Skratch Player: PGA Tour Launches Internet Video Network Giving Inside Look At Golf

The PGA Tour and Bedrocket Media Ventures yesterday announced a joint agreement to launch golf's first Internet video network, Skratch TV. The platform will produce daily video comprised of original and curated programming, PGA Tour highlights and special production from events. Skratch recently launched a social-beta platform, in conjunction with the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Farmers Insurance Open. Delivered across Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine and YouTube, the preview was aided by GoPro, Callaway and Farmers, and featured players Rickie Fowler, Ryan Palmer, Patrick Reed and Keegan Bradley (PGA Tour). Bedrocket Founder & CEO Brian Bedol said the goal of Skratch is "to be a storyteller in short, shareable ways.” In N.Y., Richard Sandomir notes videos focusing on golfers’ "personalities and lifestyles and goings-on at tournaments away from the action will be posted on social media in hope of drawing people to the Skratch site, where they can see more." The approach to recording video "will include the use of modern production tools: GoPro cameras mounted on golfers at pro-ams and cameras mounted on drones." Bedrocket "currently runs Network A, a digital network devoted to action sports, and it created Kick TV" for MLS. Bedol was a "founder of the Classic Sports Network, which is now ESPN Classic, and CSTV, now CBS Sports Network." PGA Tour Exec VP/TV & Digital Media Rick Anderson "disputed the notion that its network tournament broadcasts were stodgy but recognized that the tour had to diversify its strategy to appeal to younger fans." Anderson: "There’s nothing wrong with our television product, but we’re not sure the millennials were going to watch." He added, "We've had a healthy anxiety that we weren't going to reach this generation with our traditional platforms" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/11).