NBC Signals Beginning of the End for Golf Channel

[acemandrake]

1 hour ago, bscinstnct said:

I imagine it adds value to NBCs platform. 

Agreed.  Just look at the businesses buying commercial time on the Golf Channel.

 

NBC should be well aware of the viewers of GC.

[smashdn]

21 hours ago, Titleist99 said:

Viewers would even watch LIVE at the range.....watching touring pros setup, gadgets, etc....add in trackman. Solid gold....IMO

 

Access to them and in an area and at a distance that I, as general public, cannot get.  

[Ghost of Snead]

On 11/5/2021 at 2:06 PM, acemandrake said:

A national treasure, really

 

Love him or hate him, there are no programs as good as Academy Live and Golf Talk Live on GC today. Kessler committed career suicide when he called AP out on the Callaway non-conforming driver issue and IMO, GC has never been the same. In addition to Keith Hirschland's memoirs, have a listen to Tucker Booth's interviews with Michael Whelan about the early days at the GC and Kessler.

 

[Mustard_Tiger]

10 hours ago, Ghost of Snead said:

 

 

have a listen to Tucker Booth's interviews with Michael Whelan about the early days at the GC and Kessler.

 

 

Where would these be found?

[golfortennis]

On 11/15/2021 at 1:41 PM, smashdn said:

 

There is plenty of content.  It is the cost of presenting the content that might be problematic.  

 

You have four good size male tours (PGA, EPGA(DP), Champions and KF), two women's (LPGA and LET) and countless college events.  But once you start getting "down the list" you run out of production support.  Not enough cameras, towers, etc. to effectively film it and produce it.

 

The "live from" stuff has to be infinitely easier to produce than an actual golf tournament.  Tons of swing clinic stuff they could put out there too if someone was willing to make it.  A launch monitor explanation show would get watched.  There are guys putting vids on youtube of launch monitor explanations with millions of views.

 

They have also occasionally shown tournaments from the Asian Tour and Australasian tour.  That just involves picking up a feed, similar to what they do with the ET.  I could do without the college events frankly, for several reasons.  I really enjoy School of Golf, but if they simply showed tournaments and no produced content, it would be fine with me.  Would likely be much cheaper to run.  

 

 

[Ghost of Snead]

3 hours ago, Mustard_Tiger said:

 

Where would these be found?

 

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/fromthebacktees/interview-with-michael-_875abQd4Xo/

[nac]

Outside of the tournaments, their content has been just okay...without tournaments their end could be inevitable.

[getitdaily]

One reason GC will stick around....the LPGA Tour.

 

LPGA tour would die without GC. The suits in Stamford, while concerned about profit margin, won't allow the women's tour to flounder. 

[grm24]

41 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

One reason GC will stick around....the LPGA Tour.

 

LPGA tour would die without GC. The suits in Stamford, while concerned about profit margin, won't allow the women's tour to flounder. 

The LPGA is tethered to the hip of GC, NBC, CBS etc through 2030 as it's part of the new golf television contracts that kick in at the start of 2022. It's a good article linked below.

 

https://www.lpga.com/news/2020/2020-new-television-contract-for-lpga-and-pga-tour

 

LPGA

As part of its Strategic Alliance with the LPGA, the PGA TOUR also successfully negotiated rights agreements that will see the LPGA Tour continue as anchor programming on GOLF Channel, along with expanded exposure for LPGA Tour events on NBC and CBS each year, beyond the U.S. Women’s Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and AIG Women’s British Open, which are already on network.

 

Specifically, the TOUR secured the long-term extension of the LPGA/GOLF Channel partnership (2022-2030) with ancillary programming, including a season preview, season review and Road to the CME Group Tour Championship.  In addition, GOLF Channel will provide dedicated programming for the Symetra Tour each year, as well as enhanced marketing and promotional assets and expanded benefits for LPGA sponsors.

[Mustard_Tiger]

On 11/17/2021 at 6:54 AM, Ghost of Snead said:

 

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/fromthebacktees/interview-with-michael-_875abQd4Xo/

 

 

That was some interesting stuff. I read the article Tucker Booth did on Peter Kessler as well. I did not know Kessler was pothead. The guy was talented but also a complete megalomaniac. He must have been a nightmare to work with.

Edited November 22, 2021 by Mustard_Tiger

[golfortennis]

12 hours ago, getitdaily said:

One reason GC will stick around....the LPGA Tour.

 

LPGA tour would die without GC. The suits in Stamford, while concerned about profit margin, won't allow the women's tour to flounder. 

