Golf Channel....sigh

[golfortennis]

So this past week was the President's Cup, and regardless of my opinions on it, I get that it will take up the lion's share of the air time.  On the same weekend, the European Tour is at Le Golf National in Paris for the Open de France.  Now, one could take the "crumbs are better than nothing" attitude but where's the fun in that.

 

The following morning at 4 am, there was a two hour broadcast of the previous day's round.  Which, again, given the priority of the PC, I'm not complaining about that, this one of the reasons PVRs are a wonderful thing.  What does stick with with me, though, is in looking at what else was being shown, was replays of "Live from...."  4-5 hour replays of these guys talking.

 

The tournament in France was a great golf tournament with some stunning performances, along with several storylines of guys playing for their cards, etc.  Would it have been really that much of a problem to show 4 hours of that tournament and a little less of "Live from..."

 

If there are some legitimate technical/financial reasons, I'm all ears, but I can't imagine there's a ratings question involved.  

[heavy_hitter]

Golf Channel has gotten beyond bad.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

Once corporate suits take over it's a race to the bottom. 

[Scooby555]

I rarely watch GolfChannel anymore.  To me it's like when SpeedVision turned into Speed Channel(Nascar Channel).  Had lots of interesting motorsports from all over the world.  Got bought out and became the corporate Nascar channel and all the cool stuff went away. 😞

[smashdn]

It is way cheaper to produce 4 guys talking at each other on a set than a golf tournament spread over 18 holes and umpteen acres of ground.  If the eyes on the product are roughly the same then the ad revenue is roughly the same.  It becomes an equation of how much profit (or how little loss) can be made.

[Cali_Stinger77]

It's like Golf Channel forgets golf exists outside the PGA Tour.

[cgasucks]

I used to watch The Golf Channel 24/7 when I started golfing in 2000 as I loved the programming back then (like Golf Channel Academy, Golf Talk Live with Peter Kessler and Shell's Wonderful World of Golf) and then things started to deteriorate when they started to have reality shows and other nonsense in the mid 2000s. 

 

I rarely watch it now these days.

Edited September 27, 2022 by cgasucks

[gvogel]

44 minutes ago, Scooby555 said:

I rarely watch GolfChannel anymore.  To me it's like when SpeedVision turned into Speed Channel(Nascar Channel).  Had lots of interesting motorsports from all over the world.  Got bought out and became the corporate Nascar channel and all the cool stuff went away. 😞

I only watch Golf Channel if Rory or Brooke Henderson are playing.  Pretty soon I'm going to give up my cable box.

[golfortennis]

46 minutes ago, smashdn said:

It is way cheaper to produce 4 guys talking at each other on a set than a golf tournament spread over 18 holes and umpteen acres of ground.  If the eyes on the product are roughly the same then the ad revenue is roughly the same.  It becomes an equation of how much profit (or how little loss) can be made.

 

I don't disagree with that.  But in this case, GC isn't paying for the costs,  ET productions are.  They're paying a licensing fee to carry the broadcast.  And I highly doubt they are paying any more to show the other 2 or so hours that the broadcast had, vs the two they did show.

 

And we're talking about 4 am replays in both cases.  

 

[BlackDiamondPar5]

10 minutes ago, gvogel said:

I only watch Golf Channel if Rory or Brooke Henderson are playing.  Pretty soon I'm going to give up my cable box.

I gave up cable over 5 years ago and never looked back. I just don't watch the Golf Channel or any other cable content. Outdoor antenna and OTA DVR are great for cord cutters. 

 

Now I might temporarily subscribe if I'm interested in something, such as Peacock during a tournament but that's it. If I spend $50/year on temporary subscriptions that would be a lot. 

[golfortennis]

46 minutes ago, Cali_Stinger77 said:

It's like Golf Channel forgets golf exists outside the PGA Tour.

 

Considering they've incorporated the tour logo into theirs, and call themselves the home of....  does any exist outside of the PGA Tour?  🤣  

[Hacker76]

Watching the ESPN+ golf coverage including PGA and LPGA has been a breath of fresh air compared to GC. I wonder if ESPN would get involved in broadcasting other tours, although I don't think the PGA would allow it because they want to be top dog. PGA won't even let the LPGA be broadcasted on ESPN+ while a PGA tournament is going on.

 

No wonder LPGA purses are so much smaller, I feel at times the PGA is stifling LPGA growth potential. If LPGA got broader TV coverage I'm sure their purses would increase. LPGA will only see 3 hours of coverage each day this weekend. ESPN+ showed over 9 hours of featured group coverage each day during the 2 times they broadcasted LPGA.

 

I guess the big bucks come from PGA and that is what GC alliance is too.

