When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
The Dan Patrick Show, where Jim Nantz is a regular guest, held their annual sound alike contest as a Masters prelude. Other than the Hello Friends needing refinement, I think you'll enjoy both the sound and the writing. (I'm not sure though if the bird sounds are native to Augusta...)
Have you ever wondered what Jim Nantz does in that 1 lonely minute leading into his Live Masters Monologue?
ESPN has announced the $4.99 a month package of its various properties to address the needs of cord cutters. One surprise element is the inclusion of PGA Tour coverage that sounds suspiciously like PGA Tour Live, the digital-only pre-Golf Channel coverage offered for $40 a year.
This would seem to be signaling a major white flag on PGA Tour Live's ability to sell subscriptions on its own. For $60 a year you can get all of ESPN's properties, vs. $40 a year for early round tour action.
· PGA TOUR LIVE GOLF – MORE THAN 100 DAYS OF COVERAGE FROM 31 PGA TOUR EVENTS: Golf fans will be able to follow the PGA TOUR throughout the year, with more than 100 days of live coverage from 31 PGA TOUR events, including THE PLAYERS Championship, the FedEx Cup Playoffs, AT&T Byron Nelson, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Travelers Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational and dozens more. Coverage will include Thursday, Friday and some Saturday and Sunday play during the events.
He'll be helming the ANA Inspiration's Golf Channel coverage this week with Judy Rankin and also undoubtedly will be thinking about the 35th (!) anniversary of NC State's improbably NCAA basketball championship.
But fresh off his prominent Olympics role, Terry Gannon continues to be the least-recognized top voice in golf.
Steve Eubanks of Global Golf Post considers what makes Gannon such a solid announcer, including his talent for asking the right questions of his analysts.
If you didn't hear about Eun-Hee Ji's KIA Classic final round, she hit all 18 greens and made a one at the par-3 14th en route to victory. (Beth Ann Nichols' Golfweek.com game story has the lowdown.)
Besides a car for winning the event, she took home a KIA Sorrento for this shot. But it's the setup by Grant Boone, Judy Rankin and Jerry Foltz that adds to the spectacle of a surreal moment (and a rewarding sponsorship for KIA).
From Morning Drive's recap:
Kelly Tilghman signed off after 22 years at Golf Channel Sunday.
Here is her goodbye column for GolfChannel.com.
And here is my Golfweek Q&A conducted on eve of her Golf Channel finale. Fans of Kelly will enjoy her reflections and insights into why she's saying goodbye, though her Tiger assessment is just as thought-provoking.
3,795 Likes, 68 Comments - Golf Channel (@golfchannel) on Instagram: "22 years at Golf Channel: A remarkable career. Kelly Tilghman, it's been an incredible run, and..."
He even makes people watch the days he's not in the television window!
VIEWERSHIP - RD2 Overnight rating at @APinv yesterday: pic.twitter.com/85g02e4Og8
— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) March 17, 2018
VIEWERSHIP - RD2 Overnight rating at @APinv yesterday: pic.twitter.com/85g02e4Og8
— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) March 17, 2018
Some day we'll look back fondly on the years when we'd relive great Masters moments on YouTube watching a jittery cell phone recording of someone's television set. Or not.
H/T to Sean Zak at Golf.com for alerting us to this incredible treasure trove of broadcasts.
Where to start? It's overwhelming. Here is the menu.
Shoot, might as well go back 50 years ago and work my way up to the present!
Enjoy.
And just for giggles, I screen captured this and will come searching for the number a year from now:
The Forecaddie with the details of an almost-original cast member who is signing off after 22 years.
One of my first ever television interviews was in 1998 and Kelly was then a Golf Channel reporter. She could not have been more enjoyable to talk to and since then she's always been a class act in my eyes who has handled the unrelenting scrutiny golf projects on women with great dignity.
BTW there will be a Golfweek Q&A with Tilghman next week.
Many (thank you Tiger) ratings milestones matched at Sunday's 2018 Valspar (thank you Tiger) even with out purportedly greater, more amazing, more popular, generally wonderful next generation near the leaderboard top.
For Immediate Release:
Final Round Coverage of Valspar Championship on NBC Earns 5.11 Overnight Rating;
Highest-Rated (Non-Major) Golf Broadcast Since 2013 PLAYERS
Yesterday’s final round coverage of the Valspar Championship on NBC (3-6p ET) earned a 5.11 Overnight rating (+190% year-over-year), becoming the highest-rated (non-major) PGA TOUR broadcast in nearly five years, dating back to the final round of Tiger Woods’ win at the 2013 PLAYERS Championship (5.7). Sunday’s final round Overnight also is the highest-rated golf telecast (outside of the Masters) since the 2015 PGA Championship (5.14) according to data released by The Nielsen Company.
Golf Channel’s final round lead-in coverage (1-3p ET) earned a 1.65 Overnight, becoming the highest-rated Golf Channel PGA TOUR “lead-in” telecast on record (2009-’18).
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
· Coverage peaked at a 6.62 from 5:30-6p ET on NBC and a 2.12 from 2:30-3p ET on Golf Channel.
· Final Round coverage of the Valspar Championship on NBC was +28% vs. final round of the 2015 Wyndham Championship (4.0), the last time Tiger Woods contended on a Sunday, and +73% vs. final round of The Honda Classic a few weeks ago.
· The Valspar Championship saw 27.2 million minutes streamed across Golf Channel / NBC Sports’ Digital platforms, becoming the most-streamed PGA TOUR event ever for the network, and the fourth-most streamed golf event overall for NBC Sports behind the 2016 and 2017 Open, along with the 2016 Ryder Cup. (source: Adobe Analytics)
· Sunday’s coverage saw 15.4 million minutes streamed, +1060% vs. 2017.
