Ratings: Strong Overnights For 2017 Open At Birkdale

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SBD's Austin Karp shared some overnight ratings for Jordan Spieth's win at The Open and for the first time, it may exceed the U.S. Open in total viewership.


Adweek also reported the total interactions on social media. What this means, I have no idea:

 

On the sports side, the final round of the 2017 Open Championship on Golf Channel and NBC drove and putted its way to 433,000 total interactions across Facebook and Twitter.

BBC To The Rescue! PGA Wants Eyeballs On Its Championship

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That was quick!

The PGA Championship appears headed to the BBC even after Sky Sports just started a dedicated golf channel. However, with few eyeballs and rights situations about to become golf's big battleground, Ewan Murray reports for The Guardian that this year's PGA will be on the open, free airwaves of BBC.

Sky losing the Masters and PGA surely must make the R&A uncomfortable given its long term deal with Sky. You may recall the debate from a few years ago involving the R&A moving to pay television and away from longtime partner BBC.

**In Wednesday's state of the R&A press conference Chief Executive Martin Slumbers took a swipe at the BBC coverage approach:

I think when we moved last year we took what was frankly a fairly tired and outdated broadcast and turned it into absolutely world class and raised the whole level of the way it was shown. And I think that was a combination and a partnership of those organisations with the R&A that I think has truly improved how people are watching golf.

And a testament to that was that we won, or Sky and ETP, won a BAFTA for sport. And they were up against the BBC's coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics, and also the Six Nations. So I think that was a fantastic testament to what we did last year at Royal Troon, and really shows what you can do with TV. We're building on that this year.

The world of media has changed out of all recognition in the last 20 years. I think the world of TV has changed and is going to change even more, and I don't think anyone knows exactly where it's going. But we're very comfortable working with a partner that really understands the technology, they understand golf, and they understand how they can help us showcase this fantastic championship to the world.

**This Tweet sums up the Slumbers take.

2017 Open Championship: American Viewing Schedule, Options

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For U.S. audiences, The Open viewing options are plentiful: Thursday and Friday you can watch via cable or your Golf Channel and NBC Sports apps (with subscription login).

The weekend will continue that coverage on NBC only, with news and programming surrounding the telecast on Golf Channel.

New this year is even more first day coverage with "Midnight Drive" lead-in coverage that starts at 9 pm Pacific Wednesday (yours truly will be there bright and early so tune in!).There is also exclusive digital coverage of the 1st and 18th holes (details below), Marquee Groups and Featured Holes (12, 13, 14).

Here goes:

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Thursday         1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-Midnight (Replay)

Friday              1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)      

Saturday          4:30-7 a.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (Replay)

Sunday            4-7 a.m. (Live) / Midnight-4 a.m. (Replay)

 

Tournament Airtimes on NBC (Eastern):

Saturday          7 a.m.-3 p.m. (Live)

Sunday:           7 a.m.-2 p.m. (Live)

 

NBC Sports Digital Complementary Feeds to the Broadcast

NBC Sports Group will offer several ancillary digital feeds to complement its linear broadcast, including: Marquee Group, Featured Holes (12, 13, 14) and The Open Spotlight, which will include coverage of the 1st and 18th holes, along with look-ins at players on the driving range, press center interviews and highlights. Digital coverage will include Golf Channel hosts Ryan Burr, Cara Robinson and Damon Hack, along with analysts Justin Leonard, Colin Montgomerie, Curt Byrum, Tom Abbott, Billy Ray Brown, Jerry Foltz, John Cook, Trevor Immelman and Billy Kratzert.

Golf Channel and NBC Sports digital platforms also will provide fans will full round replays, made available within the NBC Sports and Golf Channel Apps immediately following live coverage.


DirecTV to Simulcast Live Broadcast, Ancillary Feeds

DirecTV will simulcast the live tournament broadcast on Golf Channel / NBC throughout the tournament via their Mosaic, which also will include the feed from the Marquee Group, Featured Holes and The Open Spotlight. Other offerings on the Mosaic include an expanded leaderboard function, detailed player scorecards, and an ability to create a “favorites” list top the Mosaic leaderboard. The Mosaic Channel and interactive menu will be available to DirecTV subscribers during broadcast hours all four days, Thursday-Sunday.


