It the first time that the events in Monte Carlo (April 14-20), Rome (May 5-11), Hamburg (May 12-18), Madrid (Oct. 13-19) and Paris (Oct. 27-Nov. 2) will be televised in their entirety in the United States. The first three are clay-court tuneups for the French Open.

The men's Masters Series circuit is one notch below the four Grand Slam tournaments.

The 24-hour, ad-supported network, a basic cable service, has deals to be in 38 percent of the country's cable households. It was supposed to launch last fall but now is slated to start early next year.