2012 BMW TV Ratings Up Over '11's Abysmal Numbers

The Nielsen overnights NBC's BMW Championship telecast where Rory McIlroy bested one of the best leaderboards you'll see in modern times.

Third round: 1.8 (1.0 in 2011)

Final round: 2.6 (0.9 in 2011)

Update on 2012-09-12 02:14 by Geoff

**Golf Channel lowered it to a 2.5 in their press release...

o Overnight ratings for Sunday’s final round on NBC (2.5 household rating) was the best since the inception of the PGA TOUR Playoffs in 2007 and up 150 percent over last year.

o Golf Channel’s final-round, lead-in coverage (0.7/676,000) was up 154 percent over the same coverage in 2011.

o Saturday’s coverage of round three on NBC (1.8 overnight rating) was up 125 percent over 2011 and continuation coverage on Golf Channel (2.0/2,104,000) was the highest-rated and most-watched Saturday golf telecast on Golf Channel this year.*

o Round one on Golf Channel (1.0/979,000) was the highest-rated and most-watched round one of the BMW Championship as a PGA TOUR Playoff event (since 2007).

o Viewership for round two on Golf Channel (1.7/1,660,000) was up 200 percent over last year.**

Chris Berman To Continue Plaguing U.S. Open Telecast For Rest Of The Decade

ESPN announces a new deal locking up Chris Berman for six more years starting in '13.

 One of the preeminent sports commentators of his generation, Berman will continue as the leading voice and face of ESPN’s National Football League studio coverage as host of Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown and Monday Night Football halftime, NFL highlight segments on SportsCenter and the NFL Draft. He will also continue to host the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby and ESPN’s U.S. Open golf coverage.

ESPN had prepared us for this, but still, six years? Where was he going to go?

Awful Announcing took note of this year's awful announcing by Berman.

The Big Lead used the occasion to relive some of Berman's finest moments, including his classic rant.

Maybe Berman can buy some new golf clothes now?

NBC's Vision Of The Digital Future Is Here...

In this promo video below, note that the Ryder Cup and U.S. Open are mentioned as part of the NBC Sports Live Extra app, re-released Thursday. Expect the PGA Tour to also be available next year when the new television contract kicks in.

Here is the itunes link.

Bubba Makes Clear What He Thinks Of Golf Channel's Daytime Programming

Nice catch by Jonathan Wall. And nice focus by "On The Range" correspondent Alex Miceli to be so locked in as to be oblivious to the background activity.

The real gift of this video was the Bentley the bulldog puppy video that flashed up after Miceli. Much more cuddly and funny.

Update on 2012-08-30 03:42 by Geoff

**Golf Channel posted a clean copy of the segment:

"Golf Channel Launches Editorial Research Unit"

While their competitors at CBS are tightening budgets or cutting back, Golf Channel invests in something they can't quantify to enhance their telecasts and online coverage.

For Immediate Release:

GOLF CHANNEL LAUNCHES EDITORIAL RESEARCH UNIT
 
New Golf Research Unit Modeled After Successful Olympic Research Unit
 
ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 20, 2012) – Golf Channel has created a new Editorial Research Unit modeled after the Olympic Research Unit model first created by Roone Arledge at ABC Sports in 1967 and used over the past two decades by NBC as the foundation of its Olympic storytelling. Much in the same way that personalizing Olympic athletes from around the world through storytelling creates more compelling and entertaining Olympic programming, the golf research unit is designed to strengthen and ensure quality of editorial content across all platforms, including broadcast and cable television, and all digital offerings. The announcement was made today by Geoff Russell, Executive Editor, Golf Channel, who will oversee the group.

“By mining the best stories in golf, our research unit will give us a consistent editorial voice and strengthen the quality of our on-air product across all of our platforms,” said Russell. “The NBC Olympic research team has long been credited with helping viewers connect with its coverage and now is a key part of the Olympic broadcast. Our motivation was to apply that same concept to make Golf Channel even better.”

