History of golf broadcasters
1. Golf Channel/Golf on NBC
The Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply GOLF) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC Sports' headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
Dan Hicks has became the lead commentator for NBC Golf since 1996.
Jim Nantz has became the lead commentator for Golf on CBS since 1991.
Golf coverage on Fox Sports properties have occurred occasionally since 1999. From 1999 through 2001, its regional sports network group Fox Sports Networks (FSN) sub-licensed early-round coverage of PGA Tour events from Golf Channel (a network in which Fox was an early investor).
Joe Buck was the lead commentator for Golf on FOX from 2015 until 2019, when FOX Sports held rights for broadcasting USGA championships.
Golf coverage on ESPN has been a regular feature of the cable sports channels' programming since soon after ESPN's launch in the United States 1979.
Prior to 2007, ESPN and ABC shared some announcers, but the main ABC coverage team did not generally work on ESPN except for events that ABC had weekend rights to, in which case the full ABC team would work on ESPN's weekday telecasts. After losing PGA Tour rights following the 2006 season, what remained of ESPN and ABC's coverage team's merged, as did the production, with all ABC broadcasts being branded as ESPN broadcasts as part of ESPN on ABC. History of the ESPN golf team during the period when some telecasts were still shown on ABC (2007-2009) can be found at the PGA Tour on ABC article.
Hannah Storm is the current lead commentator of Golf on ESPN/ABC since 2007.
Scott Van Pelt has became the lead and color commentator of Golf on ESPN/ABC since 2004, replacing Jim McKay who has served the role from 1966 until 2003.
The channel focuses on coverage of the sport of golf, including live coverage of tournaments, as well as factual and instructional programming. It is the cable television rightsholder of the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, U.S. Open and other USGA championships, The Open Championship, and golf at the Summer Olympics. Via the Golf Channel unit, Comcast also owns other golf-related businesses, including the course reservation service GolfNow, online golf instruction provider Revolution Golf, and the World Long Drive Championship. Some of these associated properties operate from the network's former home of Orlando, Florida.
As of September 2018, Golf Channel is available to approximately 70.3 million pay television households (76.2% of households with cable) in the United States.
Golf Channel was launched on January 17, 1995, with a ceremonial flip of the switch by co-founder Arnold Palmer. The first live tournament the channel televised was the Dubai Desert Classic, held January 19–22. Originally a premium channel with limited subscribers, it retooled in September 1995 to be part of basic-tier pay TV to reach more viewers and ratings rapidly increased. In 1996, Fox Cable Networks acquired a minority stake in the channel for $50 million.
From 1999 to 2001, Golf Channel would hold part of the PGA Tour's cable rights for early-round coverage. To boost their availability, Golf Channel reached an agreement with Fox Sports Networks (FSN) air simulcasts of the coverage. In 2002, Golf Channel lost its rights to the main PGA Tour, but gained rights to the developmental Buy.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour)
- Comcast acquisition
In 2001, Fox sold its 30.9% stake in Golf Channel, as well as its stake in Outdoor Life Network, to minority owner Comcast, as part of a larger transaction by Fox to acquire Comcast's stake in Speedvision. In December 2003, Comcast acquired the remaining 8.6% stake of Golf Channel it did not already own from the Tribune Company, giving it full ownership.
In January 2007, Golf Channel became the exclusive cable broadcaster of the PGA Tour as part of a new 15-year contract, replacing ESPN and USA Network. The contract included early-round coverage of all official money events, and 13 events per-season carried exclusively by the network. By then, Golf Channel had carriage in 75 million homes.
Concurrently, Comcast also launched Versus/Golf HD, a 1080i high definition channel featuring programming from Golf Channel and sister network Versus. Golf Channel programming was broadcast during the daytime hours, and Versus programming was broadcast during the evening and primetime hours. This arrangement ended in December 2008, when both networks launched their own 24-hour high-definition simulcasts.
In March 2008, Comcast acquired the online golf reservation platform GolfNow. It was re-located to Golf Channel's headquarters in Orlando.
