They've Got An Out Clause!

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AP Business writer Deborah Yo filed this comprehensive piece on the new PGA Tour TV deal and dug up stuff I don't believe I've read elsewhere.

The Golf Channel is available in 75 million homes compared with 92 million homes for ESPN. Manougian said the channel currently is in at least 85 percent of basic video tiers. The Golf Channel is part of the digital package of Cox Communications and Cablevision.

Note that Yo says it's available in 75 million homes, which would differ from the implication that GC is in 75 million homes.

Asked whether the contract has an exit clause, Manougian would only say that "any contract has disaster clauses, whether it's a one-year deal or a 20-year deal. There's nothing out of ordinary about this contract."

That's a non-confirmation confirmation, right?

Some nitty gritty numbers of interest...

It helps that Comcast isn't only counting on ad revenue to offset the Tour's rights fees. It charges cable and satellite providers 21 cents per subscriber per month, a fraction of ESPN's average monthly fee of $2.60. And Golf Channel officials say they aren't planning an immediate increase to offset the costs of the PGA Tour contract -- another bet that in doing so, they will be able to get picked up on more cable systems.

In 2005, 63 percent of the Golf Channel's $267.5 million in revenue came from license fees, according to Kagan Research in Monterey, Calif. Cash flow was $116.7 million. For 2006, Kagan is projecting a 13 percent increase in revenues to $302.5 million and cash flow of $139 million.

Yet Another Newsflash From The Golf Channel

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Hot off the press release wire...

GOLF CHANNEL Tames Winds at Bob Hope Chrysler Classic with Extended Coverage in Prime Time

Demonstrating the cable network’s commitment to follow golf's breaking stories, the GOLF CHANNEL extended live tournament coverage to capture Charley Hoffman’s come-from-behind victory in a playoff over John Rollins at the final round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by George Lopez.

 With its pre-scheduled broadcast window scheduled to conclude at 7 p.m. ET, GOLF CHANNEL extended its live broadcast to provide viewers with shot-by-shot coverage and analysis of the first playoff of the 2007 PGA TOUR season.
Wow, the sacrifices they make! For all 8 of you who tuned in for the Sprint Post Game...
 On Golf Central (1 a.m. ET), Vince Cellini will sit down with Hoffman to break down his first PGA TOUR victory.  Golf Central also will highlight the top celebrity moments of the week.

Oh, let me go TiVo that. I wonder if I'll get a chance to see Oscar De La Hoya shadow boxing in front of a camera? The other 42 times weren't enough.

Missed any of the final round action due to the NFL Playoffs? 

No one was watching those lousy games! Come on. I mean, Sprint Post Game or Brady v. Manning down to the wire? Please.  

GOLF CHANNEL has viewers covered, with an encore presentation of the final round of play airing in its entirety beginning at 10 p.m. ET, and on Monday in prime time as a part of the network’s Monday Night Lights franchise at 8 p.m. ET.

You know I like this Monday Night Lights thing. If they keep playing these 5 hour + final rounds, they'll be finishing Monday nights under lights.

The Standing O...

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Now, I love Tadd Fujikawa and it was great to see the fans so energized by his Sony Open performance.

However, did you catch the moment when he arrives at 18 and The Golf Channel's GOLF CHANNEL's Kelly Tilghman and Nick Faldo join the standing ovation and GC (just a bit too quickly) cuts to the shot of them standing and clapping for Fujikawa?

Did anyone else get a Broadcast News flashback?  

It's hard to imagine Faldo doing that without some instruction.

And needless to say, no major network would allow its announcers to be such homers.

So, was the GC "standing o" staged?  

"Marketing solutions to elevate their brand presence on our air beyond commercial units."

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Shocking I know, but The Golf Channel GOLF CHANNEL has entered into a partnership that could call into question whether they might give favorable coverage to players with a certain affiliation. I know, I know...you're stunned.

Anyway, get out your MBAspeak bingo boards...

GOLF CHANNEL PGA TOUR Platform Secures Major Partnerships with TaylorMade-adidas Golf and UBS

ORLANDO, Fla., (Jan. 13, 2007) -The GOLF CHANNEL recently has secured multi-year partnerships with TaylorMade-adidas Golf and UBS, which provides the opportunity for both companies to maximize early the GOLF CHANNEL'S 15-year programming platform with the PGA TOUR, as well as the growth of the network.  

Maximize early the 15-year programming platform? Anyone care to translate?

TaylorMade-adidas Golf will hold a significant position within PGA TOUR-related programming on the GOLF CHANNEL throughout the golf season, while also becoming the network's official golf apparel and footwear company.  The company's golf apparel will be worn on all GOLF CHANNEL live tournament telecasts and in-studio programming.

TaylorMade-adidas Golf also will become the exclusive equipment and apparel sponsor of Live From the U.S. Open, a part of the network's signature wrap-around news and analysis franchise.  And the company will hold a major media position throughout the golf season in PGA TOUR tournament programming - as well as in franchise programming such as Golf Central and Sprint Post Game - to provide complete access to their core customer base.

Franchise programming, as opposed to just programming. Does this mean we'll have the set littered with R7's?

"We're extremely gratified that we've been able to work with TaylorMade-adidas Golf to establish and entirely new partnership" said Gene Pizzolato, GOLF CHANNEL executive vice president of advertising sales and new media.  "The demand for PGA TOUR product on our air has been strong, and we are thrilled that we were able to provide our partner at TaylorMade-adidas marketing solutions to elevate their brand presence on our air beyond commercial units."

Wow, reading Pizzolato is like watching Picasso paint or Michelangelo sculpt. A true master of his medium.

Though I have to say, maybe I watched Scarface too much as a child, but something about the use of product just makes me think of that white powdery stuff Tony Montana was peddling.        

Mercedes Ratings Put Medicus, LaLanne Infomercials To Shame

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Unfortunately, according to a reader who gets Street and Smith's Sports Business Daily report, Golf Channel's four-round live coverage of the Mercedes Benz Championship averaged 370,728 households, down 44% from the event's four round average on ESPN last year.

The final round averaged a 505,129 households, down 49% from ESPN's 997,310 households in 2006.

Ty Votaw, The PGA Tour's Executive Vice President of Whatever Bob Combs Used To Be In Charge Of, issued this statement...

"Conclusions after only one event--and the first event--in this relationship are not terribly productive. We're pleased with what we achieved in that first event because they were consistent with our projections. 

So even if the numbers were lousy, our VP of Number Crunching got it right, so it's all good! 

We're on track with respect to where the Golf Channel is in distribution.

And that means? 

Production quality, energy levels of the commentators and the way they could personalize the players to a much greater degree were huge positives...

 Yeah those energy levels will pay the bills...

...if you compare what we've been able to achieve in this first week with the numbers in comparison to previous Golf Channel programming numbers, we're doing precisely what the Golf Channel has paid us to do: cause people to find the PGA Tour on the Golf Channel."

They are paying us to up their numbers.

Of course, the Tour's sponsors are also paying handsomely for certain numbers.

Golf Channel Week One

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Well, sad to say, it still felt like The Golf Channel of old, only the GOLF CHANNEL of new did have some great hole graphics and solid production values.

The new camera gizmos and proper putting line thing are great, but the relentless naming of the sponsors will get old.

Oh, and what's with the tacky G logo and live notice in the upper right corner? 

Your thoughts? 

PGA Tour: Partial Golf Channel Owner?

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Thanks to reader Noonan for noticing Len Shapiro's Washington Post piece on Nick Faldo, which included this curious mention...

