Meet The New WGHOF Inductees...

There hasn't been much buzz about this year's golf Hall class for a few reasons, most notably that an active player (Ernie Els) is the headliner while two others (Jumbo Ozaki and George Bush) are less than ideal inductees who are not appearing to accept their place in golf's impressive shrine. Here is the entire group courtesy of a nice PGATour.com synopsis page.

Also, Deane Beman (with Adam Schupak's help) pens a My Shot this week for SI on inductee Frank Chirkinian, writing this about the legendary CBS producers' skill:

If you watched the Masters on CBS this year you saw Frank's artistic legacy. Tiger's tournament hinged on his putter at the 12th on Sunday. CBS got that. It wasn't that he had to make his birdie putt, it was that he couldn't miss the second putt, for par, which is what he did. He needed to step on the 13th tee feeling confident, make the birdie there, on the short par-5, and he didn't do that either. CBS showed all of that. A good broadcast paints the picture of how a player builds a round, or dismantles it for that matter. That's why Chirkinian showed fewer players making more shots. When golf is good on TV now, it's when producers follow Chirkinian's example.

About Time: ESPN Policy Precludes Announcers From Blatant Conflict-Of-Interest Endorsements

You can read ESPN EVP Norby Williamson's blog post here on the new policy banning talent endorsement deals related to equipment and apparel in any way tied to the sports ESPN covers.  From Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News:

On the ESPN corporate blog, Williamson also wrote the move comes after "some recent fair public criticism focused on select ESPN commentators" and ESPN also will be more transparent by reporting all of its broadcasters' endorsement deals on ESPN.com. The decision also will end Scott Van Pelt's relationship with Titleist, and a Nike deal with "College GameDay" crew Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso.

Will CBS and NBC follow suit?

I also wonder how ESPN will deal with this during the Masters next year when another network's announcers broadcast the event for them?

Feherty: "I hope to bring a lot of value to the brand with my insights and contacts."

You know it's a dark day when David Feherty is using MBA jargon...or whoever wrote the quote for him in this announcement that he's joining the Lifestyle Asset Group as an advisor.

"My wife, Anita, and I have known Rich Keith and his group for years," Feherty explained. "We've had the privilege of vacationing at two of the properties that are currently in the Lifestyle Asset Group portfolio -- Deer Valley, Utah and Casa Luz in Los Cabos -- and they are two of our favorite vacation homes that we've ever stayed in. With many resorts with golf in their plans, and many of their customers passionate about the game, I hope to bring a lot of value to the brand with my insights and contacts."

"GOLF CHANNEL SETS VIEWERSHIP RECORD FOR WGC-CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP"

Technically it was the first ever WGC Cadillac Championship, but alright, have your fun...

Golf Channel’s 1st Round Coverage on Thursday is Best in 23-Year TV History of Doral Event

Two-Day Average Viewership on Golf Channel Best in Nearly a Decade

“Golf Channel on NBC” Final Round Viewership Up 16%

I say that last one is caused by the massive Golf Channel audience tuning in network coverage they never would have watched before cross-prioritization!

NEW YORK – March 15, 2011 – NBC Sports Group set viewership records for its coverage of the WGC-Cadillac Championship, with Thursday’s coverage on Golf Channel the most-watched first-round in the history of the Doral event and the two-day (Thursday-Friday) average viewership the best since 2002. Additionally, the final-round viewership on Sunday for “Golf Channel on NBC” rose 16 percent from last year, according to official national data released by The Nielsen Company.
 
Golf Channel drew 1.14 million viewers for Thursday’ first round, the most in Doral’s 23-year television history (2007-2011 on Golf Channel, 1989-2006 on USA).  This also marked a 115-percent jump from last year’s first round and an increase of 25 percent over 2009.

Thank you Phil and Tiger pairing!

 Golf Channel averaged 1.07 million viewers for Thursday and Friday combined marking the best two-day viewership average for the Doral event since 2002 on USA (1.09 million).
 
36 FOR 36: The WGC-Cadillac Championship continued Golf Channel’s streak of delivering higher ratings for every PGA TOUR round this year (36 for 36) versus comparable rounds in 2010.

It must be the all the promos they run on Hoop Dreams or Pipe Dreams or Dreaming Of A Pipe or whatever it's called.

“GOLF CHANNEL ON NBC” VIEWERSHIP:  The final-round coverage on NBC (3:09-7 p.m. Sunday), which has been rebranded as “Golf Channel on NBC,” averaged 3.32 million viewers, a gain of 14 percent from last year’s 2.86 million viewers.  

Match Play Ratings Soar: It's The Synergistic Cross-Channel Prioritization!

For Immediate Release...