· In the event’s home market of Tampa, the final round Overnight rating was a 10.98.
The numbers could explain why, contrary to the cries of Golfweek's Martin Kaufmann, we did not see a single shot from Jason Kokrak, Branden Grace, Rory Sabbatini or Webb Simpson. How will we carry on having not seen their wizardry?
The numbers over the first two days suggest a huge Tiger bump, especially considering day one was a Thursday telecast.
VIEWERSHIP: RD1 of @ValsparChamp on @GolfChannel earned a .63 Overnight rating. Becomes highest-rated early RD telecast at this event (2007-‘18) & highest RD1 telecast on Golf Channel (excluding majors & The Players) since 2015 Waste Management. Coverage peaked (.74, 5-530p ET) pic.twitter.com/FdOQ9D8SUf
— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) March 9, 2018
Friday's telecast did not feature live golf from Woods, but still drew well:
VIEWERSHIP: (.59) Overnight rating for RD2 coverage of @ValsparChamp on @GolfChannel yesterday is highest-rated RD2 telecast at this event (2007-‘18), & just -6% vs RD1. Coverage peaked from 4:30-4:45p ET (.66). RD3 coverage begins at 1p ET (Golf Channel), continues at 3p (NBC) pic.twitter.com/Fc6apYG2mh
— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) March 10, 2018
CBS drew a 2.9 overnight rating for the 3:15-6 pm ET block of Sunday’s 2018 Honda Classic, that’s up 38% over Rickie Fowler’s 2017 win on NBC according to SBD. The Tiger effect played an incredible role given the competition in that window that included NASCAR (3.1), Winter Olympics (2.2) and NBA (Spurs-Cavs) on ABC (2.3).
For those wondering about a strong lead-in from Michigan State-Wisconsin running long, the Big-10 matchup drew a 1.4 in its 1-3:15 pm ET window.
Saturday’s Honda Classic third round drew a 1.8 on CBS, with a .8 lead-in audience from Louisville-Virginia Tech.
In case you were watching the Waste Management Open playoff--that would be most golf fans--GolfNow rolled out an ad during Super Bowl pre-game coverage by The Martin Agency. It's the first of a fun campaign featuring three other spots...
As the Wall Street Journal sorts through the reasons for another NFL ratings drop (thanks reader John), golf continues a positive start to 2018 with this news from
For Immediate Release:
GOLF CHANNEL POSTS MOST-WATCHED JANUARY, CAPPED BY MOST-WATCHED SUNDAY IN NETWORK HISTORY
Golf Digital Wraps Best January Ever for Minutes Streamed and Page Views
ORLANDO, Fla. (February 2, 2018) – Golf Channel posted its most-watched January ever with an average of 116,000 viewers per minute in Total Day, up 23% vs. last year and up 10% vs. the previous high in January 2013, according to data released by The Nielsen Company. This builds off December 2017 being the most-watched December ever for Golf Channel. Additionally, January’s success was mirrored across Golf Digital, which posted its best January for minutes streamed (22.6M) and page views (78.5M), up 34% and 19% respectively.
Sunday, January 28 was Golf Channel’s most-watched Sunday on record. During the PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open playoff between Jason Day and Alex Noren from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday – airing opposite The Grammy Awards – Golf Channel was the No. 1 Nielsen-measured cable network for Total Viewers, up 24% vs. second place (ESPN). The playoff was also Golf Channel’s most-watched PGA TOUR telecast ever.
“Golf is carrying a lot of momentum into 2018 with a deep roster of developing stars across the professional tours, a superstar making his return to competitive golf and a rapid evolution in the many ways golfers are participating in and consuming the game,” said Mike McCarley, president, Golf, NBC Sports. “It’s especially promising to see record viewership — and it’s only January.”
Golf Channel’s comprehensive slate of tournament coverage rounds out record-setting January:
· LPGA Tour’s Pure Silk Bahamas Classic Round One became the tour’s most-watched Opening Day in 9 years.
· PGA TOUR Champions saw 2nd best Opening Day in 5 years at Mitsubishi Electric Championship.
· Web.com Tour’s Round One from the Bahamas Abaco Classic was the tour’s most-watched telecast since July 2016.
After three weeks of exclusively Golf Channel broadcasts, the PGA Tour turns over the keys to CBS for the next five weeks (Honda Classic is on CBS this year due to the Olympics on NBC) and plans to roll out a few refreshments to its broadcasts.
The Forecaddie with details of the two big boosts--Amanda Balionis becoming a full-time interviewer after an extensive tryout last year, and we're getting 18-hole Trackman data.
There is also a special request for a sooner golf debut from Tony Romo.
ShackHouse listeners--we're back next week!--know from his appearance in 2016 that when Jim Nantz gets going on a podcast, you wish it wouldn't end.
In his lengthy discussion with SI's Richard Deitsch for episode 156 of the SI Media Podcast, the CBS announcer discusses this Sunday's AFC Championship game. But mostly the conversation keeps coming back to golf and a passion for the game shared by Nantz with incredible new CBS analyst Tony Romo.
There is also plenty of discussion of the late Dick Enberg and a fun Keith Jackson golf story related to a young Nantz at the 1974 U.S. Open, as well as much Masters talk.
At the 55 minute mark or so, Nantz addresses the dreaded CEO interview issue (viewers assume he's just called them in for the fun of it!).
Around the 1 hour and 16 second mark he talks of his dream of announcing a U.S. Open. Come on Loomis, make it happen at Pebble Beach next year! Nantz on Featured Hole coverage in a booth overlooking 6, 7 and 8! Chop chop!
At the 1:20 mark he explains how he'd like to go out as an announcer.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
