5.1: Valspar Final Round Highest Rated Golf Telecast Since 2015 PGA

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Many (thank you Tiger) ratings milestones matched at Sunday's 2018 Valspar (thank you Tiger) even with out purportedly greater, more amazing, more popular, generally wonderful next generation near the leaderboard top.

For Immediate Release:

Final Round Coverage of Valspar Championship on NBC Earns 5.11 Overnight Rating;
Highest-Rated (Non-Major) Golf Broadcast Since 2013 PLAYERS
 
Yesterday’s final round coverage of the Valspar Championship on NBC (3-6p ET) earned a 5.11 Overnight rating (+190% year-over-year), becoming the highest-rated (non-major) PGA TOUR broadcast in nearly five years, dating back to the final round of Tiger Woods’ win at the 2013 PLAYERS Championship (5.7). Sunday’s final round Overnight also is the highest-rated golf telecast (outside of the Masters) since the 2015 PGA Championship (5.14) according to data released by The Nielsen Company.
                                                                                          
Golf Channel’s final round lead-in coverage (1-3p ET) earned a 1.65 Overnight, becoming the highest-rated Golf Channel PGA TOUR “lead-in” telecast on record (2009-’18).
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
·       Coverage peaked at a 6.62 from 5:30-6p ET on NBC and a 2.12 from 2:30-3p ET on Golf Channel.

·       Final Round coverage of the Valspar Championship on NBC was +28% vs. final round of the 2015 Wyndham Championship (4.0), the last time Tiger Woods contended on a Sunday, and +73% vs. final round of The Honda Classic a few weeks ago.

·       The Valspar Championship saw 27.2 million minutes streamed across Golf Channel / NBC Sports’ Digital platforms, becoming the most-streamed PGA TOUR event ever for the network, and the fourth-most streamed golf event overall for NBC Sports behind the 2016 and 2017 Open, along with the 2016 Ryder Cup. (source: Adobe Analytics)

·       Sunday’s coverage saw 15.4 million minutes streamed, +1060% vs. 2017.

·       In the event’s home market of Tampa, the final round Overnight rating was a 10.98.

The numbers could explain why, contrary to the cries of Golfweek's Martin Kaufmann, we did not see a single shot from Jason Kokrak, Branden Grace, Rory Sabbatini or Webb Simpson. How will we carry on having not seen their wizardry?

Tiger Giving Valspar Championship A Nice Ratings Bump

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The numbers over the first two days suggest a huge Tiger bump, especially considering day one was a Thursday telecast. 

Friday's telecast did not feature live golf from Woods, but still drew well:

Ratings: Honda Up 38% Against Tough Competition

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CBS drew a 2.9 overnight rating for the 3:15-6 pm ET block of Sunday’s 2018 Honda Classic, that’s up 38% over Rickie Fowler’s 2017 win on NBC according to SBD.  The Tiger effect played an incredible role given the competition in that window that included NASCAR (3.1), Winter Olympics (2.2) and NBA (Spurs-Cavs) on ABC (2.3). 

For those wondering about a strong lead-in from Michigan State-Wisconsin running long, the Big-10 matchup drew a 1.4 in its 1-3:15 pm ET window. 

Saturday’s Honda Classic third round drew a 1.8 on CBS, with a .8 lead-in audience from Louisville-Virginia Tech. 

Golf Channel Says 2018 Starts With Most Watched January Yet

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As the Wall Street Journal sorts through the reasons for another NFL ratings drop (thanks reader John), golf continues a positive start to 2018 with this news from

For Immediate Release:

GOLF CHANNEL POSTS MOST-WATCHED JANUARY, CAPPED BY MOST-WATCHED SUNDAY IN NETWORK HISTORY
 
Golf Digital Wraps Best January Ever for Minutes Streamed and Page Views
 
ORLANDO, Fla. (February 2, 2018) – Golf Channel posted its most-watched January ever with an average of 116,000 viewers per minute in Total Day, up 23% vs. last year and up 10% vs. the previous high in January 2013, according to data released by The Nielsen Company. This builds off December 2017 being the most-watched December ever for Golf Channel. Additionally, January’s success was mirrored across Golf Digital, which posted its best January for minutes streamed (22.6M) and page views (78.5M), up 34% and 19% respectively.
 
