Tennis commentator:

“Every match, no matter how boring, has a story”

Christian Nehiba is not only Head of Sport at ServusTV, he also commentates on matches.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

ServusTV broadcasts the matches of the Generali Open from Kitzbühel every day. Head of sports and commentator Christian Nehiba explains what is important and what challenges make the job in the commentary booth exciting. 

What the "Kronen Zeitung" is to the Generali Open in print, ServusTV is to TV: the main media partner. The channel will broadcast all matches from the main competition onwards - between 11am and 6pm. That's seven hours of live coverage, but it also means that if a match is not finished by 6 p.m., the TV broadcast will be interrupted and shown on the ServusTV online page.

"That's because we're simply not a sports channel," explains Christian Nehiba, Head of Sport and commentator at ServusTV, "the masses want to watch the news at 6pm, and that's a good thing."

We're doing Kitzbühel for the sixth time. I'm incredibly happy with the team, we're a tennis family.

Christian Nehiba, Sportchef und Kommentator bei Servus TV

"If the climate is right, you put up with extra miles"
Preparations for the tennis tournament in Kitzbühel start months in advance for the almost 50-strong production and editorial team. "We're doing Kitzbühel for the sixth time. I am incredibly happy with the team, we are a tennis family. The most important thing is that the working atmosphere is right, because then you are happy to put up with extra miles - up to twelve-hour days, for example," says Nehiba.

The station broadcasts the tennis matches from Kitzbühel for seven hours at a time, with almost 50 employees on site.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Videos, social media and statistics for preparation
He also works as a commentator in Kitzbühel. The challenge? "You have to know what you're talking about and follow the tennis scene all year round," says Nehiba, "the actual preparation for the matches starts the day before. I watch videos of the players on YouTube, keep an eye on their social media presence and organize the ATP statistics. I then go into the match with one A4 page per player." Compared to soccer, this is easy in tennis because you only have to concentrate on two athletes.

In principle, his credo is: "Sport is entertainment and emotion, and everyone in my team conveys that to the outside world. Because every match, no matter how boring, has its story and every player has their themes." The commentator's work is made easier by the experts - in the case of ServusTV, these are tournament director Alex Antonitsch and former tennis pros Barbara Schett and Stefan Koubek. Discussions with the coaches are also part of the preparation.

The more successful the Austrian athletes are, the more satisfied the viewers are with the commentators and experts.

Christian Nehiba, Sportchef und Kommentator bei Servus TV

"These are the moments we can score points with"
According to Nehiba, commentating always means improvising at the same time. "If a match is interrupted due to bad weather - and that can happen several times per match - we always need a replacement program. Of course, this challenges us, but these are also the moments where we can score points - because we can show how flexible we really are and, for example, bring good guests who are on site into the program as interview partners," says the head of sport.

There is another interesting aspect to the role. "The more successful the Austrian athletes are, the more satisfied the viewers are with the commentators and experts. If they don't perform well, they like to say that we weren't good either," smiles Nehiba.

Incidentally, he has brought tennis to ServusTV - "and that has worked out perfectly, as our ratings impressively prove," emphasizes the Head of Sport.