The PGA Tour issued a statement yesterday saying it was
"deeply disappointed" that CBS Sports cut away from Sunday's
final round of the GTE Byron Nelson Classic in a majority of
markets prior to completion of the three-man playoff (see
THE DAILY, 5/15). The Tour said it was "particularly
disappointed in light of the fact that the Tour's contract
with CBS requires the network to stay with its Tour coverage
until at least 7:00pm Eastern Time. However, CBS Sports, as
a good and long-term business partner of the PGA Tour, has
assured the Tour that an occurrence such as [Sunday's],
which had never before happened with a CBS telecast of a PGA
Tour event, will not be repeated" (PGA Tour). Viacom
President & COO Mel Karmazin explained CBS' decision to cut
away from the golf at around 6:40pm ET "as arising from its
determination not to let [ABC's 'Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire?'] get a jump" on CBS' mini-series "Jesus,"
which debuted at 9:00pm ET that night. Karmazin said that
if the golf tournament had gone past 7:00pm ET, "pushing
back other programming could have conceded ground to
'Millionaire.'" Karmazin also said that he had "received
many complaints from golf fans for cutting coverage," but
added, "I blamed it on 'Jesus'" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 5/16).
CBS Sports President Sean McManus said CBS cut away early
because the network "wanted to make sure we started '60
Minutes'" at its regularly-scheduled 7:00pm ET slot (USA
TODAY, 5/16). In Boston, Howard Manly, noting May is a
sweeps month, writes that CBS had "a difficult decision
Sunday evening: advertising revenue or live sports coverage?
The network chose the money, but before you cast aspersions,
let's just say that no one is more apologetic than CBS
Sports." CBS Sports VP/Communications LeslieAnne Wade:
"There's no one here that feels good about the decision.
All of us hated to make the 'business decision.' It killed
us to do it" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/16). Wade: "'Jesus' was on
the cover of virtually everybody's TV book and we didn't
want to push back prime-time" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/16). In
Dallas, Barry Horn wonders if CBS would "have forced 'Jesus'
to wait for Tiger Woods?" Wade said if Woods had been in
title contention, "I believe the action would have been the
same. ... We weren't going to go one second or one stroke
past [7:00pm ET]. We calculated that we couldn't get
another complete hole in before that." Horn notes that CBS
has stayed with four events this year that went "overtime,
invading '60 Minutes' space" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/16).
REAX: In Palm Beach, WPEC-CBS Dir of Programming Donn
Colee said, "It was a terrible decision by CBS Sports. It
was not what they said they were going to do. They
panicked" (PALM BEACH POST, 5/16). NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay:
"Look, we all know that networks dish out bundles of cash
for relationships with sports leagues and associations and
the right to call the shots. But the deals include a
responsibility to the sport and the fans." But Zipay adds
that CBS "accomplished its goal. It won the Sunday sweeps"
(NEWSDAY, 5/16). In Boston, Jim Baker calls CBS' decision
"thick-headed" and writes, "Why would a network abandon
viewers who'd tuned in for three hours, 40 minutes?"
Boston's WBZ-CBS sports anchor Bob Lobel said "on the air"
after the move on Sunday: "That was not a bright move. We
had no idea they'd do that. They dumped out of golf and we
don't know why" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/16). In N.Y., Richard
Sandomir: "It was all about entertainment, and the sanctity
of the night's prime-time schedule" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/16).
RATINGS NOTE: In the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, Sunday's
Byron Nelson coverage earned a "healthy" 6.6 local rating,
translating into 125,000 HHs. By comparison, Game One of
the Avalanche-Stars series on ESPN on Saturday night was
seen in about 72,000 HHs (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/16).
GOLF SPECIAL SET FOR CBS: Golf Digest and TWI have
partnered to produce "Golf Digest's 50 Greatest Players," a
CBS Sports TV special airing Saturday, June 3, at 3:00pm ET.
The one-hour special will be hosted by CBS' golf analysts
Bill McAtee and Gary McCord (Golf Digest).
