PGA TOUR Should Take a Page From MNF's Playbook
by Adam Fonseca on Jan 9, 2012 3:08 PM EST
Email
Print
Chances are if you are reading this blog, you have the ability to read about and watch golf on television while maintaining a certain level of interest. Listening to announcers provide shot-by-shot analysis on the course has become second nature for you, and you may even have opinions on your favorite “golf-TV personality” (I’m a David Feherty fan, for instance). Furthermore, you may also enjoy the relaxing, traditional, and often monotone insights provided to the viewer during telecasts on a Sunday afternoon.
But as the PGA TOUR plans to experiment more with Monday evening tournament finishes during primetime (when applicable to daylight, as is the case with today’s final round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions), should broadcast companies also experiment with how these rounds are covered?
(Note: The following was originally published by the author on ChicagoDuffer.com)
Perhaps the best example of how the PGA TOUR can “spice up” their golf commentary is from another major sport who have thrived on Monday nights for decades: the National Football League and Monday Night Football. In 2000, executives at ABC took a gamble with their long-standing broadcast model by installing comedian Dennis Miller into their MNF booth to provide “observational and situational comedy” during football broadcasts.
At the time, ABC Sports’ president Howard Katz explained that the broadcast had become too “traditional” and the inclusion of Miller onto the commentary team would “eliminate some of the ‘sameness’ and repetition” that some football fans had begun to complain about to the network. While Miller certainly provided his own spin on events unfolding during a game, fans responded to the change with mixed reviews. After only two seasons in the television booth, Miller (and fellow commentator Dan Fouts) would ultimately be replaced by John Madden.
But could the PGA TOUR benefit from the same idea that the NFL whiffed on nine years ago? Professional golf certainly has its fans from the entertainment industry, including comedians Bill Murray and George Lopez, both of whom have played in numerous pro-ams over the years. Justin Timberlake never saw a TV-camera he didn’t like and has already rooted himself deep into the golf industry to the tune of hosting his own PGA TOUR event and joining Callaway Golf’s leadership. Surely any of these personalities would provide more… um…. personality than the exchanges between Nick Faldo and Johnny Miller.
If the PGA TOUR truly wishes to experiment with Monday finishers, they will have quite the mix of competition. For example, today’s final round at the Hyundai will compete with the NCAA National Championship game between LSU and Alabama (ROLL TIDE), numerous National Basketball Association telecasts across the country, and (yes, believe it) professional wrestling’s WWE Monday Night Raw (which consistently captures the market share majority of sports viewers on a weekly basis, and it isn’t even close).
True, professional golf is in a “league” of its own in terms of viewership and market. Sports fans who like professional basketball and wrestling won’t always enjoy watching golf as well. The “1000 pound bunker in the room”, however, is that the PGA TOUR could use a little boost in ratings… especially since advertising-magnet Tiger Woods appears to be on another upswing in his playing career. If they truly plan on competing with the well-established markets for numerous other sport options on Mondays, they will need a little more “flavor” in the commentary booth for fans to bite into.
11 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Didn’t know Rasslin’ is officially a sport now.
The problem with Monday night finishes is that save for two months in the summer, you have a night-time problem. Golf is not like basketball, which is played indoors at its highest (and most-watched) levels. Or football, which is of course a roughly one acre field with 145,000 lumens of lighting. All on permanently lit facilities. Even ’rasslin’s cousin, NASCAR, has permanent lighting at the tracks it runs on at night.
Golf, being a sport that is operated over a roughly 200 acre field of play, would be a logistical nightmare to light, not to mention provide electrical infrastructure to power. Then there are the fans, which of course provide the impetus for the charities that operate the events to do so because the bulk of their payback comes from ticket sales.
Figure out a way to overcome those problems within a manageable budget in order to make it worthwhile and you’re onto something.
Absolutely.
The Monday prime time finishes will obviously only work for those events on the west coast (as I point out). Even so, if the TOUR wishes to expand into Monday final rounds at any time, they’re gonna have their work cut out. Adding a personality like Lopez or Murray to the telecast would be a nice change, IMO.
www.ChicagoDuffer.com
Plus, as far as the WWE viewership, the point is that potential viewers and household televisions are tuning in to that non-sport each week (at least in America) at high numbers.
www.ChicagoDuffer.com
Also
For many wrestling fans, the end of the 1990s to mid 2000s represented a high for professional wrestling. There were huge audiences, at one point reaching a television viewership of seven million people a week for WWE Raw. Today, ratings are half or less of what they were.
by Charles Boyer on Jan 9, 2012 5:23 PM EST up reply actions
Golf will never compete with football on TV
I’m confused. How are bad, failed ideas from MNF good ideas for the PGA Tour ? Dennis Miller ? He was horrible. Feherty is light years better than any game Dennis (or any other Miller you might think of….hint hint) will ever be.