Sadly, ABC and its corporate cousin ESPN, are now essentially out of the golf business, save for their contract to keep the British Open (with Faldo in the booth, by the way). Instead of having many of its regular season events covered Thursday and Friday on the so-called sports leader, ESPN (or previous partner USA Network), the suits at PGA Tour headquarters in their 2006 round of TV negotiations decided they'd rather have all early round tournament coverage on The Golf Channel, which the tour partially owns.

I know there have been other mentions of the PGA Tour owning The Golf Channel GOLF CHANNEL, but has this ever been confirmed by the Tour, or one of the policy board members? Wait, why would the policy board know anything. Silly me!

Elling On TGC's New Look

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Wait, I meant GOLF CHANNEL, not TGC or even GC. My apologies to the brand.

Anyway, Steve Elling shares a few eye opening numbers in looking at The Golf...dammit, there I go again...in looking at GOLF CHANNEL's...wait, is the apostrophe s in caps too? Ah whatever. Here's what he wrote.

The undisputed heavyweight king of cable sports, ESPN is carried in 92 million homes while the Golf Channel logs in at 75 million. However, those numbers don't represent much other than unfulfilled potential if nobody is watching.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the average number of people who watched the Golf Channel at any moment in a 24-hour broadcast day during the 2006 fall season was a minuscule 44,000 people -- the approximate population of Titusville -- or 1.1 million fewer people below ESPN's average in the same time frame.

Actually, more stunning was this chart buried at the end of his piece...

Network     Sport     Avg. viewers
ESPN    Multiple    1,153,000
ESPN2    Multiple    324,000
NFL Network    Pro football    119,000
Speed Channel    Auto racing    117,000
Versus    Pro hockey    75,000
ESPN Classic    Sports history    66,000
ESPN News    Sports news    62,000
Golf Channel    Golf coverage    44,000

That's right, more people are watching ESPN News and ESPN Classic and bloody hockey on the network formerly known as Outdoor Life.

This also was a surprise....

Industry observers anticipated sweeping personnel changes when the contract was announced, but the staffing has mostly been handled in-house. McGuire estimated that the company only added a half-dozen employees to its overall payroll, bringing the total to around 385, but some of the names were crucial additions. Leading the way was the addition of six-time major champion Nick Faldo, who after two well received years at ESPN/ABC, will serve as lead analyst.

Only six new staffers? 

Whoa. 

The Wisdom of Bobby Clampett, Vol. 317

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"If he wasn't a professional, he'd be out there playing every day."

That's our man Bobby Clampett talking about Geoff Ogilvy during yesterday's Grand Slam telecast (thanks to reader Noonan for catching that pearl).

Here are some others, courtesy of TNT's PR department (yes, they actually send this stuff out!):

Clampett on Geoff Ogilvy:  “He’s been playing well for several years.  Everybody believes in him.  Everybody in his camp and in his circle said, ‘man, he can really play’ but I don’t think he believed that he could really play.  And that has been the difference in 2006 – that belief in himself.”

Clampett on Weir:  “He’s the modern day version of Corey Pavin – the bulldog that just keeps nipping at your heels.  He’s never going to let go.”Clampett on Jim Furyk as a high school athlete:  “Furyk in high school was an avid football and basketball player.  He just didn’t have the size.  He once scored 23 points in a high school basketball game.”

The meticulous research this man does! 

Clampett on the par-4 12th hole at Poipu Bay:  “That hole is placed like a candle on the side of a birthday cake.”

What imagery.

Clampett on Furyk’s unorthodox golf swing:  “He has grazed the edge of almost every putt today.  When you look at Jim Furyk and you talk about his style of swing, it’s not one that you would see many players copying, that’s for sure.  It’s like he’s not driving the fanciest car but he’s getting the best gas mileage.”

Clampett on the maturation of Geoff Ogilvy:  “He has gone through a metamorphosis in his temperament and character.  He talked about how he used to have an unbalanced view of reality.  He’d play a good round of golf and then look for reasons why it wasn’t any good.  But that is not the Geoff Ogilvy of today.  He’s composed and he just played two poor shots.”

