Kitzbühel, Generali Open 2018, talk in the hangar live. It was like the starting shot for tennis on ServusTV. How has it developed since then?
Christian Nehiba: Well, since that personal moment for me, when I was allowed to stand on the pitch with Dominic Thiem and hit a few balls in my very first show for ServusTV, tennis has developed dramatically in our company over the past two years. The first step was for Dominic Thiem to become a Red Bull athlete. The second step was to tie him to ServusTV. And to tell his story across almost every chapter throughout the year. We have had many highlights with him in the last two years, starting with his first 1000 victory in Indian Wells, through his first home win in Kitzbühel last year to his absolute culmination: his first final at the Australian Open and now the triumph at the US Open. We have had many great moments with Austria's number one. Tennis is a little bit my baby at ServusTV, so of course I'm particularly happy.
tennisnet : As you know , there were now some access restrictions at the US Open. How did ServusTV capture Dominic Thiem's first major win?
Nehiba : You are right. We couldn't be there, but of course that affected all TV stations except the host broadcaster. So it wasn't that easy to get close to Dominic. But we got interviews from him before and after the game. And, I can already reveal that with regard to the second part of the documentary "Der Thiem Spirit", with his grandparents, followed the grand finale with them. That will also be one of the big highlights of this documentary.
tennisnet : With the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, the next highlight is coming up on Monday, it is not yet clear whether with or without a spectator. You are the first time host broadcaster. What does that mean for ServusTV?
Nehiba : I assume that the audience will be allowed. according to the government's decision on Monday, it will be 1,000. I am happy about every fan who is on site in the town hall. The French Open also showed that: 1,000 spectators can create a good atmosphere. And that will also come across the screen. But yes: It will be the first time in 46 years of this tournament that the public service broadcaster is not the host broadcaster. But with ServusTV a private broadcaster. This is still a very special challenge for us. In a 500 tournament, the effort is very high, with 21 cameras on the center court alone in a dimension that has never been seen before. But that is also our aim: if we do something, we do it intelligently. Tennis will be presented to fans in a new way. From the production side. But we are also very well positioned in the editorial office with a team that loves and lives tennis: starting with Babsi Schett, who will moderate with Christian Beyer; then with Alex Antonitsch, who will comment with me. We have Stefan Koubek as an additional expert. We are well positioned in terms of competence, but above all in terms of charm. And we are very happy, even if Corona tarnishes the entire picture of sport.
tennisnet : What will the broadcast schedule for the Erste Bank Open 2020 look like on ServusTV?
Nehiba : We are the main licensee. The fact is that all the games in the tournament are played on ServusTV or servustv.com. And all of Dominic Thiem's games can only be seen here. The weekend is with us too. We can choose the semifinals, if we should hopefully have one with Dominic Thiem, we'll split the second. the final can then be seen live exclusively on ServusTV. During the week, the afternoon games can be seen exclusively here, the evening games digitally.
tennisnet : When we talked about a starting shot in Kitzbühel at the beginning, we ended up with the question: Where can we go with tennis on ServusTV?
Nehiba : At the moment you have to say: ServusTV is a full program. We are a broadcaster in which sport plays a large and important role. But as long as we don't have a special interest TV channel - and that's not the case - this kind of coverage of the big tournaments is actually perfect for us. That we broadcast the top game every day, that it is guaranteed that we have all Dominic Thiem's games, that we have semi-finals and finals - that is the first point. The second is that, of course, we would like to have all the big tournaments. And after all, out of four we already have two on our station. That is most gratifying. We want to have Dominic Thiem even more on our channel and bet even more on tennis. It is not yet possible to say exactly what that will look like. There are too many broadcasters in the pay and digital sectors that are interested in tennis. Because the product tennis has become very important with the rise of Dominic Thiem. Tennis is booming in Austria. That also makes the rights more desirable again. The bottom line, however, is that this year we have the two Austrian tournaments in Kitzbühel and Vienna, plus the Australian and US Open. You can live with that.