The Golf Channel Editorial Research Unit will be led by Gil Capps, a long-time Emmy Award winning producer for NBC Sports golf telecasts, who will serve as Managing Editor.

The research unit will support Golf Channel and NBC production teams, including news, tournaments and original productions, as well as GolfChannel.com.

Capps, who will relocate from North Carolina to Golf Channel Studios in Orlando, has provided statistics and editorial direction in the main announcer tower for Johnny Miller, Dan Hicks and Dick Enberg for more than 15 years. Capps will continue to work tournaments as part of his new responsibilities for Golf Channel and NBC.

Reed Burton, a former CBS golf researcher who has been a member of the Golf Channel team since 2006 working on such shows as Golf Central, Morning Drive and the network’s Live From franchise at golf’s major events, will be research editor.

Where You Can Watch The Wyndham Final Round Since You Sure Won't Find Out On The CBSSports Website!

A quick look at the CBSSports.com golf page--and that's about all I can muster these days (no offense, Shane Bacon)--does not reveal to readers when you can watch CBS Sports' production of the rain-delayed Wyndham Championship.

What a wonderful PGA Tour Partner, looking out for the fans who might not have seen the golf today but were curious about watching a pretty attractive finish where Sergio Garcia will try to fend off Tim Clark.

Thankfully, Helen Ross noted the TV and satellite radio start times in her blog post about the weather delay. And Golf Channel sent out a release because, unlike CBS Sports and their website, the aforementioned entities actually care about their fans.

FYI, the final round of the Wyndham Championship will resume on Monday with Golf Channel airing live coverage beginning at 9 a.m. ET.  Sergio Garcia is currently leading at 15-under-par.  Morning Drive will air live for two hours leading into live tournament coverage beginning at 7 a.m. ET, featuring live interviews on-site from Greensboro.  Golf Central will air live following the conclusion of the Monday’s final round coverage.
 
Below is Golf Channel’s Monday morning programming schedule (all times Eastern):
 
7-9 a.m.                                                       Morning Drive (Live)
 
9 a.m.-12 p.m. (Approx)                                Final Round Wyndham Championship (L)
 
After conclusion                                             Golf Central (Live)

Phelps Shifting From Coach Bob To Coach Hank

For Immediate Release...

ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 11, 2012) – Recently crowned the most decorated Olympian in history with an astonishing 22 career Olympic medals, U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has plans for the next stage of his career: to play the world’s greatest golf courses and improve his golf game under the watchful eye of Golf Channel’s Hank Haney. The Haney Project will chronicle Phelps’ attempts to improve his game from tee-to-green with the guidance of Tiger Woods’ former swing coach when the hit original series returns for a fifth season on Golf Channel – television’s fastest-growing network among those servicing more than 80 million homes – in February 2013. The announcement was made today by Phelps and Mike McCarley, President, Golf Channel.

"I have traveled the world through swimming, but really haven’t had an opportunity to experience the world through my travels," said Phelps. "As I enter this next chapter of my life, I think I will be able to shift my competitiveness to anything I put my mind to and golf is one of the things I want to focus on. If I have a goal of dropping a certain amount of shots, or working on my short game or putting, those things are going to keep me motivated and fire me up and keep me excited. I want to play all the world's great golf courses, but I'd like to play them well. I'm excited about this project with Golf Channel and I’m looking forward to working with Hank and see what we can do together on the golf course."


"We look forward to chronicling Michael's transition from the most-decorated Olympian in history to a frustrated golfer trying to enjoy playing the world’s greatest golf courses,” McCarley said. “Golfers everywhere will be able to relate to his quest to improve his game.”

Production for fifth season of The Haney Project will begin in September.

Phelps, who received a pegboard featuring the world’s greatest golf courses as a Christmas gift last year, will follow other celebrity students who have starred on The Haney Project, including NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley, Emmy Award-winner Ray Romano and Grammy Award-winning Maroon 5 front man and mentor on NBC’s “The Voice” Adam Levine. Host of the annual Michael Phelps Foundation Golf Classic, Phelps will begin filling the pegboard when production begins in September.

