RYDER CUP IN SPAIN: FOLLOW THE ACTION ON THE TUBE AND ONLINE

          The 32nd Ryder Cup gets underway today at Valderrama in
     Sotogrande, Spain.  USA Network covers today's action from
     8:00am to 6:00pm ET, with NBC providing weekend coverage. 
     NBC's coverage, on Saturday from 12:00-6:00pm ET, and on
     Sunday from 8:30am-12:30pm ET, will be produced by Tom Roy
     and directed by Bucky Gunts, with Dick Enberg and Johnny
     Miller in the 18th tower.  The network, which has covered
     the Ryder Cup since '91, currently holds the exclusive U.S.
     TV rights through 2005 (NBC).  NBC's coverage Saturday will
     be tape-delayed, while Sunday's matches will be joined live
     in progress (THE DAILY).
          A GROWING COMMODITY: The following lists ratings since
     NBC began covering the Ryder Cup in '91, broken down by day,
     total average, and hours of coverage in parenthesis: 

        

  
 
    

    
 
      
'91 
        COVERAGE
    
    
 
      
'93 
        COVERAGE
    
    
 
      
'95 
        COVERAGE
    
  
  
 
    
SAT
    
 
      
2.2/7 
        2:00-6:00pm
    
    
 
      
3.6/10 
        2:00-6:00pm
    
    
 
      
2.5/10 
        8:00-12:30pm
    
  
  
 
    

    
 
      
—
    
    
 
      
—
    
    
 
      
4.6/12 
        4:28-7:00pm
    
  
  
 
    
SUN
    
 
      
2.8/8 
        11:00-3:38pm
    
    
 
      
3.9/14 
        8:00-12:30pm
    
    
 
      
3.9/12 
        9:00-3:32pm
    
  
  
 
    
TOTAL
    
 
      
2.5/8 
        (8:38)
    
    
 
      
3.8/12 
        (8:30)
    
    
 
      
4.1/12 
        (13:35)
    
  


          ONLINE: Most of the major golf web sites are offering
     extensive coverage of the event, featuring Ryder Cup history
     as well as hole-by-hole guides to Valderrama and profiles of
     competing players.  iGOLF, at igolf.com, has three reporters
     on site at Valderrama and will feature daily diaries from
     U.S. Ryder Cup players and iGOLF-TourGolfClub members Davis
     Love, Justin Leonard, Brad Faxon, and Captain Tom Kite, as
     well as European Team members Lee Westwood and Darren
     Clarke. iGOLF is also offering users the opportunity to
     receive e-mail updates after each round with the latest news
     from Spain....At golfweb.com, GolfWeb Contributing Editor
     Lorne Rubenstein will be filing daily reports from
     Valderrama and users can also sign up for the GolfTicker
     feature, which runs as a separate window on their desktop
     and is updated throughout the day....Golf.com, the NBC/Golf
     Digest site, offers a "virtual tour" of Valderrama and the
     "Golf.com Virtual Online Ryder Cup" where participants get
     to play an online version of the Links LS version of
     Valderrama....IBM's two sites, rydercup. com and 97rydercup.
     com, are the official sites (THE DAILY).