There are "increasing signs" that Augusta National officials are "vaulting into the 21st century world of tweet & stream" when it comes to The Masters, according to Bruce Dowbiggin of the GLOBE & MAIL. This week's tournament features the "typical truncated live TV coverage" in both the U.S. and Canada, but it is in the "multiple wireless platforms that Augusta has shaken off its dinosaur reputation." Fans with mobile devices "can choose between streaming Amen Corner, a favourite threesome or the sequence of holes 15 and 16." There also are "free Masters apps," and weekend coverage of the tournament is "getting the 3D treatment" (GLOBESPORTS.com, 4/6). In Atlanta, Mark Bradley noted Augusta National Chair Billy Payne Wednesday "spoke knowingly and glowingly of the Android platform and the worth of the iPad Masters app as 'an immersion experience.'" Bradley: "This place may be easy to lampoon, but this famously staid tournament is working to ensure its future" (AJC.com, 4/6). GOLF.com's Alan Bastable wrote the inclusion of Augusta National in EA Sports' "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters" is "just one of many ways in which the club is pushing the technological envelope." In addition to the iPad app, the tournament's "revamped website now offers nine live video feeds from the course, including one feed from the practice range" (GOLF.com, 4/6).
GROWING UP TOGETHER: With CBS "about to carry weekend coverage of the Masters for the 56th consecutive time," USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand and Michael McCarthy debate whether it is "time for other networks to get a crack at the Masters." Hiestand writes CBS "generally has the best TV golf coverage." But he added, "Viewers lose when only one network has had a marquee event such a The Masters since President Eisenhower was running for re-election." McCarthy writes CBS has "covered the Masters brilliantly for 56 years." McCarthy: "You want Augusta National Golf Club to fire them and give the rights to another network? ... The Masters is all about tradition. Well, guess what. CBS' coverage is as much a part of that tradition as the azaleas and Amen Corner" (USATODAY.com, 4/7). CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus said, "There's no event at CBS that we treat with more care and attention." CBS announcer Jim Nantz said that he "respects Augusta National Golf Club enough to know when his voice isn't needed" during the broadcasts. Nantz: "I think that Augusta is a quieter tournament. I think there's less of a need for commentary here more than any other event." He added, "We're going to be there to provide the captions" (AUGUSTA CHRONICLE, 4/5). In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes, "TV's oversell of the Masters as a religious retreat or annual pilgrimage is both understood and, like an in-floating oil slick, makes for the kind of relentless goo that rubs nature and nerves the wrong way" (N.Y. POST, 4/8).
DIRECTV CREW: In Albany, Pete Dougherty notes WNYT-NBC's Andrew Catalon is the "play-by-play announcer for the Masters' 'Featured Group 1' channel, available in 19 million DirecTV homes as part of the 'Masters Mix' package." Catalon works with golfer Billy Kratzert, "who has appreciable broadcast experience," and the two are "headquartered in a small, enclosed room, perhaps nine feet by seven feet," at the tournament. Catalon and Kratzert "work off a 32-inch flat screen monitor in front." Catalon also "has a smaller monitor, featuring a top-20 leaderboard and 'best rounds on course,' to his left, and an even smaller set that features the main Masters TV feed" (Albany TIMES UNION, 4/8).