- Merger with NBC Sports into Golf On NBC
In January 2011, Comcast acquired a 51% majority stake in NBC Universal from General Electric. As a result of the re-alignment of Comcast's existing properties into NBC Universal, Golf Channel and sister sports network Versus were subsumed by a restructured NBC Sports division. On-air synergies between NBC's existing production unit began to take effect in February 2011 at the WGC Match Play Championship, when NBC's golf telecasts took on the Golf Channel branding as "Golf Channel on NBC", in a similar manner to ESPN's co-branding of sports output on ABC. NBC Sports personalities could now appear on Golf Channel, and former NBC Sports senior vice president Mike McCarley took over as the network's new head. The network also adopted an amended logo featuring the NBC peacock.
In December 2013, Golf Channel unveiled a new logo, implemented in May 2014 to coincide with the 2014 Players Championship. The new logo replaces the "swinging G" emblem that had been used since the network's launch with a wordmark alongside the NBC peacock. The new logo was meant to provide a unified brand across Golf Channel's associated properties and services.
On June 8, 2015, it was announced that NBC Sports had acquired rights to The Open Championship beginning in 2017 under a 12-year deal; after former broadcaster ESPN opted out of the final year of rights, NBC began coverage in 2016 instead. Early round coverage is aired by Golf Channel, which marked the first time ever that Golf Channel had ever broadcast one of the four Men's major golf championships. On May 3, 2016, NBC announced that Golf Channel would air the bulk of the men's and women's golf tournaments for the 2016 Summer Olympics, covering up to 300 hours of the tourney, with 130 of those hours live.
In 2016, Golf Channel acquired the World Long Drivers Association, organizer of the World Long Drive Championships; coverage of its events were subsequently added to the network. In 2017, Golf Channel acquired Revolution Golf, an online provider of golf instructional materials.
Before the final round of the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii tournament, Golf Channel production staged a walkout.
In February 2019, Golf Channel announced a new subscription service known as GolfPass. The service will feature a variety of content, including a streaming library of archive content, instructional content, as well as special offers (such as credit for free round of golf per-year, and a premium tier offering additional discounts). Rory McIlroy will also be involved in the service, hosting new instructional content for GolfPass, as well as an autobiographical web series.
In February 2020, it was reported that Golf Channel would consolidate its television operations with the remainder of NBC Sports at its facilities in Stamford, Connecticut, in a move expected to occur over the next 12 to 18 months. The GolfNow and GolfPass services will continue to primarily operate from Orlando. With the move to Stamford, Golf Channel also ended its long-time morning show Morning Drive, replacing it with the new midday show Golf Today from Stamford beginning January 4, 2021.
- Tournament coverage
Golf Channel is the pay television rightsholder of the PGA Tour, broadcasting live coverage of early rounds, and early window coverage of weekend rounds prior to network television coverage. Some events (particularly, early-season events such as the former Fall Series, and alternate events held against majors) are broadcast in their entirety by Golf Channel. Golf Channel also broadcasts primetime encores of the day's coverage, including network television broadcasts from NBC or CBS where applicable. Golf Channel also broadcasts coverage of PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour events. Outside of events organized by the PGA Tour, Golf Channel also carries coverage of the European Tour, LPGA Tour, and Asian Tour.
Golf Channel is the cable broadcaster of two of the men's majors, including the U.S. Open and other USGA championships (since June 2020) and the Open Championship. Since 2016, it participates in NBCUniversal's coverage of the Summer Olympics by covering its golf competitions. It has also carried coverage of the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup alongside NBC, and the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's golf championships.