 

Not sure how you come to this conclusion.  Are you saying the politics of having a women's tour will be what saves it?  Highly doubt it.  Virtue signaling will be as far as they go.  They will say the "right" things, but when it comes down to it, won't actually do anything.  They will appear to be strong supporters of the LPGA tour right up until someone's bonus is affected, and then ...... crickets.   

[getitdaily]

8 minutes ago, golfortennis said:

 

Not sure how you come to this conclusion.  Are you saying the politics of having a women's tour will be what saves it?  Highly doubt it.  Virtue signaling will be as far as they go.  They will say the "right" things, but when it comes down to it, won't actually do anything.  They will appear to be strong supporters of the LPGA tour right up until someone's bonus is affected, and then ...... crickets.   

I am 100% saying the politics of having the women's tour will save it. I'm in favor of it too. If that tour is costing GC a ton of money then they'll do everything they can to offset that cost as long as they can. But without GC, there is no lpga tour.

[golfortennis]

11 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

I am 100% saying the politics of having the women's tour will save it. I'm in favor of it too. If that tour is costing GC a ton of money then they'll do everything they can to offset that cost as long as they can. But without GC, there is no lpga tour.

 

Well a) there was an LPGA tour before GC, and there will be one after, and b)those suits won't subsidize the tour.  Last I heard, and perhaps the link in grm24 had more info, but the LPGA was buying the time on GC.  They were rarely on live.  

 

The suits will say many things, but when the rubber hits the road, then it becomes a different story.  

[scores]

A lot of the the shows on the golf channel are not about golf and people want to see golf not that stuff. Golf is going to get more expensive (fertilizer, Grass seed, Maintenance"Labor", fuel) and they are pushing FREE golf and it will not work because someone has to pay for it. This is just the reality its an expensive sport and people pushing this Idea that -- it can be free have lost touch.

[bscinstnct]

2 minutes ago, scores said:

A lot of the the shows on the golf channel are not about golf and people want to see golf not that stuff. Golf is going to get more expensive (fertilizer, Grass seed, Maintenance"Labor", fuel) and they are pushing FREE golf and it will not work because someone has to pay for it. This is just the reality its an expensive sport and people pushing this Idea that -- it can be free have lost touch.

Who is pushing for free golf? I haven’t heard that.

[RobotDoctor]

On 11/3/2021 at 8:54 AM, Ferguson said:

The idea of the  golfchannel was awesome when it was launched.  Peter Kessler was an awful choice but the other hosts and "regulars" were great.  

 

On 11/3/2021 at 10:27 AM, cgasucks said:

 

I may be in the minority but I am quite fond of him interviewing at the time.  The one with Arnold Palmer killed his career but it was epic.

 

On 11/3/2021 at 11:30 AM, Ferguson said:

 

Kessler was a phony in the financial world, a phony on the show and a total loser after the show. 

 

After breaking ties with the GC, Kessler, in typical arrogant form, stated "he (the personality) was growing bigger than the GC and management resented him for it."  This arrogance drove his desire for creative control and made him difficult to work with on set at the GC.  The rumors about Palmer are just that and nothing more.  In short, Kessler didn't appreciate the notoriety gifted to him via the new platform; he was too caught up in the greed to grow his own brand.  However, as we know now, had he not been such a jerk, the CG could have been a springboard to other new and exciting ventures.  

 

On 11/3/2021 at 12:01 PM, tbowles411 said:

Couldn't have said it any better.  Now he's virtually disappeared.

 

I know there are harsh critics of Peter Kessler.  I,too, am on the side where I like Kessler and what he brought out to The Golf Channel.  Kessler pressing Arnold Palmer for playing and endorsing the ERC driver was more than Mr. Palmer could, and would, take and since TGC was the carnation of Arnold Palmer, Peter Kessler signed his own dismissal papers.  That being said TGC did well for a while but the quality of on air personnel lacked in retaining my interest.  I used to love watching TGC but TGC today is horrible and isn't worth watching.

 

For what it's worth, the city of Longmont, CO can, in some part, thank me for the addition of TGC to the cable lineup.  At the time of it's initial carry on cable in Longmont TGC was sharing time with The Travel Channel.  My ex-wife (wife at the time) and I were one of three Neilsen families in Longmont and the Neilsen ratings is what determined what trial channels would be picked up or not. While home I had TGC on constantly on the second television at home so that TGC would get a ratings bump.  After a 3 month trial TGC was picked up and The Travel Channel had to wait a couple more years before finally getting picked up.

[Body_Visions]

No matter what one thinks of Kessler today, I don’t believe The Golf Channel would have made it without him, or at least not as well as they did. His Sunday night show, Golf Talk Live was the best they have ever had, and he made anything he was on a better program.

