ORLANDO, Fla. – The Golf Channel has claimed the entire cable package of the next TV contract with the PGA Tour, which begins with the 2007 season.
The Comcast-owned cable channel has purchased the rights to the early round coverage of 33 PGA Tour events each year from 2007 to 2012. In total, 48 Tour events per year will be televised by the golf channel, which will also carry 15 entire tournaments, including the season-opening Mercedes Championships, Sony Open in Hawaii and Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, along with the seven official money events following The Tour Championship, which will move to May.
It’s immediately clear how this will affect golf coverage on Canadian television. However, one supposes this has the potential to put a mighty crimp in CTV and TSN’s long hours of golf coverage beginning in 2007, since the Bell Globemedia channels often purchased coverage from the broadcasters (ABC, ESPN, USA Network) that formerly owned the rights to the tournaments now going to The Golf Channel, which has extensive carriage in Canada. (We’ve asked CTV/TSN for comment.)
In addition to event coverage, the agreement between the PGA Tour and The Golf Channel provides for significant Tour promotion and branding. “Also, TGC and the Tour will work closely together to further increase distribution beyond the already significant 70 million homes and increase The Golf Channel’s visibility and appeal to the Tour’s fan base,” says the press release.
“In order to fully accomplish these joint objectives, the agreement with The Golf Channel provides for a term of 15 years.”
Despite The Golf Channel’s success, until now it’s been shut out of carrying most PGA Tour action due to the old, expiring broadcast deals. It instead built programming around big PGA events and carried live golf from other tours. The new deal makes The Golf Channel the PGA Tour’s largest TV outlet (and likely creates an opportunity for The Golf Channel2 since there likely won’t be much space on the channel now for Canadian, European, Nationwide, and Asian Tour events, which have been a huge part of the channel’s schedule during its first 10 years).
“These new agreements represent a huge step forward for The Golf Channel, and offer fans of PGA Tour golf a consistent and quality home for a very significant amount of programming,” said Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “The Golf Channel has had a great first 10 years, and this dynamic new long-term relationship will take it to the next level in the years to come. We look forward with significant enthusiasm to our expanded PGA Tour partnership.”
“Given The Golf Channel’s core golf audience and ever-growing number of new viewers, developing a long-term, strategic partnership with the Tour makes sense for both parties,” said David Manougian, president of The Golf Channel. “Golf fans around the world know us as ‘Golf’s Home,’ and we are looking forward to showcasing the excitement and drama the Tour can deliver to our viewers week after week. Coupled with our exclusive commitments to the Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour, The Golf Channel will reinforce its strength as the best destination for golf on TV.”
As for the broadcast part of the new deal, ABC is out completely (ESPN, too).
CBS will expand its current role as the dominant carrier of PGA Tour golf, increasing its annual event coverage from 16 to 19. It will have the majority of West Coast events, including the broadcast of the Buick Invitational in San Diego and the Nissan Open in the Los Angeles market. CBS will also have a strong run through the spring and summer months of FedEx Cup competition, including the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational, the PGA Championship and the first event of the four-event Championship Series, which culminates the FedEx Cup season.
NBC will add five new PGA Tour events, doubling its current roster of five. In addition to continuing its weekend telecasts of The Players Championship, now moving to an early May date, NBC becomes the network home of the final three weeks of the FedEx Championship Series. NBC has also secured the rights to two World Golf Championships, including the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in late February as a prelude to its traditional five-event March run.
As for the Majors – The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championships, those are separate deals with each tournament and not covered by this new agreement.