Sunday, January 28 was Golf Channel’s most-watched Sunday on record. During the PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open playoff between Jason Day and Alex Noren from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday – airing opposite The Grammy Awards – Golf Channel was the No. 1 Nielsen-measured cable network for Total Viewers, up 24% vs. second place (ESPN). The playoff was also Golf Channel’s most-watched PGA TOUR telecast ever.
 
“Golf is carrying a lot of momentum into 2018 with a deep roster of developing stars across the professional tours, a superstar making his return to competitive golf and a rapid evolution in the many ways golfers are participating in and consuming the game,” said Mike McCarley, president, Golf, NBC Sports. “It’s especially promising to see record viewership — and it’s only January.”
 
Golf Channel’s comprehensive slate of tournament coverage rounds out record-setting January:
·       LPGA Tour’s Pure Silk Bahamas Classic Round One became the tour’s most-watched Opening Day in 9 years.
·       PGA TOUR Champions saw 2nd best Opening Day in 5 years at Mitsubishi Electric Championship.
·       Web.com Tour’s Round One from the Bahamas Abaco Classic was the tour’s most-watched telecast since July 2016.

CBS Rolling Out Some Golf Refreshments

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After three weeks of exclusively Golf Channel broadcasts, the PGA Tour turns over the keys to CBS for the next five weeks (Honda Classic is on CBS this year due to the Olympics on NBC) and plans to roll out a few refreshments to its broadcasts.

The Forecaddie with details of the two big boosts--Amanda Balionis becoming a full-time interviewer after an extensive tryout last year, and we're getting 18-hole Trackman data. 

There is also a special request for a sooner golf debut from Tony Romo. 

SI Media Podcast With Jim Nantz Talking Masters, Golf, Romo

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ShackHouse listeners--we're back next week!--know from his appearance in 2016 that when Jim Nantz gets going on a podcast, you wish it wouldn't end.

In his lengthy discussion with SI's Richard Deitsch for episode 156 of the SI Media Podcast, the CBS announcer discusses this Sunday's AFC Championship game. But mostly the conversation keeps coming back to golf and a passion for the game shared by Nantz with incredible new CBS analyst Tony Romo.

There is also plenty of discussion of the late Dick Enberg and a fun Keith Jackson golf story related to a young Nantz at the 1974 U.S. Open, as well as much Masters talk.

At the 55 minute mark or so, Nantz addresses the dreaded CEO interview issue (viewers assume he's just called them in for the fun of it!).

Around the 1 hour and 16 second mark he talks of his dream of announcing a U.S. Open. Come on Loomis, make it happen at Pebble Beach next year! Nantz on Featured Hole coverage in a booth overlooking 6, 7 and 8! Chop chop!

At the 1:20 mark he explains how he'd like to go out as an announcer.

Ratings Up For First Two PGA Tour Hawaii Events

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Steve Elling at MorningRead.com follows up on the state of the Golf Channel-IATSE labor dispute with some insightful behind-the-scenes color as Thursday kicks off coverage from La Quinta and Hawaii.

Meanwhile, ratings for the strike-impacted Sony were up despite the limited production values.

VIEWERSHIP: Sunday’s Final Round of @SonyOpenHawaii was Golf Channel’s most-watched live coverage in a decade from this event. 524K average viewers, +86% vs. 2017 and +13% vs. 2016.

— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) January 18, 2018

And this from Sports Media Watch on the Sentry TOC the week prior, with an increase despite the runaway win.

Final round coverage of the PGA Tournament of Champions had a 0.42 rating and 624,000 viewers on Golf Channel last Sunday, up 8% in ratings and 3% in viewership from last year (0.39, 608K) but down 19% and 22% respectively from Jordan Spieth‘s win in 2016 (0.52, 797K).

Third round action the previous day had a 0.37 (+48%) and 544,000 (+34%).

