Golf has "edged the NBA" in Nielsen ratings the past
two weekends, as it has been "buoyed" by the "surge" of
Tiger Woods, according to USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke.
Sunday's final round coverage of the Nissan Open on CBS,
where Woods finished tied for second, scored a 6.0 overnight
rating, compared to NBC's broadcast of the Rockets-Magic
game earning a 4.8 overnight. CBS Sports President Sean
McManus: "Some of it is scheduling -- we've got the best
golf package -- and we've had some luck with Tiger." BBDO's
Steve Grubbs: "A lot of this is Tiger as a personality. If
he weren't involved on these Sundays, I don't think golf's
ratings would be that high" (USA TODAY, 2/23).
RATINGS SUCCESS EASY AS ABC? The inaugural Andersen
Consulting Match Play Championships from La Costa, CA,
begins tomorrow and the AP's Doug Ferguson writes that ABC
Sports and ESPN face a "broadcast challenge" with their
telecasts. ABC Sports will use 28 cameras to cover the
event, "at least eight more" than the network would use for
a regular golf event. The PGA Tour "is doing its part to
help" TV with friendly start times for the early rounds on
ESPN, resulting in the much-discussed Woods-Nick Faldo
matchup fitting in "perfectly" with ESPN's 2:00-6:00pm ET
coverage Wednesday. But ABC must hope "that enough top
seeds make it to Friday's quarterfinals," setting the "stage
for a dramatic weekend." ABC Sports Golf Producer Jack
Graham: "You can get a little unlucky and get four guys on
Saturday and two on Sunday that have no ratings appeal."
More Graham: "There's a real good chance for this to become
the biggest PGA Tour event of the winter. The buzz around
this thing seems to be high" (AP, 2/23). GOLFWEEK's Dave
Shedloski writes that the Woods-Faldo match "will get extra
attention," as Graham is "assigning" two extra cameras to it
(GOLFWEEK, 2/20). In DC, Dan Daly writes that "the only
thing that could spoil" the event "would be a blowout on the
last day," and ABC "had better have a contingency plan for
filling the leftover airtime" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 2/23). A
four-page supplement for the event runs in USA TODAY (2/23).
CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS: In Houston, Eddie Sefko
reports that players participating in the Andersen event
"toyed with the idea" of also entering the nearby Tucson
Open if they were defeated on Wednesday, but the PGA Tour
"squashed" the idea, as they "didn't like the thought of
players having a chance to play two events, and cash two
checks, in one week." Sefko adds that the Andersen event
"had trouble filling up all its premium sponsorship spots
and ended up reducing prices" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/23).
