Ernie Johnson Headlines TNT Broadcast Crew For The Match...
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Everyone loves Ernie…in studio.
However, as longtime PGA Championship watchers know, he’s not exactly a fan favorite when doing golf play-by-play. In his defense, most of Johnson golf work consisted of reading a relentless promo slate and sending us to commercials set against the horrid TNT golf theme as we watched the world’s best sweat through their shirts.
But The Match is a TNT show, so he’s the man. Hopefully the emphasis here will be on letting the players, caddies and officials who wear microphones to do most of the entertaining.
Oh and the pre-game show could set a new high for f-bombs in a 30-minute window.
For Immediate Release:
Turner Sports Announces Commentators for Live PPV Coverage of Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Philon Friday, Nov. 23, at 3 p.m. ET
Sports Emmy Award Winner Ernie Johnson to Call Unprecedented PPV Match with Darren Clarke & Peter Jacobsen, Along with Reporters Natalie Gulbis & Shane Bacon
Adam Lefkoe to Host The Pre-Match Show Presented by Capital One with Pat Perez, Samuel L. Jackson & Charles Barkley on Friday, Nov. 23, Beginning at 2 p.m. ET
Turner Sports’ live PPV coverage of Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil, the highly-anticipated showdown between the iconic Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, will be led by Sports Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Ernie Johnson providing play-by-play, alongside analysts Darren Clarke – 2011 Open Championship winner – and NBC Sports/Golf Channel’s Peter Jacobsen, and reporters Shane Bacon and LPGA veteran Natalie Gulbis. The broadcast team will provide commentary throughout the winner-take-all $9 million match play competition, to be held Friday, Nov. 23, at Noon PT / 3 p.m. ET (suggested retail price of $19.99) from the exclusive Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.
Additionally, Turner Sports will produce The Pre-Match Show Presented by Capital One – Friday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m. ET – offering fans a look inside the preparation of Woods and Mickelson immediately preceding the main event. The pre-show coverage – including footage of Woods and Mickelson warming up on the putting green and driving range – will be a combination of sports and entertainment.
Bleacher Report’s Adam Lefkoe will host the one-hour, pre-match show with three-time PGA Tour winner Pat Perez, along with Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley, among other special guests. The pre-show commentator team will also be integrated into the live event coverage at select moments during the competition.
Live coverage of Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil will be distributed via PPV through Turner’s B/R Live (available now for purchase), AT&T’s DIRECTVand AT&T U-verse. The PPV event will be distributed to other cable, satellite and telco operators including Comcast, Charter, Cox, Verizon and Altice in the U.S. and Rogers, Shaw and Bell in Canada through In Demand and Vubiquity (an Amdocs Company). AT&T is the official 4K sponsor of The Match, which will also be broadcast in 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR) on DIRECTV channel 106 for $29.99*. Turner International will facilitate the distribution of live PPV access outside the U.S. and Canada.
The Pre-Match Show Presented by Capital One will be available across all pay-per-view carrier platforms, along with wide-ranging distribution available for free to all fans via through simulcasts on the Bleacher Report and B/R Live Facebook (B/R; B/R Live), Twitter (B/R; B/R Live) and YouTube (B/R; B/R Live) social platforms.
In addition to live pay-per-view event coverage, accompanying content distributed across wide-ranging Turner, WarnerMedia and AT&T platforms includes:
HBO Sports and its groundbreaking 18-time Sports Emmy ® Award-winning 24/7 reality franchise, capturing all the excitement leading up to the match, which debuted Nov. 13 and is currently available via VOD, HBO GO and HBO NOW platforms;
Bleacher Report and its wildly-popular House of Highlights, which recently surpassed 10 million followers on Instagram, offering comprehensive highlights and behind-the-scenes content;
Turner’s TNT televising programming with select content from the event on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m. ET.
