The '16 British Open "will appear exclusively live" on Sky Sports in the U.K. after the BBC "opted to end its existing deal one year early," according to Owen Gibson of the GUARDIAN. Sky "won the rights to golf’s oldest major" in a deal worth US$22.7M annually through '21. BBC Sport Dir Barbara Slater said that the decision "had been taken for pragmatic financial reasons in light of the ongoing debate over the licence fee and charter renewal." Gibson notes the BBC -- which "had broadcast the event live for more than 60 years -- will continue to show two hours of highlights in prime time." The decision to end the contract now "has echoes of the BBC’s decision" to end its exclusive F1 deal prematurely in "favour of a shared arrangement with Sky." Sports rights at the BBC have "come under increasing pressure over the last two years, with the corporation also losing control of the Olympics" beginning in '22 after the IOC "agreed [to] a pan-European deal with Discovery." The British Open deal means that Sky "will be able to claim that from 2016 it will have exclusive coverage of all four golf majors as well as the Ryder Cup" (THEGUARDIAN.com, 9/30). In London, James Corrigan writes this is "further and final proof that the BBC has completely lost interest in covering golf." It means that after "showing 30 days of live golf" as recently as '10, there will be "only be six" in '16. The Ricoh Women's British Open "will also switch to Sky" in '17, with the BBC also "feared to be in danger [of] losing the Saturday and Sunday of the Masters." The "irony is that the Open attracted over five million viewers to the BBC on the Sunday, much more than in recent years" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 9/30).
