Rack Up A Perfect Club Rerun...

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...because another hour of the Honda isn't worth it?

This is an odd one, reported by Craig Dolch in the Palm Beach Post:

TV air times returned to three hours: A week after saying it would cuts its Thursday and Friday telecasts of Honda by an hour, Golf Channel officials announced Wednesday it has returned its air times to 3-6 p.m.

Last week, the network announced the air times had been changed to 4-6 p.m. in the first two rounds, without giving a reason. The Palm Beach Post reported the reason for the change was Golf Channel was trying to persuade American Honda to buy more advertising, but the car company balked.

A source Wednesday said the Golf Channel made its change after receiving a phone call from PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, who didn't want to lose two hours of golf coverage.

 

"The Golf Channel, by any other name, couldn't be any less of a golf channel."

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Phil Mushnick is a big fan of Golf Channel's coverage...
What initially struck many golf fans as good, sensible news - The Golf Channel landing live coverage of PGA Tour events - has thus far proven to be a terrible joke.

TGC's latest co-produced train wreck - this one with NBC - began Wednesday, 64 of the world's best in match play for the World Golf Championship. Unless one tuned in to see scenery (mostly cactus), commercials, interviews, promos and insanely unnecessary cuts to TGC's studio, coverage was infuriating.

At one point, TGC abandoned live golf for a chat with Geoff Ogilvy, who'd just won his match. Among the questions TGC's Rich Lerner asked was what Ogilvy thought of Tiger Woods' seven-PGA-events win streak. "It's impressive," Ogilvy replied. Live and learn.
Then it was off to commercials, then to the studio, where we were shown clips of Woods from last year's WGC - and encouraged to watch the WGC on TGC. (We'd love to, if you only let us!)

Inside The...Cables?

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I might actually go down to the Golf Channel set to take in this interactive/it's-all-about-you experiment gone awry: 

Golf Fans to Go “Inside the Ropes” with the GOLF CHANNEL at the Nissan Open
 
 The GOLF CHANNEL will offer golf fans inside the ropes opportunities during the Nissan Open this week at Riviera Country Club. Beginning Thursday, the cable network will give behind-the-scenes access to its news production at the tournament, with live audiences during the broadcasts of its signature news shows – Sprint Pre/Post Game and Golf Central – for the first time.
 
 Situated near the 10th tee at Riviera Country Club, select golf fans will be on the stage to watch the live production of Sprint Pre/Post Game and Golf Central.  In addition, select golf fans will be able to view tournament coverage shot-by-shot in front of the stage throughout the duration of the tournament.

ESPN and Tennis Channel

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I wonder if this could happen with ESPN and The Golf Channel for say, the Mercedes or Players Championships...

ESPN and The Tennis Channel will share U.S. cable TV and multimedia rights for the French Open and Australian Open through 2011 under an agreement announced Tuesday.

In August, The Tennis Channel bought the U.S. cable TV rights to the French Open previously held by ESPN. With the new deal, The Tennis Channel will air more than 100 hours of the clay-court Grand Slam, while ESPN2 will have 55 hours.

Beginning with the 2008 Australian Open, ESPN2 will continue as the main network from Melbourne; it's aired more than 120 hours of the tournament in recent years. The Tennis Channel will now be able to show up to 100 hours of that tournament when ESPN2 is not on the air.

Not So Pat Question and Pat-hetic Answer

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Kudos to Peter Kostis for slipping in the "where will we see you next" question of Tiger in his post-final round Buick interview. Word has been quietly filtering out that he's likely not going to play at Riviera, and this was seemingly confirmed by Tiger's absurd answer about the long trip to Dubai and needing time to rest (though it did set up a nice zinger from Faldo about the trevails of traveling on a G5!).

Look Tiger, whether it's the traffic, the lousy weather, the poa greens, the lousy threadcount on the sheets at the Malibu beach house you rented, it doesn't matter. But don't claim fatigue with a week off after Dubai. You are more creative than that! 

But it also seems one of the writers (who!?) was pretty skeptical of Tiger's reasoning for likely skipping Riviera, and judging by the answer he received, the question hit a little too close to home...

 Q. If you don't play Nissan for whatever reason, if you're not ready or what-have-you, there will probably be some speculation like at East Lake where you're now at a point where you're trying to protect your streak, especially at a place like Riviera where you've never come close to winning; what would your answer be to that?

TIGER WOODS: People can say whatever they want. That's their opinion. They are entitled to it.

Pat Questions and Pat Answers

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Besides Nick Faldo's debut, CBS introduced new graphics and going to one commercial, Jim Nantz plugged everything imaginable, and some cool Killers music reminiscent of an ABC telecast briefly appeared (but lots of tired Yanni for the most part).

The only highlight was the pairing of those two lovebirds, Tiger Woods and Peter Kostis. I'm not sure what exactly gave the love-hate away. The lack of eye contact? The distance between the two, or the general feel of a dentist office conversation?

Well as promised, Kostis delivered pat questions.

Your thoughts on today's round?

How did you feel in terms of your competitive spirit with three rounds under your belt this year?

How do you feel about the overall state of your swing and game?

Thoughts about tomorrow?

Credit for Kostis for not asking any pending fatherhood questions. Those are getting really old. And we have 6 months to go! 

"I don't get the GOLF CHANNEL so I didn't see any of it."

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Thanks to reader Scott for noticing this fun exchange between Brandt Snedeker and the scribblers. He's talking about how excited his parents were at his play and that they were watching it on The Golf Channel GOLF CHANNEL (thanks ASAP for reminding me it goes in caps). Snedeker is staying at the Hampton Inn where, well, he couldn't watch with them.

 Q. You keep on talking about your dad; is he here?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: He's not. He's at home watching on TV probably more nervous than I will ever be. He's sweating it out at home.

Q. Did you talk to him? What did he say?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: I talked to him last night. He's giddy as a school girl on cloud nine, could not be happier, just loving every minute of it. He and my mom are watching it on TV, they were watching the replay last night and I don't get the GOLF CHANNEL so I didn't see any of it. They said, give me play-by-play, and it's like, I was out there -- (laughter).
It was a good experience. They are excited and it's great to see them that fired up.

Q. What are their names?
BRANDT SNEDEKER: Larry and Candy. Staying at Hampton Inn. I'm not going to be Will MacKenzie and give you the room number. (Laughter.)

 

Johnny On "Hall of Fame Guys"

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Here's another nugget from Jaime Diaz's Golf Digest piece on televised golf. He's talking to Johnny Miller about his relationship with Tiger:

Miller's relationship with Woods, for example, is respectful from afar. "Tiger's not a chummy guy, and I'm not a chummy guy," says Miller. "Hall of Fame guys are not really talkative with other males, you know. But I've treated Tiger fairly, said what I had to say." Despite not having a great voice or being much of a wordsmith, Miller has an uncanny instinct for seeing what's most interesting about the game.

I guess since Tiger's never shot 63 in a major, Johnny couldn't refer to "63-in-a-major guys."

And you know, come to think of it, I've sensed the same kind of lack of chumminess at golf tournaments since my third place finish in the Golf Writer's Association of America writing contest. Golf Writer's Award winners just aren't talkative with other award winning males, you know.

 

Final Golf Channel Coverage Post Mortem

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Now that their big three weeks are up and before we forget about Golf Channel's coverage, Golfobserver's Sal Johnson asks whether the public will perceive the telecasts "network quality," as had been promised. 

I thought a few of the gizmos and camera work was better than the network stuff, but for some reason they still felt like Golf Channel productions instead of networks.

Your thoughts? 

"Tiger prefers pat questions so he can give pat answers"

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Jaime Diaz talks to various folks about television coverage in golf. The story is accompanied by a survey that sent shivers down my spine. The American public can be frightening.

Anyway, loved this quote from Peter Kostis. It should really help smooth over that relationship with Tiger!

"Tiger prefers pat questions so he can give pat answers," says Kostis.


The Numbers Are In...

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Not a very good showing for the first three weeks on The Golf Channel. Overall, they averaged .52 rating/384,000 households for their live telecasts. In case you are wondering, that's the equivalent of all the good folks in Tulsa watching...and no one else in America.

Round        Event        Rating        Households
1            Mercedes        .45            331,000
2            Mercedes        .41            305,000
3            Mercedes        .48            356,000
4            Mercedes        .68            505,000

1            Sony         .51            381,000
2            Sony        .54            399,000
3            Sony        .35            261,000
4            Sony        .67            501,000

1            Hope        .34            254,000
2            Hope        .40            299,000
3            Hope        .45            332,000
4            Hope        .77            574,000
5            Hope        .70            523,000

I've attempted to find out the 2006 Hope final round number, but haven't gotten it yet. However, the 2004 Hope final round drew a 3.8.