"Golf Channel, union still at odds as strike continues"

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We'll find out during CareerBuilder Challenge and Mitsubishi Electric (PGA Tour Champions) coverage just how impacted coverage is, but I suspect we won't see anything like Sunday's Sony Open telecast.

Martin Kaufmann writing for Golfweek.com with this update on the strike against Golf Channel by the union representing the production crews.

“Our contingency plans are fully operational …,” Golf Channel spokesman David Schaefer said. “We will continue to deliver coverage with this week’s full slate of tournaments, as well as support the union members who have chosen to come back to work.”

The dispute between Golf Channel and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents about 350 technicians, has been simmering for several years.

Randy Koury, a Golf Channel cameraman and union steward, said that the technicians already were unhappy with two changes Golf Channel made to pay and benefits four years ago, after it was folded into the NBC Sports Group: cutting the work day from 10 hours to 8 hours – effectively a 20 percent pay cut – and eliminating catering of two meals without increasing the per diem.

Koury said those changes “were the tipping point” that led the technicians to unionize.

Golf On TV: Is It Time For More Second Screen Analysis?

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Martin Kaufmann at Golfweek poses a fair question following last week's Hero World Challenge, where Morning Drive and Golf Central pre-game coverage followed Tiger Woods from the range through his first few shots.

As Kaufmann notes, the more analytical, observational coverage reminded him that most golf broadcasting is forced to state the obvious--Frank Chirkinian's worst nightmare--depriving viewers of more meaningful insights. On "eavesdropping" on Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo and Trevor Immelman's discussions, Kaufmann writes...

From time to time, I’ve broached the idea of testing anchor-less coverage – just smart golf guys talking golf. There wouldn’t be any play-by-play because we can see what’s happening, but there might be a need for enhanced graphics.

There’s some precedent for this. Three months ago I pointed to an MLB Network experiment called a SABRcast – a play on sabermetrics – in which four analysts “called” a game in San Francisco from a studio in New Jersey. They didn’t do play-by-play; instead, their conversation was topical, based heavily on analytics. The conversation was smart and insightful, just as it was last week as Chamblee, Nobilo and Immelman watched Woods.

Kaufmann goes on to suggest it's time for a second screen alternative that let's golf fans stream or choose the feed analysis they want. Thoughts?

Joe Buck On Calling Golf, Jack Buck As America's Guest

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If you're enjoying his always strong play-by-play on the baseball playoffs, you'll enjoy Ryan Asselta's Golf.com interview with Fox Sports' Joe Buck.

Besides noticeably more humility about the difficulty of covering golf, I loved this anecdote about his legendary father's passion for playing from city to city.

You were very close to your dad, legendary broadcaster Jack Buck. How much was golf a part of his life?

My dad was an awful golfer, but he loved it. And I saw from a very young age what a release golf was for him. So once I started covering baseball and was on that tour, well, if you're in Houston for three days, you play River Oaks. If you're in Chicago, you go play Medinah. In San Francisco, you play Olympic. We set up a golf tour that Tim Finchem himself couldn't have set up. It was awesome.

HatCam The Next Golf Television Innovation?

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Fun stuff here from Golfweek.com's Martin Kaufmann on the recent PGA Tour trial of HatCam, a technology similar to one Golf Channel tried earlier this year.

While the current version looks way too big for today's players to safely feel comfortable wearing on the brim of their caps, a smaller one is in development and, at the very least, could be pretty cool on a caddie's cap.

HatCam weighs just 65 grams, and Greg Roberts of ActionStreamer said a smaller version “about the size of a money clip” is in the final stages of development. HatCam has a self-contained battery, is controlled remotely and has MEMS gyroscopes that minimize the bouncing effect in point-of-view transmissions.

Golf Channel tested a similar idea in January, attaching a tiny camera to the hat of Mark Zyons, Billy Andrade’s caddie. It was a worthy experiment, but the constant movement was disorienting. The HatCam seems much more promising, based on video it captured at the Web.com Tour Championship. Scott Gutterman, VP of digital operations for the PGA Tour, said HatCam could be used more in the future in pro-ams and practice rounds, though no decisions have been made.

A demo from the Web.com Tour Championship: