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NBC/Golf Channel Get British Open Broadcast Rights In '16, Year Earlier Than Expected

NBC and Golf Channel have "finalized a deal" with ESPN to take over British Open broadcast rights in '16, a "year earlier than planned," according to John Ourand in this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The deal comes after the BBC recently "sold its own lame-duck year for next year’s British TV rights to Sky Sports." NBC execs "pointed to that move as the opening ESPN and NBC needed to cut their own deal." Golf Channel President Mike McCarley said, "Until the BBC-Sky piece happened, this wasn’t an inevitability. Several things had to fall into place for this to become a reality. That was the key piece.” Ourand notes NBC is "paying ESPN an unknown fee for next year’s rights." The decision to "opt out of producing next year’s tournament is the latest in a series of cost-cutting moves coming out of Bristol." McCarley and NBC Sports President of Programming Jon Miller "led negotiations for NBC," while Exec VP/Programming & Production John Wildhack and Exec VP/Programming & Scheduling Burke Magnus "led negotiations for ESPN." The move comes four months after NBC "signed a 10-year deal to carry the tournament" for an average of $50M a year -- a deal that "ended a 54-year relationship" the British Open had with ABC and ESPN. ABC "first carried the British Open" in '62 and in '08, "all four rounds moved to ESPN" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/12 issue).

ALL THE PRESIDENTS' MEN: Golf Channel aired the Presidents Cup live this weekend, and GOLFWEEK's Matin Kaufmann wrote NBC, which produced the telecasts, has made "modest improvements this season in picking up on-course audio of players and caddies, but it still has a lot of work to do." During yesterday's singles matches, NBC's Johnny Miller and Notah Begay III "were talking over Patrick Reed and his caddie as they were discussing a shot on the fourth hole," while the net's Dan Hicks and Roger Maltbie later in the coverage "talked over Rickie Fowler and his caddie as they discussed a fairway bunker shot on No. 9." The sense was that NBC's crew "felt inconvenienced that the players could be heard while they were calling the action." However, one of NBC's "best moments during singles" was a conversation Jordan Spieth and caddie Michael Greller had on the 15th hole. Spieth put that shot in the water and ended up losing the match. Viewers were "able to eavesdrop on the key point in the match." Kaufmann: "That's why on-course audio is important" (GOLFWEEK.com, 10/11).

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