News Coverage:

Wednesday, July 19  6-10 a.m.      Golf Central Live From The Open
                                            
10 a.m.-Noon                               Morning Drive

Noon-2 p.m.                                Golf Central Live From The Open


Thursday, July 20 

Midnight-1:30 a.m.                       Midnight Drive

4-5 p.m.                                      Golf Central Live From The Open

Friday, July 21                      

4-5 p.m.                                      Golf Central Live From The Open


Saturday, July 22                  

3-4 p.m.                                      Golf Central Live From The Open


Sunday, July 23                    

2-4 p.m.                                      Golf Central Live From The Open
                                            
7-9 p.m.                                      Champion Golfer of the Year (highlights show)

Sky Sports And The Masters: Are Golf's Governing Bodies About To Cut The Cable Cord?

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In the week Sky Sports has introduced a dedicated golf channel here in the UK for its extensive golf offerings, we learned they have lost the PGA Championship rights held since 1992.

Now Ben Rumsby reports exclusively for The Telegraph that Sky did not get is Masters contract renewed, while weekend and highlight rightsholder BBC did following the Masters.

This latest news, while not immediately affecting American viewers, suggest we are on the verge of seeing a major shake up in how golf tournaments are seen.

It's hard to see where The Masters goes except either to BBC for four days or to a streaming/app only version. Or, dare I say, testing out a pay-per-view model.

Could this also be the case for the PGA of America in the long term? Perhaps, though it's still a head-scratcher to not have their UK broadcast rights settled a month out from their championship.

We've seen signs in recent years that golf's leaders believe they will have to create very different ways to reach audiences going forward, but given that golf fans tend to be five years behind on most trends, might some of their sponsors think they're getting ahead? Or is this the perfect time to test out new models on a relatively small but sophisticated market? Is that enough rhetorical questions for a Friday?

Sky Sports Loses PGA Championship TV Rights On Eve Of PGA Championship

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The Guardian's Ewan Murray reports that Sky Sports has lost the rights to next month's PGA Championship, "in what marks an embarrassment to the broadcaster just days after it announced the launch of a dedicated golf channel."

After ten years, Murray says the PGA of America is looking for a new age way of distributing the PGA in the UK. Sky Sports currently broadcasts all of the majors and PGA Tour coverage. The PGA's CCO wheeled out some big words but gave not firm hint as to the model shift, which will be closely watched given that the PGA of America will begin discussing their next television contract later this year or in early 2018.

“Broad distribution, multi-platform distribution is the key objective for us,” he said. “I’m not in a position yet to share all the details but we want the ability to engage golf fans of all ages across all platforms.

“We want the broadest distribution we can possibly have and are very excited about the plan we have in place.”

Poll: Does a lead analyst need to have a major on the résumé?

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With Johnny Miller back for another year, as he revealed to us in Golfweek, the game has another year of its version of McEnroe or Barkley.

It does not appear that there is yet a Johnny-like successor in the wings, with only Fox's Paul Azinger matching Johnny's level of frank, often critical commentary. Nick Faldo, lead man at CBS, also has his moments too but Johnny is clearly a special talent who still works at the job. And even better, works at not getting too close to players so that he can analyze bluntly.

As a two-time major winner, Miller does have a perceived advantage that someone like Brandel Chamblee does not enjoy as merely someone who played the PGA Tour.

But as a viewer, does the major championship winning gravitas matter compared to the quality of commentary?

The poll:

Does a lead analyst need to have a major on the résumé?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Ratings: Follow Up To Silliness Of Competing Golf Tournaments

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Paulsen at SportsMediaWatch.com scrutinzed ShowBuzzDaily.com's ratings roundup and noted that the KPMG Women's PGA Championshp fared well against final rounds of the PGA Tour and U.S. Senior Open.

The 0.6 rating on NBC was up slightly even though it featured a much longer telecast this year.

Final round coverage of the Women’s PGA Championship, the second major of the LPGA Tour season, earned a 0.6 final rating and 840,000 viewers on NBC Sunday afternoon — flat in ratings and up 1% in viewership from last year, when NBC aired just 90 minutes of coverage (0.6, 829K), and up a tick and 21% respectively vs. 2015 (0.5, 695K).

It was the largest audience for the tournament in at least five years, and likely further back.