Monday Night Football commentary is a nightmare. Tirico thinkis he’s an NFL hall of fame player – Jaws and Gruden sound almost exactly alike, and Jaworski says everything with exactly the same intonation – it’s like he’s reading a grocery list. Gruden needs to take a breathalizer before a broadcast.
This was an idea by xxx Golf Channel – a bad one – but it was an idea. Instead of going out and finding real talent to put on their shows, they went with the bizarre thought that overloading the booth with huge egos would make for a good broadcast. Oops.
WOW !! Keegan Bradley just holed out another eagle on a par 4 !! He’s -5 on the 13th to the 16th…..but I digress.
I get where you’re going, but the idea of putting some dreadful “comic” in the booth as a regular has been proven again and again and again that it doesn’t work. As a guest now and then, sure, but not as a regular.
Golf doesn’t need more ridiculous talkers cluttering up broadcasts – it needs people who can talk intelligently about the game and the action – not buffoons who think it’s cool to make up names for shots that make no sense. Or on course reporters who can’t figure out where a ball is going or read a putt or they laugh at everything they say. We don’t need more lame interviews asking how it “feels” to win a tournament. And please, dear god, enough with Kelly Tilghman and the endless stream of FedEx Cup vignettes….and take Rich Lerner with you.
How about some former players with a sense of humor instead of guys who think they are physics professors. Instead of MNF – take a look at the MLB Network. They have hosts like Chris Rose, Matt Vasgersion, Bob Costas, and Paul Severino. Their analysts are guys like Sean Casey, Al Leiter, Jim Kaat, Harold Reynolds, Mitch Williams, John Smoltz, and Kevin Millar. Rose and Millar have the best time talking baseball. Sadly, Hazel Mae ended her time on MLB after the 2011 season. I don’t suppose xxx Golf Channel would give her a call….of course not….
If at first you don't secede, try try again
Good points. But…I will take the understated coverage of guys like Peter Alliss or Ben Curtis any day of the week as my picks for announcers. They have that quality on their Euro Tour coverage.
by Charles Boyer on Jan 9, 2012 9:03 PM EST up reply actions
Definitely !! But there is always a taste of enjoyment of the game when those guys talked about the game. You never left a broadcast thinking you had just watched a science experiment or maybe a bunch of 36 handicappers who “choked” on every shot and couldn’t read a putt. Understated doesn’t mean boring. Listen to John Smoltz call a baseball game. He’s not jumping up and down in the booth, but he knows his stuff and enjoys the game.
If at first you don't secede, try try again
My point is that golf commentary could use a regular “average joe” personality to reach fans who normally wouldn’t watch the game. Golf has the unique position where fans of all ages and both genders can relate to the highs and lows of the sport from a personal perspective.
You can’t tell me that hearing Bill Murray improv commentary at Pebble Beach wouldn’t be a good time.
www.ChicagoDuffer.com
Dennis Miller….Bill Murray…George Lopez….“average Joe’s” ??
People have never, do not, and WILL never tune into a golf tournament for an announcer. They WILL, however, turn one off because of the announcers. MNF lost viewers during the Dennis Miller stretch.
Bill Murray is great once or twice a year – but nobody wants a Caddyshack rehash 36 weeks of the year.
If at first you don't secede, try try again
Those three guys are certainly average when it comes to golf. Unless Murray starts playing to a 4 handicap.
www.ChicagoDuffer.com
by Adam Fonseca on Jan 10, 2012 2:33 PM EST up reply actions
I’m a 10 handicap – statistically, I am way above average….but it sure doesn’t feel like it. (lol)
Think back on those Dennis Miller football seasons – do you REALLY want anything that sounds like that on a golf broadcast week after week ? They aren’t broadcasters – they are people who recite pre-written lines for a living.
If at first you don't secede, try try again
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Have a golf story tip? Contact editor Charles Boyer and he will follow the story! Thanks!
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
