NBC Earns 5.1 Overnight For Sunday Coverage Of Rain-Soaked Open

Writers Complain NBC Has Focused Predominantly On Woods, Mickelson

OH RICKY, YOU'RE NOT AS FINE: In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich writes two "amazing stories played out" yesterday at the U.S. Open with Ricky Barnes leading the tournament and David Duval staying in contention, but NBC gave viewers the "same old, same old: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson," according to Chris Zelkovich of the TORONTO STAR. There is "no denying fans want to see Woods and Mickelson," but there is also "no denying fans want to see good golf, and good golf stories, too" (TORONTO STAR, 6/22). In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes, "If Woods is playing, even when far back in a major, no one else matters." Mushnick: "Genuine TV coverage of golf's U.S. majors ... is not available once Woods' round begins and until after it's finished. Only when Woods isn't playing do TV golf crews remind us that they're pretty good at covering golf." Woods "doesn't make excuses for himself," but he "doesn't have to; the men and women on TV do it for him" (N.Y. POST, 6/22). ESPN.com's Bill Simmons wrote, "Love NBC pretending Tiger has a chance to come back. They should say Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus + Ty Webb are lurking as well" (TWITTER.com, 6/21). But in Phoenix, Bob Young writes NBC Sunday "actually did a good job of keeping up with Woods without ignoring the players actually in contention" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/22). USA TODAY's Reid Cherner writes NBC "did an excellent job of toggling between leaders Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover and staying in touch with Phil and Tiger." Meanwhile, NBC has rescheduled the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge, which was set to air prior to final round coverage yesterday, moving the event to July 4, following the Wimbledon women's singles final (USA TODAY, 6/22).

Roker (l) Provides Levity To Saturday's Broadcast Of U.S. Open

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: The GLOBE & MAIL's Dowbiggin wrote Miller "has made candour an art form in his 19-year NBC career," as "no one in the history of golf broadcasting has so eagerly carved up the sensitive egos and tetchy personalities of the PGA Tour as has Miller." Miller has "single-handedly changed the tone of all golf TV coverage with his pithy assessments of everyone." While most players "hate Miller's harpoons from the booth," his reputation "as one of the game's most accomplished ball-strikers largely insulates him from their wrath" (GLOBESPORTS.com, 6/20). However, NEWS 14 CAROLINA's Mike Solarte wrote, "Anyone else picking up on what seems to be sniping at Johnny Miller by his NBC counterparts? It's subtle, but I think it's there" (NEWS14.com, 6/21).

JOINED IN PROGRESS: In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley reported WTMJ-NBC in Milwaukee did not join NBC's coverage of the U.S. Open at 9:00am CT Saturday, "electing instead to join the coverage" at 1:00pm. Journal Broadcast Group Exec VP/Radio & TV Operations Steve Wexler, whose company operates WTMJ, said NBC alerted the network "late Friday that golf coverage would begin at 9 a.m. Saturday morning." Wexler: "This put us in a very difficult position for three reasons. First, the FCC mandates a minimum number of hours of children's programming each quarter. We use Saturday mornings to fulfill that obligation. Second, we had made other time-sensitive programming obligations prior to 1 p.m. And third, we were still dealing with the technical challenges that knocked our transmitter off the air during Friday morning's storm" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 6/21).

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