The KPMG beat the U.S. Senior Open telecast but as this chart shows, all of the events on at the same time diverted eyeballs and, as noted here, would have been better served with more coordinated finish times and/or days for the benefit of all.

Bones Trades In His Bib For A Headset

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Jim "Bones" Mackay, not to be confused with another McKay, has raked his last bunker but is probably reserving the right to tell a spectator "no cameras" after signing a multi-year deal with Golf Channel/NBC.

For Immediate Release:

“BONES” JOINS NBC SPORTS GROUP

Veteran PGA TOUR Caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay Becomes On-Course Reporter, Starting with The Open at Royal Birkdale; Adds Unique Perspective from 25-Year Partnership Alongside Phil Mickelson’s Hall-of-Fame Career

ORLANDO, Fla., July 6, 2017 – NBC Sports Group today announced that Jim “Bones” Mackay officially will join the network’s live tournament coverage as an on-course reporter, adding his unique perspective to Golf Channel and NBC’s coverage of The Open, FedExCup Playoffs and Presidents Cup in 2017. The multi-year agreement will fold Mackay into NBC Sports’ tournament coverage team with a full schedule of events on Golf Channel and NBC in 2018.

“For years, I have admired the fashion in which the NBC Sports team goes about covering the game and I am thrilled to be joining the team,” said Mackay. “During my years as a caddie, I had the opportunity to watch Tommy Roy work his magic in the production truck, and walk the fairways with Notah Begay, Roger Maltbie and Mark Rolfing. To join them and be a part of the coverage of some of golf’s biggest events – starting with The Open – is an opportunity I’m very grateful for, and I’m eager to add my take to help illustrate the strategic decisions golfers face inside the ropes.”

“Bones’ keen observations and ability to draw insight from personal experience will bring an original perspective to our coverage and complement our already well-respected broadcast team,” said Tommy Roy, lead golf producer for NBC Sports. “The player-caddie dynamic in golf is often one of the most compelling and unique narratives being captured during our coverage.

Bones has a career’s worth of experience being immersed in the most pressure-packed situations on golf’s biggest stages working alongside Phil, one of the most cerebral champions in the sport.”

This is the first occasion in which a full-time PGA TOUR caddie has been signed for a tournament broadcasting role. However, Mackay’s decision to join NBC Sports Group isn’t the first time he’s traded in a caddie bib for a microphone, as he – along with fellow caddie John “Woody” Wood – took part in Golf Channel’s live tournament coverage as on-course reporters at the 2015 RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Ga.

Mackay caddied for Mickelson during a 25-year stretch that ultimately would encompass a Hall of Fame career, led by five major championships, 42 PGA TOUR wins, as well as representing the United States on 22 consecutive occasions as a member of Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams.

Steve DiMeglio at USA Today says Bones has long been a hardcore telecast watcher.

TV feels like a natural move for Mackay, who said he loves the game and was a golf rat as a kid.
“I would watch everything from start to finish. I would read golf magazines from beginning to end,” Mackay said. “I’ve always been fascinated by the game at this level. Certainly when I was lucky enough to get to caddie on the PGA Tour you take in everything around you.

“I loved watching what the TV guys do. It’s intriguing. I think it’s yet another fascinating aspect of the golf world.”

Kevin Casey notes at Golfweek.com that Bones is all-in, working the summer and fall's big events before moving to a full time role in 2018.

As Golf Channel announced, Mackay will work several big events right away. In addition to the Open, he’ll also be part of the team for the Presidents Cup and several postseason events culminating with the Tour Championship. The idea will be for him to move to a full schedule starting in 2018.

Ratings: Travelers 2.7 Second Best Sunday Overnight Of '17, Final U.S. Open Numbers Second Lowest On Record

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The PGA Tour got some good news as Jordan Spieth's win at the 2017 Travelers and his overall ability to lure in non-golf fans gave CBS a nice final round rating. This is the second Sunday in a row for CBS to finish up in the numbers (Karp/SBD).

SBD's Austin Karp with the positive overnight news:

 

As for the U.S. Open, I've put off a post on the dreary ratings news (3.6 overnight) in part because I hate the reflection it makes on the players who contended.

