A source "close to the negotiations" said that the
Senior PGA Tour "is expected to announce" that CNBC will
replace ESPN as the major carrier for senior events
beginning next year, as the Senior Tour "fits the
demographics and target audience" of the network's
viewership, according to GOLF WORLD BUSINESS. If the deal
goes through, CNBC viewers can "expect to see" golf promos
and scores running with the NYSE and NASDAQ tickers at the
bottom of the TV screen. CNBC has already aired three
regular PGA Tour events, the '99 and 2000 Touchstone Energy
Tucson Opens and the '99 Reno-Tahoe Open, all of which were
aired opposite World Golf Championship events and drew
"abysmally low" ratings. But Tour officials "are intrigued"
by CNBC's proposal because "it would provide" the officials
with the "opportunity to take their efforts to produce live
events to the next level" (GOLF WORLD BUSINESS, 4/11).
GREENS FEES: GOLFWEEK's Gene Yasuda notes the PGA
Tour's current $400M TV deal, which is resulting in "record
purses this year," and writes that some sports marketing
experts say that if the Tour's current "ratings tear"
continues, it "could soon double, even triple, its TV take."
Burns Sports President Bob Williams said, "In the next go
around, I think it's very realistic to think that they'll
get" between $800M-1.2B. The Tour's current TV rights
agreements expire after the 2002 season (GOLFWEEK, 4/8).
USA MASTERS ITS RATINGS: USA Network's two-day coverage
of the 2000 Masters averaged a 2.6 rating (2.039 million
HHs), up 24% over last year's comparable ratings (USA).