 

On on a side note, I met him at the PGA Show, and he couldn’t have been a more perfect gentleman.  

[Mustard_Tiger]

Kessler did not get tossed just because of the Palmer incident. He got tossed because he was an A-hole. When your A-hole quotient exceeds your value quotient, you get tossed.

[golfortennis]

Not sure whether this bodes well or not for the channel's future, but I have noticed an increased bump in Check-Go commercials. 

 

These past couple of days have shown exactly what GC should be doing, though.  Asian Tour, European Tour, LET....  It's a golf cornucopia.  I'd not complain if there were a PGA Tour event and it got prime billing, but there does not need to be six replays of the same round if there is other programming.

 

Show golf.  Not Golf Today.       

[Mustard_Tiger]

I always looked forward to coverage of the Australian tournaments around this time. There's no golf where I'm at right now due to weather and it was nice watching warm weather golf at night on the Golf Channel.

 

But for reasons I cannot discuss, no Australian golf this year.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Mustard_Tiger

[dbleag]

We are now heading into the time of year when TGC starts to repeat anything and everything that most golfers don't want to watch.

 

Hopefully, we will get more DP World Tour events, as it seems like that will be the only live action.

 

I realize that the players need a break, but I agree with Mustard Tiger that the Aussie events were great and hope we will be seeing them.

 

It seems like NBC has no interest in TGC's future.

 

Sad. 

[grm24]

58 minutes ago, dbleag said:

We are now heading into the time of year when TGC starts to repeat anything and everything that most golfers don't want to watch.

 

Hopefully, we will get more DP World Tour events, as it seems like that will be the only live action.

 

I realize that the players need a break, but I agree with Mustard Tiger that the Aussie events were great and hope we will be seeing them.

 

It seems like NBC has no interest in TGC's future. Sad. 

 

No more DP Tour events until after the new year. They had 3 events scheduled for South Africa. First one was called after 36 holes due to newly imposed travel restrictions relating to C19. Winner was declared after 36 holes. 2nd event was played but w/o the DP Tour co sanction due to the number of players from outside of SA that had to leave the country. The 3rd ever scheduled for this week (Alfred Dunhill) was outright canceled.

 

As for NBC/CBS and GC the new 9 year PGA Tour tv rights deal kicks in at the start of 2022 with GC providing much of the same PGA Tour coverage as in the past. And also with the LPGA, KF and Champions Tours. 

 

The Australian Tour only has one event left in 2021 which is this weekend. Appears it will not be on GC. The Asian Tour is also done until 2022. Not sure how you can currently fault GC for not showing the other events when there is only 1 event left in Asia/Australia and South Africa for the rest of the year. Last two weeks GC televised events from both the South African/Asian Tours.

Edited December 8, 2021 by grm24

[Mustard_Tiger]

6 hours ago, dbleag said:

We are now heading into the time of year when TGC starts to repeat anything and everything that most golfers don't want to watch.

 

Hopefully, we will get more DP World Tour events, as it seems like that will be the only live action.

 

I realize that the players need a break, but I agree with Mustard Tiger that the Aussie events were great and hope we will be seeing them.

 

It seems like NBC has no interest in TGC's future.

 

Sad. 

 

 

I miss Tiger Week.

[dbleag]

10 hours ago, grm24 said:

 

No more DP Tour events until after the new year. They had 3 events scheduled for South Africa. First one was called after 36 holes due to newly imposed travel restrictions relating to C19. Winner was declared after 36 holes. 2nd event was played but w/o the DP Tour co sanction due to the number of players from outside of SA that had to leave the country. The 3rd ever scheduled for this week (Alfred Dunhill) was outright canceled.

 

As for NBC/CBS and GC the new 9 year PGA Tour tv rights deal kicks in at the start of 2022 with GC providing much of the same PGA Tour coverage as in the past. And also with the LPGA, KF and Champions Tours. 

 

The Australian Tour only has one event left in 2021 which is this weekend. Appears it will not be on GC. The Asian Tour is also done until 2022. Not sure how you can currently fault GC for not showing the other events when there is only 1 event left in Asia/Australia and South Africa for the rest of the year. Last two weeks GC televised events from both the South African/Asian Tours.

GRM - thanks for the info on the other tours.

 

I'll try to be more patient over the next few weeks when trying to watch TGC.   🙂

 

[ProStryker]

I remember when Holly Sonders was on TGC.  She seems to have gone off the deep end….

[chillybilly]

On 11/25/2021 at 1:00 AM, Mustard_Tiger said:

Kessler did not get tossed just because of the Palmer incident. He got tossed because he was an A-hole. When your A-hole quotient exceeds your value quotient, you get tossed.

