Playing Through: PGA Tour Rights Help Golf Channel Add HHs
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Golf Channel Available In
About 75 Million U.S. HHs |
Golf Channel is profiled by SI’s Alan Shipnuck, who notes that between signing
its 15-year cable TV rights deal with the PGA Tour in January ’06 and its first
tournament this January, the net’s distribution increased to more than 75 million
homes. Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said, “In practical terms there’s
not much difference between 75 and 90 [million HHs]. Golf Channel is almost always
offered on newer digital tiers, which skews to a much more affluent demographic.
The 15 million who don’t get the channel are almost exclusively analog customers,
and those households probably don’t have many golf fans anyway.” Golf Channel
CEO David Manougian said, “It’s really a matter of when, not if, we get to 90
million.” PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said that the Tour “will be satisfied
if it happens by 2010, but he adds, he doubts it will take that long.” PGA Tour
Policy Board member Joe Ogilvie said players “benefit as the channel grows. There
are kickers in the contract to guarantee that” (SI Golf Plus, 5/8 issue).
LET’S PLAY TWO: In this week’s SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, John Ourand reports
advertisers “are content because Golf Channel is delivering the ratings numbers
and demographic reach that it promised four months ago, thanks in large part to
the primetime re-airings.” One ad buyer: “This is the first time that the network
is delivering the ratings that they promised. This PGA Tour deal has allowed it
to act like a legitimate network.” Ourand notes Golf Channel uses a “controversial
strategy of combining its live and replay ratings [for PGA Tour events] into one
rating number that it uses to sell the tour coverage and in press releases.” The
net says that 92% of its viewership is unduplicated between the two broadcasts.
Golf Channel VP/Strategic Partnerships Tom Knapp said of reporting the combined
number, “The fact that nobody’s done this in the past doesn’t make it wrong” (SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL, 4/30 issue). Knapp added of the late-night replays, “Early-round
golf takes place during the day when a proportion of those business decision-makers
are busy at work. So we thought, let’s put it on when they have the ability and
the opportunity to watch it in the evening” (TV WEEK, 4/30 issue).
INVENTIVE MINDS: Golf Channel will debut “Fore Inventors Only,” a new eight-episode
reality program showcasing golf inventions on July 10 at 10:00pm ET. The show
will be hosted by Vince Cellini (Golf Channel).
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