- Notable golf tournaments and major championships aired on NBC Golf
a. WGC-Championship (2007-present; previously aired on ABC Golf/ESPN Golf from 1998 to 2006)
b. WGC-Matchplay (2007-present; previously aired on ABC Golf/ESPN Golf from 1999 to 2006)
c. FedEx Cup Playoffs tournaments: BMW Championship and The Tour Championship (2007-present; except The Northern Trust, currently aired on CBS Golf)
d. The Players Championship (1991-present; Golf Channel coverage since 1995)
e. United States Golf Association championships: US Open (1955-1965; 1995-2014; 2020-present), US Women's Open (1962-1965, 1996-2014, 2020-present), US Senior Open (1996-2014, 2021-present), US Amateur (1996-2014, 2020-present)
f. R&A championships: British Open (2017-present), Women's British Open (2018-present), British Senior Open (2018-present), British Amateur (2019-present)
g. Team matchplay tournaments each organized by R&A, USGA, PGA of America and International Federation of PGA Tours: Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Walker Cup, Solheim Cup, International Crown
- NBC Golf commentators, reporters and news anchors
a. Dan Hicks (lead commentator)
b. Gary Koch (play-by-play commentator)
c. Paige Mackenzie (play-by-play commentator; LPGA Tour)
d. Roger Maltbie, Notah Begay III and Mark Rolfing (reporters)
e. Steve Sands, Todd Lewis and Steve Burkowski (interviews)
f. Rich Lerner, Rex Hoggard, Cara Banks and Anna Whiteley (Golf Today and Golf Central news anchors)
For more tournament coverages and golf shows, visit GolfChannel.com
2. Golf on CBS
PGA Tour on CBS (or Golf on CBS) is the branding used for broadcasts of the PGA Tour that are produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States.
CBS Sports has been a carrier of PGA Tour golf since 1970. CBS was the Tour's primary television partner from 1970 to 1998, carrying 20 or more events per season. CBS shared duties as primary Tour carrier with ABC Sports from 1999 to 2006, covering around 15 events per season. CBS regained its primary status in 2007, once again covering 20 or more events per season, and has remained so ever since. CBS also holds broadcast television rights to the two of the four majors, the Masters Tournament and PGA Championship. CBS has long-term deals for the PGA Championship (initially from 1958 to 1964 and again starting in 1991). Meanwhile, the Masters operates under one-year contracts; CBS has been the main television partner every year since 1956.
- Notable tournaments and major championships aired on CBS
a. Masters Tournament (1956-present)
b. PGA of America championships: PGA Championship (1977-present), Senior PGA Championship (1983-present), Women's PGA Championship (1991-present)
c. Los Angeles Open (1972-present)
d. Westchester Classic and The Northern Trust (1975-present)
e. Memorial Tournament (1981-present)
- CBS Golf commentators and reporters
a. Jim Nantz (lead commentator)
b. Sir Nick Faldo (play-by-play commentator)
c. Bill Macatee (play-by-play commentator)
d. Dottie Pepper (play-by-play commentator)
e. Frank Nobilo, Ian Baker-Finch and Trevor Immelman (reporters)
f. Amanda Balionis and Mark Immelman (interviews)
For more tournament updates and coverages, visit CBSSports.com/Golf
- NBC/CBS Golf alternation
Starting 2022, tournaments aired on Golf on CBS (including the Wells Fargo Championship, John Deere Classic, Memorial Tournament and The Northern Trust) will be aired on Golf on NBC; while CBS will air tournaments aired frequently aired on NBC (including the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Valspar Championship, and the final two FedEx Cup Playoffs tournaments: BMW Championship and Tour Championship)
3. Golf on FOX/FOX Sports
From 2015 to June 2020, Fox served as the broadcaster of the national open tournaments and amateur championships of the United States Golf Association (USGA), including the U.S. Open — one of the four Men's major golf championships, under a 12-year deal. Coverage aired on the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and Fox Deportes. In late-June 2020, however, Fox announced that it would opt out of the contract, and sell the remainder to former USGA broadcast television rightsholder NBC Sports.
- Golf on FOX/FOX Sports commentators and reporters
a. Joe Buck (lead commentator)
b. Paul Azinger (play-by-play commentator)
c. Brad Faxon (play-by-play commentator)
d. Curtis Strange (play-by-play commentator and reporter)
e. Shane Bacon and Holly Sonders (interviews)
4. ESPN Golf/Golf on ABC
Although ESPN no longer owns any share of the rights to the week-to-week events on the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, or Champions Tour, it is the cable rightsholder for two of the men's majors as of 2020 — the Masters Tournament (since 2008) and the PGA Championship (since 2020). In both cases, the telecasts are produced in association with CBS Sports (which serves as the U.S. broadcast television rightsholder for both tournaments) and have incorporated talent from the network's own golf telecasts.
- Golf on ABC
- Commentators
Hannah Storm currently takes her role as lead commentator since 2007 alongside play-by-play commentator Scott Van Pelt.
Note: This article is carried from Wikipedia