Each episode of The Haney Project will follow Phelps on his quest to play better golf, whether it’s one-on-one instruction on the golf course with Haney or developing lessons he will be able to practice on his own. The series also will showcase Phelps in his own environment with cameos by famous friends and other experts who check in on him during his journey, including his mother, Debbie Phelps, and Bowman. Subway, which has a long-standing partnership with Phelps as one of its “Famous Fans,” will be joining as one of the charter sponsors of The Haney Project’s fifth season.

The first season of The Haney Project, which starred Charles Barkley in 2009, marked the highest-rated launch of an original series at that time. Earlier this year, the series joined Feherty to create a new Golf Channel primetime Monday lineup, which boosted viewership by more than 20 percent over the same time period in 2011 and more than 60 percent over 2010.

CBS Execs Do Not Mind Slow Play

During this week's conference call, Ed Sherman asked CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus and producer Lance Barrow about slow play and not surprisingly it's not on their radar, with McManus noting that it might even add to the drama.

I’m not terribly concerned about it. Having watched a lot of golf this year, I know (slow play) has been a topic of discussion. But I haven’t seen it affect too many of the broadcasts. If they play slow because of the course conditions being tough at Kiawah, it adds to the drama.

Sherman isn't convinced and I'm actually of the mindset that CBS usually likes it when tournaments run long.  Four hour rounds for twosomes do not bother them because they simply have the tour, or in this week's case the PGA of America, adjust the tee times according. And let us never forget the importance of running long to give 60 Minutes a strong lead-in on the east coast. The real reason we're playing so late on Sundays.

Video Confirmation: Both Daly And Feherty Are Nuts!

I missed the season finale of Feherty last night but I'm guessing there will be repeat airings for the next few weeks. And this is worth watching on a big screen because it's just that insane.

Big Break Greenbrier Winner To Get Exemption Into 2013 Event, No Word On Size Of Possible Appearance Fee

For Immediate Release, but no word on possible enticements offered to the winner of golf's most cerebral television show after reports surfaced Thursday that the Greenbrier is offering appearance fees to star players:

Winner to Receive Exemption to 2013 Greenbrier Classic on the PGA TOUR
Big Break Greenbrier to Premiere Oct. 2
 
ORLANDO, Fla. (July 5, 2012) –Golf Channel’s popular Big Break reality competition series returns for its 18th season this fall at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia – the historic retreat known as “America’s Resort” – providing the opportunity for the winner to compete alongside the PGA TOUR’s best at The Greenbrier Classic in July 2013.

Big Break Greenbrier, produced at The Greenbrier in June and scheduled to premiere Oct. 2, will feature a cast of 12 male professional golfers competing against each other in an attempt to make their lifelong dreams of playing alongside the world’s top golfers a reality. The ultimate winner will receive an exemption to The Greenbrier Classic in July 2013, cash and other prizes.

Big Break Greenbrier will unfold on the resort’s four golf courses: The Old White TPC Course – home to The Greenbrier Classic; The Greenbrier Course – a Jack Nicklaus design and home to the 1979 Ryder Cup and the 1994 Solheim Cup; The Meadows Course – a Dick Wilson and Bob Cupp design that is often referred to as the most scenic of The Greenbrier courses; and The Snead Course – the private residents’ course and a Tom Fazio design that showcases a remarkable test of strategic tee shots, precision approaches and undulating fast greens.

During the series, the competitors will reside in two deluxe, 3,000-square-foot timber-framed homes in The Greenbrier Sporting Club luxury residential community, located 3,300 feet atop Greenbrier Mountain.

“We are excited about hosting our newest Big Break season at The Greenbrier and offering the winner the opportunity to compete in the 2013 Greenbrier Classic,” said Tom Knapp, Golf Channel senior vice president of programming. “Big Break is one of the longest-running series on television and one of our most important original series franchises, and we strive to give our competitors tough tests on the golf course while showcasing a picturesque location. We accomplished both with Big Break Greenbrier.”