Now that they've had their moment and we've had time to ponder the golf at Erin Hills, it's apparent that some combination of the telecast length (9.5 hours!), protagonists, venue, Central Time Zone and seemingly reduced marketing budget effort by Fox contributed to the second lowest rating and smallest audience on record.

The combination of stunning visuals, production values and noticeable difference between Fox and other telecasts can't be blamed. I would, however, strongly agree with Martin Kaufmann's Golfweek assessment that on-course reporters were underutilized.

The overall audience size was also a troublesome number according to Karp:

 

 

U.S. Open Ratings: Third Round 2.55; Undisputed Lightly Watched

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The third round overnight rating for Fox's U.S. Open third round telecast drew a 2.55, tying last year's rating for the lowest third round on record and down 24% from the 3.35 Fox drew it's first year at Chambers Bay. Do remember these numbers do not account for streaming views. These are also the longest viewing windows in the history of the U.S. Open--nine hours Saturday, nine-and-a-half on Sunday.

The third round overnight, if it holds, is actually lower than last year's Open Championship third round (2.75) on NBC, which was played in the morning hours vs the U.S. Open spilling into Saturday night prime time.

Hopefully Saturday's excitement and the various highlights seen by sports fans who did not tune in will get more people to tune in Sunday.

As for Fox's on-site shows of Undisputed featuring Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayliss, Thursday's 9-9:30 am EST show drew a .03, averaging 37,000 viewers. For perspective, Golf Central's Live From drew a .11, averaging 138,000 viewers over the same half hour.

In the 9:30-11 am window that led into FS1's first round U.S. Open telecast, Undisputed drew a 0.9 to 123k average vs. Live From's .18, 237k average audience over the 90 minutes.

On Friday Undisputed's 9-9:30 am drew a .05 to Live From's .14, while the 9:30 am-11 am EST window ended in a .09 vs. .17 for Live From leading into the second round telecast.

But hey, the Undisputed content was spectacular:

 



 

2017 U.S. Open On Pace For "Historically Weak" Performance

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Given no Tiger, no Phil, an unknown venue, falling ratings in almost all sectors and what seemed like a less relentless advertising campaign compared to recent years, the 2017 U.S. Open seemed destined for ratings toruble. Now couple that with the departures of several stars and...

Paulsen at SportsMediaWatch.com says "if round one is any indication, the U.S. Open is on pace for another historically weak performance."

He has a full report on round one ratings, which were way up over last year's rain-out, way down over 2015 at Chambers Bay.

First round coverage of the U.S. Open averaged 1.2 million viewers across FOX and Fox Sports 1 Thursday, up 44% from last year, when play was mostly rained out (805K), but down 41% from 2015, when the tournament took place on the West Coast and stretched further into primetime (2.0M).

Paulsen also is predicting weekend ratings for all sports and says that in spite of no NBA Finals competition, "expect historically low numbers nonetheless. Predictions: 2.1 and 3.1."

The U.S. Open telecast placed fourth in the 8-9 pm ET prime time hour Thursday night behind reruns on the other networks.

SBD On 2017 PGA Tour Sunday Ratings Drop

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Thanks to reader PG for this piece by Sports Business Daily’s Thomas Leary, who considers the PGA Tour joining "a growing list of sports properties to see a decline in audience in ‘17."

Many noteworthy points are raised in exploring the 18-week straight dip in Sunday ratings, including digital viewers not counted by Nielsen ratings and similar ratings drops in most sports. Not mentioned: fatigue from the wraparound season (aka over-saturation), the length of telecasts saturating numbers while also testing a short-attention span society, cord-cutting and a President Trump distraction effect.

Mostly though, the story suggests that no one has come close to replacing Tiger both as a charismatic figure and dominant force who people love watching win.

Colvin Sports Network Founder & President Bill Colvin, a veteran of the golf hospitality space, noted when Woods was winning majors at a consistent clip, it was easy for fans to keep track of the sport’s most popular player. Colvin: “Now there’s all the good young guys, but there’s so many to keep track of and all relatively speaking are inconsistent. There’s no momentum built on one storyline right now in golf.”

More PGA Tour Live numbers!

