January 17th: Golf Channel Turns 20

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Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press takes stock of the Golf Channel as it turns 20 and notes how far the network has come from laughing stock to precedent setter for other sports.

Ferguson writes:

The network was launched on Jan. 17, 1995, and could be seen in about 10,000 homes. It began as a premium fee ($6.95) and changed to part of a basic cable package by the end of the year, helping it to reach 1.4 million homes.

Twenty years later, Golf Channel can be seen in roughly 120 million homes in 83 countries and is broadcast in 12 languages around the world. Its offices in Orlando, Florida, have more than quadrupled to 160,000 square feet.

And there is no shortage of programming.

The first tournament it broadcast was the Dubai Desert Classic, which Fred Couples won in 1995. On its 20-year anniversary, Golf Channel will have four hours of live coverage from Rory McIlroy's season debut in Abu Dhabi; seven hours of taped coverage and four hours of live coverage from the Sony Open (including a pre-game show), along with its popular "Morning Drive" and a news show.

Morning Drive celebrated the birthday with appearances from co-founder Joe Gibbs telling the thinking behind starting the channel, original on-air personalities Kraig Kann and Mike Ritz with some fun stories, and Rich Lerner sharing the fun tale of how his mom convinced him to become of the net's first on-air team members.

Van Pelt phoned in for a long Morning Drive interview and reflects on the early days, with some stellar footage and eventually, a Lerner appearance that includes a mention of Orlando Jewish Community Center pick up games!

And there was this photo of Van Pelt interviewing Tiger Woods appeared as a memory of how far things have come (or gone):

Kelly Tilghman Tweeted this early photo: