Manspat Alert: Brandel Chamblee & David Duval Go Extra Holes Over Leadership

A lively, 24-hole Live From match broke out between Brandel Chamblee and David Duval over leadership.

The debate got a bit touchy at this point:

Duval: "Well having actually been out there and done it, there's more to it than just what the stats say."

Chamblee: "You think that actually having to be out there to do it, determines whether or not you can pass judgement on it or not? I wasn't at the Boston Tea Party but I can tell you all about it."

Duval: "OK, well I know you're never wrong. I understand that."

The clear plastic sheeting adds a nice Dexteresque feel to the scene...

PGA Tour Ratings Decline Streak Finally Ends!

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch notes the 15-straight PGA Tour telecast ratings decline streak ended with the Tour Championship scoring a 1.9 overnight Sunday on NBC, the same as 2015 and up 12% from 2014.

Paulsen writes:

Sunday’s telecast, which saw Rory McIlroy win both the tournament and the FedEx Cup in a playoff, ended a streak of 15 straight declines for the PGA Tour on broadcast — a stretch that dated back to the British Open. Other than the British Open, it was the first PGA telecast on NBC or CBS to avoid a decline since the St. Jude Classic in June.

Third round action on Saturday pulled a 1.2 overnight, down a tick from last year (1.3) and down a third from 2014 (1.8).

Playing Through: NBC Sports Answering The DVR?

Long overdue in sports coverage too obsessed with cord cutters and not enough with the DVR have been counterpoints by networks to deal with digital video recorders. We've seen test runs at some changes in how golf tournaments are delivered and now NBC will be all-in on a NASCAR/Indy 500 style split screen approach to commercials at its big upcoming events.

For The Tour Championship, the final nine holes will be presented free of national ads, according to this press release.

Sponsors Coke and Southern Company can be thanked for going along with this, which will give us more time for the points race explanations too!

At the Ryder Cup, NBC will be going full split screen as an an ad with its audio runs on one side, while the golf coverage continues on the other side of the screen. This will spoil some "just a moment ago" drinking games and also make watching via DVR a bit tougher.

Here is the look:

NFL Strikes! BMW Third Round Outrates Final Day Coverage

As NFL numbers hit 7-year lows on the first weekend, the PGA Tour's recent run of down ratings continued the cord-cutting era trend, only in more spectacular fashion.

Sports Media Watch reports that the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick drew a 1.2 final round. Without NFL competition and a weak slate of college football games, the third round actually out-drew the last day (1.3/1.9 million viewers). SMW looks back to 2012 for comparisons after last year's was a rain-delayed event. There was also this for the BMW...

Sunday’s 1.2 rating is tied as the second-lowest for final round coverage of the tournament since the FedEx Cup began in 2007.

Playoff fever! Opt-out time! Ca--chingnotsomuch.

The numbers are fascinating since conventional wisdom would suggest this could be the worst possible time for the PGA Tour to opt out of its network deal, presumably in search of more money thanks to additional bidders (ABC? FOX?).

However, that seems unlikely given that the sports rights bubble has burst. Although the numbers could set up an opt-out discussion that allows the next Commissioner to reimagine the playoff schedule timing. Maybe one that ends on Labor Day? Dan Hicks touched on this possibility on ShackHouse this week.

I still contend that trying to jam the playoffs into the post-PGA Championship, pre-NFL window will not work and that a fall finish to the season, with a restart in January gets the playoffs away from football when people are most excited about it, while also giving people a chance to catch their breath after a busy summer schedule.

Women's Olympic Ratings Wrap: Nice Final Day

In spite of a forecast-driven tee time change that killed chances for a lengthy NBC look-in, viewers tuned in to Golf Channel for the medal day of women's Olympic golf. Hopefully some international numbers will trickle in at some point like they did with the men.

For Immediate Release...

Golf’s Return to the Olympics Posts Record Viewership for Women’s Golf
 
Golf Channel schedule for the Olympics featured the most live coverage ever for a women’s golf event (34.5 hours), which was bolstered all week with an additional 35.5 hours of live news coverage with Golf Central’s Live From The Olympics and Morning Drive. In total, Golf Channel dedicated 124 hours of programming to this week’s women’s golf competition and as a result, generated record-breaking viewership. Wrap-up of Men’s Final Round is below.
 
Saturday, August 20: Final Round

Golf Channel’s coverage of the conclusion of the Olympics’ women’s final round is the highest-rated and most-watched in more than six years for peak 90-minutes of coverage from any women’s stroke-play event on cable in any daypart, including primetime (11:15 am-12:45 pm ET; 0.54 US HH rating, 803,000 average viewers), dating back to the 2010 Women’s British Open on ESPN (8/1/2010; peak 90 minutes, .59 US HH rating, 824,000 average viewers).

Coverage peaked with 924,000 average viewers (12:15-12:30 pm ET), the most-watched peak finish for any women’s golf event on cable in more than six years since the 2010 Women’s British Open on ESPN (8/1/2010; peak finish, 1.275 million average viewers)

Despite leaders teeing off earlier than plan on the account of potential bad weather, average viewership for the final round (691,000 average viewers) was +77% vs. Friday’s comparable 3rd round coverage (390,000 average viewers)
 
Friday, August 19: Round 3

Golf Channel’s afternoon coverage of the third round is the most-watched third round in more than five years for any women’s stroke-play golf event on cable in any daypart, including primetime (Noon-3:36 pm ET; 0.28 US HH rating, 390,000 average viewers), dating back to the third round of the 2011 Women’s British Open on ESPN (7/30/11; 476,000).

Golf Channel’s Friday afternoon coverage of the third round was up 212% among average viewers and up 180% for U.S. household rating vs. the same Friday in 2012 opposite the London Games.
 
Thursday, August 18: Round 2

Golf Channel’s second-round coverage is the highest-rated live weekday round of any women’s golf event (at the time, now second behind Olympics Round 3) in more than two years in any daypart, including primetime (Noon-3:14 pm ET; 0.23 US HH rating, 316,000 average viewers), dating back to the second round of the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst (6/20/14; 0.44 U.S. HH rating on ESPN2).
 
Wednesday, August 17: Round 1

Golf Channel’s coverage tied as the highest-rated round one of any women’s golf event in 2016 (Noon-3:54 pm ET; 0.17 US HH rating, 217,000 average viewers), matching the rating for coverage of the ANA Inspiration Major Championship, which aired in primetime (3/31/16, 7:12-9:12 pm ET).

In general ratings news, New York's Eric Levit considers the fall in overall Olympic viewership numbers by the most important generation to have ever live, and wisely notes that even they get it wrong sometimes.

Update on 2016-08-23 17:29 by Geoff

**Here is NBC's final press release on the Rio Games. Golf gets a mention.

Grow The Game Files: TNT Reminds That TV Matters

Golf on TV could be the greatest, it could be the best, it could be King Kong banging on its chest!

Standing in the Hall of Fame, and the world might even know golf is not lame!

I'll stop now before you get nightmares since I'm pretty sure Omega's latest ad (key word, ad), will be running a bunch during the Rio games.

Not being present at this year’s PGA Championship afforded an opportunity to be reunited with the early 2000s, a.k.a. a TNT broadcast at a major championship. But this is not to pick on any one network (well, maybe a little), as some of the same issues TNT exemplifies afflict all of the major broadcast presentations, though no major has the annual commercial and promo dump that is the PGA of America's dreadful presentation.

Shoot, even CBS head man Sean McManus talked to Golfweek.com's Martin Kaufmann right after the PGA to address the telecast and suggest the commercial load needs to be dealt with for the next three years of the deal. 

No, the affliction I refer to runs deeper than the annual overcommercialization of the fourth of four majors. It's the tendency to stick to what got you here, what has worked over the decades, and to not give up screen space to anything but green grass and golfers. But most of all, to do what will please “partners” who want to play it safe while also preaching how we need to do things differently to save the sport.

Those partners--the PGA of America (this week), the PGA Tour, the USGA, the R&A--all talk relentlessly about growing the game and reaching the all-important millennials, yet refuse to see that their biggest growth tool is in how they present golf on television. Outside of the cost to play, I can’t think of anything more stifling for growth than an aspiring golfer, turning on the suffocatingly safe presentation of golf at the PGA Championship.

TNT’s presentation undermines the event’s place in the major spectrum by appearing to work out of an early 2000’s playbook. (The addition of some fun split screens showed some sign of life and fresh voices in Mike Weir and Amanda Balionis were huge positives.) Yet the ultra-conservative approach to the PGA Championship is even more maddening because of TNT's bold approach to the NBA. That’s where innovation and must-see pre and post game shows have spiked ratings, establishing the cable network as the best at bringing us pro basketball.

In golf, it's vital that television presentation be strong to "grow" participation in the game. More people watch golf on TV than avidly play it. That's an amazing notion suggesting how vital telecast presentation may be in motivating people to play.

With the PGA Championship that TNT airs through 2019, the cable network’s idea of a pre and post game show amounts to reruns of something from their highly-rated catalog. Those cash cows merely require a few an engineer to push a few buttons takes priority for TNT over even now-standard re-broadcast for major rounds (which are appreciated by working folks or those with DVR’s full to the brim).

Adding to the pain is what appears to be a reluctance on CBS’s part to share its gadgets with the TNT broadcast. Can't we all get along here?

Good TNT broadcasts will make more people watch CBS!

As with NBC’s coverage, the beauty of the golf course is a CBS priority and in the early days of high definition, no one disagreed with this approach. But now that nearly all viewers are watching on an HD flat screen and enjoying access to Internet-enabled information, the minimalist approach to screen acreage has begun to give core fans the impression of laziness and casual fans a sense that things could be better. In a day when people can handle more graphics and social media information on screen, golf is still holding back real-time information.

Knowing how hard the people in golf television work, particularly during majors, the impression of laziness is an unfair one. Golf is by far the most difficult sport to cover. Nonetheless, as we get more fun stuff like Protracer, on-screen graphics/Trackman data, split screens that give us a better sense of the golf hole faced, and full-field scores, the broadcasts that eschew such progress only give the impression to viewers that golf is stuck in a different decade. This was TNT last week.

When something controversial happens--like the PGA’s miscue with a hole location and repeat of its 2005 refusal to move up tee times--the lack of broadcast discussion looks lame while social media covers the story. This undermines the credibility of the networks and tournament host. (Especially when it’s the network home to Ernie, Charles, Kenny and Shaq, where nothing is off limits and controversies are embraced). Also, do recall that Fox’s breakthrough at the U.S. Open came at the expense of actually covering its partner’s mistakes. Painful for the USGA, yes, but also a huge boost to their partner overpaying for the product.

The people who want to grow the game need to stop focusing so much on the production values of their public service announcements. They need to look within and start pushing their broadcast partners to rethink how they present the sport, even if means giving back a few bucks to help the networks expand certain production values. These conversations are long overdue and more necessary than another short term feel-good initiative. Because those PSA-driven grow the game concepts pale compared to motivating people  by giving them a telecast that inspires them to run to the range.

NBC's First Open Off To Solid Ratings Start

Sports Media Watch breaks down some of the numbers and the real eye opener may be Saturday's third round out-rating the U.S. Open's, which was in the evening presumably when there would be more eyeballs. But who knows! Maybe golfers like their televised play early and June summer evening golf.

From SMW's report:

The 2.75 is the highest for third round coverage of the British Open since 2013 (3.1). The last time third round coverage aired on a broadcast network — ABC in 2009 — it earned a 2.4 overnight.

Of note, Saturday’s telecast scored a higher overnight than the third round of the U.S. Open on FOX (2.5). Keep in mind the U.S. Open aired in a later timeslot (11 AM-8 PM, versus 9 AM-2:30 PM).

Update on 2016-07-18 22:19 by Geoff

**Martin Kaufmann praises NBC for tossing the playbook out and going all in on the final twosome.

According to Classic TV Sports which did the always fine work of documenting the shots shown, NBC had a dismal number compared to the other majors. But again, no one minds given the two-horse race situation.

NBC televised only 224 shots during this period which worked out to 0.83 strokes per minute. This was a sizable decrease from the ESPN shot rate of 1.23 that I measured from the 2015 Open Championship and the lowest rate for any major that I have tracked. The lack of competition from the rest of the field clearly contributed to the low rate. NBC chose to aggressively spotlight the drama and excellence of the lead group (and take numerous commercial breaks) rather than fill time with relatively meaningless golf action from the rest of the pack.

John Strege in Golf World would like to have seen more Protracer but praises the broadcast for most elements, including NBC/Golf Channel showing, at some point, 155 of 155 players in the field.

Ken Fang offers his Pros and Cons of the NBC/Golf Channel coverage, with a great screen grab of the LinksTrax feature which went largely unseen due to the soft conditions.

Golf Channel’s Friday produced some nice numbers for very long broadcast windows. Phil's 63 and the likes of Spieth, Fowler and McIlroy in the window didn't hurt.

NBC's ratings release, which only lacks a thank you to Phil Mickelson for bringing star power and Henrik Stenson for bring the drama:

NBC SPORTS POSTS BEST FINAL ROUND OVERNIGHT IN 9 YEARS AT THE OPEN
 
THE OPEN POSTS 2ND BEST OVERNIGHT FOR A FINAL ROUND AT A MAJOR THIS YEAR
 
TROON, Scotland (July 18, 2016) – NBC Sports’ coverage of The Open’s Final Round was the second-highest for a major championship final round in 2016 behind the Masters after posting a 3.94 overnight rating. Additionally, NBC’s overnight peaked at a 5.47 with a 14 share as Henrik Stenson outlasted Phil Mickelson to capture the Claret Jug from 1-1:30 p.m. ET, according to data released by The Nielsen Company.
 
NBC’s coverage was the highest final round overnight for The Open in nine years (2008-2016), slightly ahead of ABC’s final year of broadcast coverage in 2009, which featured the playoff between Stewart Cink and Tom Watson at Turnberry (3.93).
 
Additionally, this overnight rating was +50% vs. 2015 Sunday at St. Andrews (2.62, Rd. 3 coverage, ESPN); and +50% vs. 2014 Final Round at Royal Liverpool (2.62, ESPN).
 
Coverage from Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland ran from 9:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC, with Henrik Stenson, who is now the Champion Golfer of the Year, and Phil Mickelson teeing off at 9:35 a.m. ET.

Forward Press: Golf Channel Does Its First Major

For this week's Forward Press, I preview some of the things you can expect with NBC/Golf Channel's first Open Championship, plus offer some information on the long programming windows.

Their neatest sounding new production element to show off bump-and-run approach shots may not get much use if Troon remains soft.

I do not, however, have the bootleg yet of Yanni's re-imagined theme, with bagpipes. Something tells me you can wait.