Total visits to PGATour.com this year are up 10%, while PGATour Live subscribers (+33%) and streams (+42%) are also up. CBS and NBC/Golf Channel’s combined live streams are up 16% this year, and the Tour’s social channels have grown by 36% over last year. "It’s not as if our fans aren’t consuming our content,” Votaw said. However, he conceded social and digital viewing "are our snacks, and the TV product is our meal.”

This is a point worth considering on digital growth, though I would say slightly refuted by the success of specialized feeds for The Masters and US Open.

As for its digital platforms, Pilson said golf “probably isn’t getting a bump” because its core audience is “older than almost any other sport.” Pilson: “I’ve yet to see a 60-year-old checking his mobile phone for the golf telecast. My guess is that the benefits that digital is providing for leagues like the NFL and NBA isn’t accruing for golf.”

Perhaps for mainstream audiences, but I think we all would agree golf has an opportunity with specialized feeds that are more engaging than any other sport can offer: featured groups, featured holes and other niche elements that make for great viewing on the office computer!

TV Golf Viewers Still Skew Old, But At Least We're Not Wrestling!

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In "Going gray: Sports TV viewers skew older" Sports Business Daily's John Lombardo & David Broughton return to their 2006 survey of sports viewers and find that the audience is getting older across the board.

Golf, naturally, tops most of their lists with a median age of 64. Only one sports saw their median age drop, and golf was not greying the fastest (that wrestling!).

The study, conducted exclusively for SportsBusiness Journal by Magna Global, looked at live, regular-season game coverage of major sports across both broadcast and cable television in 2000, 2006 and 2016. It showed that while the median age of viewers of most sports, except the WTA, NBA and MLS, is aging faster than the overall U.S. population, it is doing so at a slower pace than prime-time TV.

Of course, as fascinating as the story is, I can only imagine the meetings this week where this comes up and nervous execs obsess about how we get the kids in our sports. The answers aren't pretty unless you see an opportunity here to tighten broadcast windows up a tad.

The trends show the challenges facing leagues as they try to attract a younger audience and ensure long-term viability, and they reflect the changes in consumption patterns as young people shift their attention to digital platforms.

“There is an increased interest in short-term things, like stats and quick highlights,” said Brian Hughes, senior vice president of audience intelligence and strategy at Magna Global USA. “That availability of information has naturally funneled some younger viewers away from TV.”

We also got some PGA Tour Live numbers out of this effort, so there is that. From the PGA Tour's Ty Votaw:

Votaw also noted that audience trends today can’t be solely focused on the linear TV viewer and pointed to a younger audience on tour-run digital properties.

“When you go to PGATour.com, the median age is 55 and for our PGATour Live (over-the-top network), the median age is 20 years younger than on broadcast,” he said.

That still puts the median at 44, which PGA Tour Live is still largely watched by Non-People-Who-Matter viewers (aka millennials).

There were several charts with the piece, but the one showing golf not graying quite so badly proved eye-opening given the supposed hipster status of pro wrestling and UFC.

Tony Romo Making CBS Debut At Colonial

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Kevin Patra of NFL Network reports that former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will don the CBS blue blazer this weekend at Colonial to kick off his post-playing career with an 18th tower cameo. Romo is set to join Jim Nantz this fall as part of the lead CBS NFL broadcast team.

From Patra's story:

"I will give you a little note," Barrow told the audience while glowing about Romo. "This weekend for the first time ever he will be in the announce booth at 18 for a few moments. And it will be the first time that he will have the CBS Sports blazer on and he will be introduced as our newest addition to CBS Sports, right here at Colonial."

Barrow then asked the crowd to keep the news under wraps.

"Please don't tweet that or any of that, it's supposed to be a surprise," he said.

Ratings: Players Down, Second Best Overnight Of 2017

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The leaderboard's lack of star power was expected to hurt ratings and it delivered!

Paulsen at SportsMediaWatch.com points out the good news first: Si Woo Kim's 2017 Players win was the second best PGA Tour overnight rating of the year. Unfortunately it's a year that has seen a ratings decline, with this year's Players the lowest (2.6) since a rain delayed 2005.

Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Players Championship earned a 2.6 overnight rating on NBC Sunday afternoon, down 16% from last year (3.1), down a third from 2015 (3.9), and tied as the tournament’s lowest Sunday overnight since at least 1998.

And if you're hunting for the positive...

It ranked second for the weekend among sporting events behind Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on ABC (5.6).