Had enough? There are 18 more holes today!

"This format certainly makes the inaugural FedEx Cup next year seem less, well, playoff-y."

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Gary Van Sickle touches on something that I think is key with the ADT Championship: it's TV friendly on days other than Sunday. Of course the PGA Tour has run scared from such antics (ruining the International's Saturday cut to Sunday's free for all shootout).

Sadly, pro golf is a TV show first and a tournament second now. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar format become more popular.

Saturday's third-round telecast is usually inconclusive. A winner isn't crowned until Sunday. There's no closure. But the reduced-field format used by the ADT provided a sense of closure. And with only eight players left on the course Sunday, even though they all started out even before the last round, it's easy for TV to cover the action and be ready with features and backstories on the remaining contenders and not be surprised by an unexpected, early come-from-behind winner.

This format certainly makes the inaugural FedEx Cup next year seem less, well, playoff-y. That's significant because the Tour is touting them as playoffs, which they aren't. For starters, no other sport lets everybody into the playoffs -- not even the watered-down NHL.

And really, outside of the majors, what's wrong with a few more events shaking things up? And please don't give me the tradition debate. If the Western Open can be dismantled, tradition is not even on the table for discussion with the PGA Tour. 

"It's like going to a party. You show up and everyone's ready to go."

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Jerry Stewart interviews Johnny Miller for the Monterey County Herald. Let's see how long Johnny can go without referencing his 63 at Oakmont.

Q: Recently it was announced that the LPGA will have steroid/drug testing in 2008, do you think that should be the rule on the PGA Tour as well?

A: I guess some women on the tour think that others have an unfair advantage. Who those players are I have no idea. As for the men's tour, it's hard to believe people would take steroids to enhance their game. Then again, there may be a guy on the bubble who wants that extra 20 yards off the tee. Guys already do a lot of things to calm their nerves. Some guys drink and no one really knows about it. Some take legal drugs. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some guys out there taking steroids.

It's hard to believe people would take steroids to enhance their game. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some guys out there taking steroids. Okay.

Q: What are your thoughts on the equipment issue? Are guys too long off the tee?

A: I don't see a real issue here. Even with all the new equipment, a 63 is still a heck of a score. I managed to do it in an U.S. Open.

If you had question 2 in the pool, you won!

You still have 18 tries to make it into that little hole. I look at it that if a guy wants to bomb it 320 yards off the tee, he is trading off the chances of getting in more trouble. You still have to hit your irons and make the putt. While players may be emphasizing length, there is still room for players like (former pro) Calvin Peete, Fred Couples and Mike Weir. Guys who focus on accuracy off the tee. You don't have to hit it nine miles to score. You still want precision and accuracy.

Wait, did he just put Fred Couples in the same category as Calvin Peete? Because Freddie hits it so short, you know.

Q: What about the question regarding square grooves and irons?

A: Actually, the irons that are used by players today aren't much different than the ones we used back in the 1970's. The square grooves (which allow more spin) on today's irons do, however, help the players. It may help half-a-shot a round, but that's two shots per tournament which could add up. In my day, we had to worry about the ball jumping off the clubface. Today's players don't have to worry about that. In my opinion, the PGA Tour and USGA should roll back where, during competition, all players have to use V-grooves.

And you may get your wish.

Q: What do you think of Tiger's venture into the world of golf course design?

A: It sort of shows his creative side.

Oh? Don't you have to have designed a course before we know if there was some creativity involved?

Obviously, it's also a money making venture and shows that he's already thinking about life after golf.

Because Lord knows, he could be low on cash someday.

I'm sure some people like the Tour and Nike are scared that he may not stick around too much longer as a player. Tiger still has a lot of years of playing golf in him, but who knows? I've designed over 30 courses and it's fun. It's like going to a party. You show up and everyone's ready to go.

Kind of reminds you of something Bobby Jones would say, doesn't it?