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Golf Media Notes: Discovery's OTT Service Set For Ambitious Launch

VARIETY's Stewart Clarke notes Discovery’s streaming service, which will be branded "GOLFTV" and is set for launch Jan. 1, will "have live PGA Tour coverage in a raft of territories" when it goes live and more territories will "get the live coverage in the next four years as existing rights deals play out." Discovery tabbed former NBA Senior VP/Global Media Distribution Alex Kaplan, who had been serving as Eurosport Exec VP/Commercial, to run the OTT service with the title GOLFTV President and Discovery Golf GM. Kaplan said that the service "would be a digital experience that did not previously exist for fans of the sport." GOLFTV will "replace the PGA Tour Live streaming service in international markets." Pricing has not been revealed, but Kaplan said that there "will likely be different tiers available and some free content" (VARIETY.com, 10/22).

GUTSY CALL: GOLF.com's weekly roundtable discussed Paul Azinger's recent hire at NBC, with Jeff Ritter noting he is "honest, quick-witted and unafraid to call it like he sees it." Ritter: "If it was my job to make the hire at NBC, Azinger would’ve been my first call." Golf.com's Sean Zak noted Azinger has been "pretty great" for Fox, so as "long as we keep getting that guy many more weeks a year, I’m in." SI's Alan Shipnuck: "All these years he’s had basically a part-time gig, and it felt like he was being a little careful, perhaps angling for something bigger. Now that’s he’s landed such a plumb position I hope he lets it rip, because a wise-cracking, sardonic Azinger will [be] great TV" (GOLF.com, 10/22). Azinger said, "My philosophy is to just let the picture be descriptive and try to be informative as an analyst. … You have no idea what you’re going to say, it’s live golf." He added, "I want to be fair and a keen observer of what I see. I don't want to be a predictor of all things or a know it all in any capacity" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 10/22).

FOLLOWING A LEGEND: Azinger said of the retiring Johnny Miller, “Most tour players were aggravated with him because he was critical. If you weren’t playing well, you were getting crushed. All I can say is, whether you liked him or not, you still had to tune in to hear him” (Josh Carpenter, THE DAILY). Golf.com's Ritter said Miller was an "original voice in a sport with ... an abundance of pretty vanilla analysis." Ritter: "His fearlessness also helped pave the way for other big and bold personalities ... to find their own place in the game" (GOLF.com, 10/22). In Toronto, Doug Smith wrote Miller retiring is a "huge blow" to golf on TV. Smith: "He didn't seem to care who he was ripping or praising" (TORONTOSTAR.com, 10/19). GOLFWEEK's Martin Kaufmann wrote Miller "often has been portrayed as the bête noire of PGA Tour players because of his cutting commentary over nearly three decades." But if viewers "have to keep citing a remark Miller made nearly two decades ago, perhaps he wasn’t as edgy as his reputation would suggest." Miller said that he "pulled some punches as recently as the Ryder Cup in September because 'I knew I was retiring soon'" (GOLFWEEK.com, 10/21).

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