Sportscenter Anchor: "Golf telecasts...woefully behind the times"

SI's Richard Deitsch hosted a panel discussion with various sports-TV types about how to improve their product and ESPN Sportscenter anchor John Buccigross delivers a nice rant about golf on television.

Of course, he's airing a common gripe post-Masters about not getting to see all 18 holes of rounds by mega-stars, which is only slightly awkward since his network holds the rights and the folks at Augusta National work on one-year contracts. Though it's not like many disagree with him, especially since the digital offerings this year left a lot to be desired with the normally criticism-reducing Featured Groups.

Anyway, Buccigross on televised golf:

Golf telecasts are woefully behind the times and in need of a major overhaul. Shot tracer needs to be utilized on nearly every swing and way too much putting is showed. Also, every major should have 18-hole, four-round coverage. I can watch every Patrick Kane shift, every Marshawn Lynch carry or every Mike Trout at-bat in every game they play if I choose. I should be able to watch all of Tiger Woods shots at a major on my big, beautiful TV. If I have to shell out $29.99 to watch it I will pay it. Golf is concerned about growing the game yet they restrict access to their best golf courses and restrict access to its best players on television.

I can't watch Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy play all 72 holes of a major live here in 2015?

We're only two weeks away from the first Fox Sports golf telecast from Olympic Club and while Fox producer Mark Loomis doesn't reveal much new in this interview with Craig Hill, I continue to think the Fox goal of better placing us in the view of the golfer confronted by the architect's canvas will force all network hands to think twice about camera locations.

A: A lot of times golf is covered from the green back to the tee, because that’s where your biggest cameras are. One of the things we’ve put some energy into is figuring out if we can give you a little better look at what the golfer is seeing. Kind of look from the tee toward the green.

I think we are trying to take advantage of some of the new technology … (such as) drones. Audio has always been a staple for Fox and how can we make the sounds of the golf course better.

You always kind of lose the audio on the green. … How can we get on the green and hear a little bit more about what’s going on?

The main focus is, how can we tell the story about what’s going on on the golf course better? Not just come up with cool tricks.

Q: But there will be cool tricks, right?

A: There is kind of an old saying: “There’s nothing new in television. It’s just people doing the same thing in a different way.” I think the answer to that is that we’ll take some of the technology that people have used over the years, like the tracer.

One of the things we’ve talked about is whenever you see a green on your TV it looks flat, whether it is or isn’t. So, how can we do different things to make the greens come to life so you see them the same way you would if you were standing on them?

If you want to call them cool tricks, that is true, but they are tricks for the sake of making the person at home feel like they are getting a better look at the golf course.

Fox Sports Happy To Reach Non-Millennials, Except On U-Verse

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News looks at Fox Sports' embrace of non-millennials as it begins covering golf on Fox Sports 1.

Because it seems any live event is better than a rerun, even if it's the U.S. Junior Amateur.

From Bill Wanger, executive vice president of research and programming for Fox Sports, on not being ashamed to attract the demographic dead to most over-35-year-olds.

The live events drive the viewership,” Wanger said, “so we’re going to have about 40 hours of coverage on Fox Sports 1 of just the U.S. Open. You’re talking about eight hours on Thursday and Friday, and all sorts of preview shows, so it’s really important to establish a good base for people to come and check out the channel. 

“And particularly golf, which is a unique audience. It’s a little bit older, more upscale, so it’s an opportunity for those folks to be able to see the network.”

Fox Sports acquired digital rights to the USGA events, as well as broadcast rights. Wanger said that in addition to streaming some of the TV broadcasts online, there will be three digital-only feeds available on Fox Sports Go and through USGA.com.

Awful Announcing's Matt Yoder noted this in analyzing the story:

Seeing Fox Sports 1 publicly yearning to attract golf’s older, upscale audience and have them visit the network is a long cry from the days of #The1ForFun.  The arranged marriage between the conservative golf audience and Fox Sports is one that will bear watching in June considering the golf world’s yearly reaction to Chris Berman.

One area of continued concern: the number of homes Fox Sports 1 reaches. As Awful Announcing noted earlier this week, the Fox-AT&T U-Verse standoff hasn't changed, meaning 4.5 million homes that have Fox Sports 1 are likely to see a darts rerun when USGA events are airing.

Fox's VP of Communications Dan Bell confirmed this when I reached out to Fox about the status of AT&T-Fox relations.

His statement:

“AT&T U-verse has determined it will forgo carriage of dozens of live sporting events on FOX Sports 1.  Unfortunately, U-Verse subscribers have already missed several events, and will miss many more including FOX Sports 1’s coverage of eight USGA championships, including rounds 1 and 2 of the US Open.  U-verse subscribers are encouraged to contact AT&T to request all FOX Sports 1 programming.”

As of February 2015, approximately 84.8 million households in the U.S. receive Fox Sports 1, while 94.3 million pay television households have ESPN, where the U.S. Open weekday coverage aired for 28 years.