 

Maybe I got the link right here not so long ago and many have already seen it but this was an interesting article whether you are pro-Kessler, anti-Kessler or a neutral.  The 'studio' is precariously small but then so are most of those we've been forced to endure over the last few years.

https://golf.com/news/peter-kessler-voice-golf-shall-not-be-silenced/

 

With or without the ERC/AP slanging match, it's doubtful that Kessler and what we might call the Kessler-Era Format would have remained indefinitely.  The comfy-wicker-chair set was, well, comfy.  Kessler's deep voice was soothing and to sit for 5 minutes and watch meant you were going to sit for 30 minutes (or more) and watch all or most of it.  No rush.  A pessimist would say that's all the programming and format they could come up with in a hurry.  An optimist would say it was meant to convey the chilled atmosphere of apres-golf in the clubhouse.

 

It seems that broadcasting types have severe individual and collective cases of Attention Deficit Disorder.  They are bored quickly and easily.  They are also corporate log-rollers who want the next, better job.  The only way to get it is to change something, hope it works out and take credit for the change.  Or take credit for firing a scapegoat.

 

The ESPN-ization of Golf Channel was probably inevitable due to this ADD and due to the constant imitation (and subsequent homogenization) in TV, especially sport-related broadcasts or channels.  Cue the whiz-bang graphics, the numbing and constant mention of sponsors and the convoluted, hard-to-decipher and easy-to-forget statistics that accompanied sponsor mentions ('Here's our XYZ insurance stat of the day - Jon Rahm has broken 70 in every Thursday round in non-major tournaments that are held in months with 30 days in them').

 

The desk and studio with the anchor and one or two analysts were brought in.  Cutting away from on-site reporters and coverage to a studio seemed a silly thing to do but ESPN did it so why not?  It was the NASA Mission Control mindset where a central hub of activity has to be part of the story - even if the anchor and analysts simply threw it back to the on-site coverage at the tournament to interview a Rex Hoggard or Steve Sands.  It's silly, Rube Goldberg-esque artifice.

 

Anyway, that approach seemed inevitable and it certainly wouldn't have suited Kessler who wouldn't have wanted to be just another waist-up host directing traffic.

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, ProStryker said:

I remember when Holly Sonders was on TGC.  She seems to have gone off the deep end….

 

In a dog-that-finally-caught-the-car scenario, those who wondered what Holly might look like out of those golf clothes or skirts and into a string bikini got their wish in spades.  Unfortunately, the golf bombshell has had nature disturbed by surgical intervention more often than all 18 holes at Augusta National.  Sonders is defiant, saying this is her look now, she's happy to be a mannequin of sorts and issues the usual rejoinders to any critics.

 

She has, unsurprisingly, operated in circles in LA and Las Vegas for some time with a series of, ahem, 'boyfriends' occasionally making social media appearances.  She seems to have landed the ultimate prize - for her, anyway - in one Oscar de la Hoya aka The Golden Boy.  Holly has acquired a large tattoo of Oscar's first big boxing triumph, calls him 'Papi' (cue Freudian analysis) and indicates that they are a permanent item.  Given Oscar's long list of paramours, partners and exes, we can be be excused for taking a wait-and-see stance.

 

I like a cheesecake photo as well as any red-blooded male but I still think of Holly's golf days, her sense of fun and humor.  I see her in severe-looking Instagram mode now and feel mostly sadness for her.

[Forged4life]

On 11/22/2021 at 9:26 AM, scores said:

A lot of the the shows on the golf channel are not about golf and people want to see golf not that stuff. Golf is going to get more expensive (fertilizer, Grass seed, Maintenance"Labor", fuel) and they are pushing FREE golf and it will not work because someone has to pay for it. This is just the reality its an expensive sport and people pushing this Idea that -- it can be free have lost touch.

No one is advocating free golf. I think you may be confusing other nonsense things with golf. 

[PeterPing]

On 11/3/2021 at 5:37 AM, 5 O'Clock Charlie said:

Wife's sister is an executive at one of the streaming services that almost everyone in America has, and she used to be an executive at NBC. Heard from her that Peacock is doing horrific, so not surprising that they are pushing quality content there to lure in new perspective customers.

I have never streamed anything to watch especially golf. 

[PeterPing]

If no more golf channel does that mean no more Brandle Chamblee. How can I go on with life. 

[bscinstnct]

6 minutes ago, PeterPing said:

I have never streamed anything to watch especially golf. 

Ya never stream Masters coverage before the broadcast starts?!

 

They got all these featured groups, amen corner, it’s free and it’s dope!