[Cali_Stinger77]

32 minutes ago, Hacker76 said:

Watching the ESPN+ golf coverage including PGA and LPGA has been a breath of fresh air compared to GC. I wonder if ESPN would get involved in broadcasting other tours, although I don't think the PGA would allow it because they want to be top dog. PGA won't even let the LPGA be broadcasted on ESPN+ while a PGA tournament is going on.

 

No wonder LPGA purses are so much smaller, I feel at times the PGA is stifling LPGA growth potential. If LPGA got broader TV coverage I'm sure their purses would increase. LPGA will only see 3 hours of coverage each day this weekend. ESPN+ showed over 9 hours of featured group coverage each day during the 2 times they broadcasted LPGA.

 

I guess the big bucks come from PGA and that is what GC alliance is too.

 

ESPN+ is the best thing to happened to Golf Coverage in a long time

[Lord Helmet]

MTV used to play actual music too.

 

 

[bladehunter]

Golf Chanel is just another corporate arm now.  No use in expecting anything real. They don’t do real.  

[Dpavs]

It's about presenting things the way they think will maximize advertiser revenues. The content for the sport coverage is absolutely secondary or worse.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Dpavs

[bscinstnct]

44 minutes ago, Lord Helmet said:

MTV used to play actual music too.

 

 

 

Thats debatable 

 

🤣

 

MTV! Be 4,000 reruns of that Journey song and like

 

 

 

[Creedo77]

The channel is apparently done at the end of the year 

[Gregakin]

No complaints here...plenty of PGAT, DPT, LPGA, KFT, and Amatuer televised events for me.  It is what it is, but just like with all other sporting events, I wouldn't pay $.01 to subscribe for additional content or streaming. If Spectrum dropped it, I wouldn't lose any sleep. 

[golfortennis]

30 minutes ago, Creedo77 said:

The channel is apparently done at the end of the year 

 

Was this announced somewhere or are you hearing scuttlebutt?  I know there have been rumors they would rebrand it as something else....

[buckeyefl]

4 hours ago, Dpavs said:

It's about presenting things the way they think will maximize advertiser revenues. The content for the sport coverage is absolutely secondary or worse.

 

 

You can't get advertisers if you don't have viewers.

 

Literally the only reason I want to get GC is to watch the ET

[golfortennis]

6 minutes ago, buckeyefl said:

 

 

You can't get advertisers if you don't have viewers.

 

Literally the only reason I want to get GC is to watch the ET

 

Ditto.  There have been a few Asian tour events recently as well.  Hopefully the streaming service will be in place.

[JetSpeed79]

24 minutes ago, golfortennis said:

 

I know there have been rumors they would rebrand it as something else....

It’s true. After Jan. 1 the Golf Channel will transition to BrandelVision™️  
 

Content will include multi-hour stream of consciousness thoughts and opinions from golf’s premier mind: Brandel Chamblee. 
 

Subscription based (Brandel+ for ad free). It’s going to be a real cash cow. 

[golfortennis]

19 minutes ago, JetSpeed79 said:

It’s true. After Jan. 1 the Golf Channel will transition to BrandelVision™️  
 

Content will include multi-hour stream of consciousness thoughts and opinions from golf’s premier mind: Brandel Chamblee. 
 

Subscription based (Brandel+ for ad free). It’s going to be a real cash cow. 

 

I don't care who you are, that's funny right there.

[ThinkingPlus]

2 hours ago, Creedo77 said:

The channel is apparently done at the end of the year 

That would be tragic.  Haven't watched as much recently because of all the woke non-golf programming, but still enjoyed the golf.  Going to be slim pickings for golf without Euro tour, LPGA, or T/F PGA Tour.

[Wonder Bread]

It’s sad what it’s become.  I can’t even watch anymore.

 

Beyond garbage.  
 

whoever mentioned the woke non golf bs is spot on

Edited September 28, 2022 by Wonder Bread

[bscinstnct]

3 hours ago, Creedo77 said:

The channel is apparently done at the end of the year 

 

What? The GC is cancelled?! 
 

I don’t believe it. 
 

They just gotta bring this commercial back!

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by bscinstnct

[Mr. Grumpy]

1 hour ago, ThinkingPlus said:

That would be tragic.  Haven't watched as much recently because of all the woke non-golf programming, but still enjoyed the golf.  Going to be slim pickings for golf without Euro tour, LPGA, or T/F PGA Tour.

Woke non golf programming?

[OrangeGravy]

48 minutes ago, Mr. Grumpy said:

Woke non golf programming?

Don't engage 

[Cali_Stinger77]

4 hours ago, Creedo77 said:

The channel is apparently done at the end of the year 

Wouldn't surprise me. I think it's less to do w the content and more so that streaming has basically taken over. GC was gonna die eventually and I bet all early round coverage of any PGA Tour event will be on ESPN+ or some sort of streaming platform in a couple years. Amazon is streaming TNF now something I wouldn't have even thought as possible 5 years ago.