NEW YORK – March 1, 2011 – NBC Sports and Golf Channel generated significant viewership increases for the combined 28 hours of live coverage (55 hours total coverage) of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Wednesday through Sunday.  With Tiger Woods eliminated on Wednesday and Phil Mickelson eliminated on Thursday,

...hint, hint, that used to spell doom...

and with England’s Luke Donald defeating Germany’s Martin Kaymer in Sunday’s final,

...two really nice but boring guys...

Golf Channel’s three-day average viewership was up 84 percent from last year while viewership for “Golf Channel on NBC” coverage rose 71 percent.

Golf Channel’s strong viewership for the WGC-Accenture helped propel the network to its second most-watched February ever (15.3 million unique viewers). Through the first eight weeks of the 2011 season, viewership of the PGA TOUR on Golf Channel is up 59 percent over last year.

Get ready, it must be the horrible winter rebranding!

“GOLF CHANNEL ON NBC” VIEWERSHIP:  The weekend coverage on NBC (2-6 p.m. Saturday, 2-7 p.m. Sunday), which has been rebranded as “Golf Channel on NBC,” averaged 2.5 million viewers, a gain of 71 percent from last year’s 1.5 million viewers on CBS, and the most-watched since 2008 when Tiger Woods won the event, defeating Stewart Cink.
 
GOLF CHANNEL VIEWERSHIP: Golf Channel’s early round coverage of the WGC-Accenture started Wednesday with its best day overall since 2009’s President’s Cup coverage and continued on Friday with its most-watched early round without Tiger Woods since THE PLAYERS in May 2008.

Whoa, let's try that again. Most watched since '09 Presidents Cup and most watched minus-Tiger round since '08 Players.

Highlights include:
 
·        Three-day average viewership up 84 percent over 2010 (771,000 vs. 419,000)
·        Wednesday’s Day 1 up 86 percent over 2010 (712,000 vs. 318,000).

Now that's impressive! Thank God we only have match play once a year.

·        Thursday’s Day 2 up 95 percent over 2010 (768,000 vs. 393,000).

That's even more impressive considering you-know-who was eliminated.

·        Friday’s Day 3 up 83 percent over 2010 (890,000 vs. 486,000).

Now this is getting silly. So glad we have put the kibosh on more match play. It's so unfair...and so ratings friendly!

·        Saturday’s earlier-than-scheduled, five-hour coverage of the quarterfinal match that concluded on NBC was up 71% over 2010 (562,000 vs. 328,000).
 
State of the Game Live, a Golf Central special that featured a panel of golf’s most-respected voices from NBC Sports and Golf Channel, including Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo discussing the most pressing issues in the sport, doubled Golf Channel’s year-to-date prime-time average for non-PGA TOUR programming.

Okay so it wasn't entirely an across-the-board ratings slam dunk.

CROSS-CHANNEL PRIORITY: The WGC-Accenture on Golf Channel and NBC was identified by NBCUniversal’s Marketing Council as a cross-channel priority.

So is that when they make sure you show the highlights on the local news and in general, place promotion over actual news as the priority? You know, like when my local NBC station opens with a story about Charlie Sheen's interview on Today...tomorrow?

It received extensive promotion across NBC Universal’s 20 channels and more than 40 websites. The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship marked the first shared coverage for NBC Sports and Golf Channel since both organizations became members of the NBC Sports Group on Jan. 28 when the Comcast-NBC Universal transaction was completed.

It's not match play, it's the co-branding!

GOLF CHANNEL AND NBC SPORTS CO-BRANDING: All golf coverage on NBC has been re-branded as “Golf Channel on NBC.”

Yes, we noticed. Over and over again.

Be careful Golf Channel On NBC Powered By Jack Donaghy, you keep up these ratings home runs and the Commish is going to be asking you to write a big fat check this fall!

Feherty Goes Down...For A Good Cause

"Golf Channel On NBC" Coming Saturday...How About "NBC On Golf Channel"?

For Immediate Release...

Golf Channel on NBC – Golf Channel and NBC Sports will combine resources this week in their first event together under the newly-formed NBC Sports Group.  Golf telecasts on NBC Sports will now be re-branded as “Golf Channel on NBC,” with NBC golf coverage incorporating the Golf Channel look and feel throughout every telecast.

Why can't we get Wednesday through Friday with Dan Hicks, Johnny, Gary and NBC graphics on Golf Channel, then on the weekend switch over to GC on NBC? A little cross pollination, if you will?

Johnny: Tiger Needs A Win, Especially Since NBC Televises The Next Six Events

From today's conference call, reported by Randall Mell:

“Tiger just needs a win, the bottom line is that it could be the Hershey Bar Open,” Miller said. “He needs to say, `Hey, I can win again.' . . . He better win something before Augusta, because it's just too hard to go a couple years, or whatever it's going to be, to win at Augusta without winning. I’m not saying he can't do it, like Jack Nicklaus did winning the Masters out of nowhere in '86, but he needs a win.”