The BBC "is to be left with only two days of live golf coverage per
year from 2017 onwards after it was revealed that the Women’s British
Open is following the men’s equivalent to Sky Sports," according to Martin Dempster of the SCOTSMAN. In the latest loss of an event currently on
free-to-air TV, "the Ladies Golf Union and fellow stakeholder IMG have
also secured a five-year agreement with the satellite broadcaster for
live rights to the Ricoh-sponsored tournament." It means that,
after next year, "the only live golf on the BBC will be the final two
rounds of the Masters." A BBC statement said, "The
Ladies Golf Union and IMG can confirm a new five-year broadcast
agreement for the Ricoh Women’s British Open with the UK’s two largest
sports broadcasters, Sky and the BBC, running from 2017-2021, in an
arrangement similar to that announced last week by the R&A for the
Open Championship. Sky Sports will provide live
coverage of all four days of the Ricoh Women’s British Open in the UK. ... The BBC, the UK’s widest-reaching
free-to-air broadcaster, will offer a one-hour daily highlights segment
each evening." While the Corporation initially bid to retain
live rights for The Open, a switch of emphasis, which was believed to be
down to money, "led to it being content with a highlights package" (SCOTSMAN, 2/11). In Glasgow, Nick Rodger wrote the latest migration of a live, free-to-air event from the BBC to Sky "will no doubt be greeted with further despair" from the U.K. golfing public. Not so long ago, the Beeb's golfing output "totalled 24 days with events like the BMW PGA Championship and the Scottish Open also being shown live." Those championships "are now broadcast by Sky." The two days of live coverage of the Masters "should at least remain on the BBC for the foreseeable future" after the corporation signed a "multi-year" deal with the officials at Augusta in '14 (HERALD SCOTLAND, 2/12).
