After CNBC airs two rounds of the PGA Tour's Tucson
Open on February 27-28, the net's first live sports
programming ever, it will look at possibly adding more
sports inventory, according to Stephen Battaglio of the
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. CNBC President Bill Bolster says he
will "look at the ratings for the coverage" of the Tucson
Open and "determine if it should do more golf programming on
weekend afternoons, where it now airs infomericals."
Bolster says the network will "also consider time buys" from
producers of "other televised sporting events that match up
with CNBC's upscale audience profile." But Battaglio notes
that CNBC "runs the risk of irking cable operators if it
diverges too far from" its programming "mandate" made in its
carriage agreement, while cable operators like Comcast have
ownership stakes in The Golf Channel. Falcon Communications
VP/Programming Lynne Buening: "My first choice would be for
them to do a cutting-edge business-related show. Clearly
(golf) fits the demo strategy, but it's not the programming
strategy." But NBC President of Cable Distribution David
Zaslav denies the PGA Tour events are "a shift in strategy"
for the network (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/17).
