NBC, Golf Channel ending ABC/ESPN British Open reign

[mvcg66b3r]

It seems like ages ago that ESPN was one of the rights partners for the PGA Tour. In fact, it’s been almost a decade since ESPN regularly televised golf coverage. Since then, the network’s presence in the golfing universe has been pretty much relegated to coverage of the major championships – namely The Masters, US Open, and British Open.

This year ESPN’s presence goes from three majors to two as Fox Sports airs the US Open and other USGA tournaments for the first time. And in the near future that number may slip to just one as the British Open may be heading elsewhere.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/bri...ign=british-open-might-moving-espn-fox-sports

 

[installLSC]

I find it odd the golf majors are sold seperately from the main tour coverage. Is there some organizational reason it's done this way, because I don't see how doing seperate contracts is something the PGA would prefer.

 

[CTListener]

I find it odd the golf majors are sold seperately from the main tour coverage. Is there some organizational reason it's done this way, because I don't see how doing seperate contracts is something the PGA would prefer.

The Masters, US Open and British Open are not part of the PGA Tour. Neither are the Ryder Cup and the World Golf Championship series of events. Rights to all of these tournaments are negotiated separately.

 

[TheBigA]

There's real competition for the first time with all networks now owning cable sports channels. ESPN may be the big dog, but the other guys now have the ability to air the weekday rounds of the tournament live, which was something the broadcast nets were less willing to do.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

NBC, Golf Channel ending ABC/ESPN British Open reign

The British Open will end a relationship that spans more than half a century with ABC and ESPN and move over to NBC and Golf Channel in 2017 as part of a deal that doubles the value of the golf tournament’s media rights, according to several sources.

The move to NBC Sports Group is a huge win for Golf Channel, in particular, which long has coveted the rights to one of golf’s four major tournaments.

It also officially ends a relationship that the R&A, operator of the British Open, has had with ABC and its sister network, ESPN, that will have reached 55 years at the end of the deal. ABC started carrying the British Open in 1962. In its most recent deal, signed in 2008, all four rounds moved to ESPN.

Starting in 2017, the British Open’s weekend rounds will return to broadcast television.

NBC outbid both ESPN and Fox Sports, which made an aggressive play for the rights.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/...08/Media/British-Open.aspx#.VXWPii3eUWk.email

 

[Don CT]

Knowing how NBC handles olympic programming they will most likely time shift it by 6 hours.

 

[TheBigA]

Knowing how NBC handles olympic programming they will most likely time shift it by 6 hours.

Depends. NBC ran the French Tennis Open live. Seems to me ABC ran most of the British live on ESPN, and then reran an edited version of the final round on Saturday & Sunday afternoons. All of that is usually specified in the contract.

 

[Don CT]

Depends. NBC ran the French Tennis Open live. Seems to me ABC ran most of the British live on ESPN, and then reran an edited version of the final round on Saturday & Sunday afternoons. All of that is usually specified in the contract.

NBC won't run the Olympics live, why would they run the British Open at 4 am?

 

[TheBigA]

NBC won't run the Olympics live, why would they run the British Open at 4 am?

They paid a lot more for the Olympics, and the goal was to run it in prime time. I doubt they'll run the British Open in prime time.

The players that everyone wants to see usually don't tee off until later. As I said, ABC ran some of it live, and I watched the French Open on NBC live Sunday morning.

 

[Don CT]

They paid a lot more for the Olympics, and the goal was to run it in prime time. I doubt they'll run the British Open in prime time.

The players that everyone wants to see usually don't tee off until later. As I said, ABC ran some of it live, and I watched the French Open on NBC live Sunday morning.

ESPN ran wall to wall live of the British.

There is no reason for NBC not to air the Olympics live at 3 am for those that want to watch and then encore at night in primetime.

NBC ran the finals live but most of that coverage of Paris was on Tennis Channel.

 

[mvcg66b3r]

NBC getting British Open a year early

NBC Sports Group will carry the British Open in 2016, a year earlier than planned.

Last week, NBC and Golf Channel finalized a deal with ESPN and the tournament’s operator, the R&A, to take over next year. NBC planned to tell its golf production team about the deal on Sunday, and an official announcement is planned this week.

The move comes a little more than a week after the BBC sold its own lame-duck year for next year’s British TV rights to Sky Sports. NBC executives pointed to that move as the opening ESPN and NBC needed to cut their own deal. In order to maintain consistency, the R&A would have been less likely to shift its U.S. rights a year early if the BBC, its main British rights holder, did not do it first, sources said.

The decision to opt out of producing next year’s tournament is the latest in a series of cost-cutting moves coming out of Bristol. ESPN declined to bid for rights to NASCAR and the English Premier League. The company has parted ways with high-priced talent like Colin Cowherd, Keith Olbermann, Bill Simmons and Jason Whitlock. And sources expect a round of layoffs to come as early as next week.

The early morning time slot fits better with NBC Sports Group’s programming schedule. NBC carries weekend morning European events like the Premier League and Formula One racing.

It was important for NBC to pick up next year’s tournament to add to an already deep golf schedule for both Golf Channel and NBC. For 12 consecutive weeks next summer, the two will carry the British Open, British Senior Open and British Women’s Open; the return of golf to the Olympics for the first time in 112 years; the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs; and the Ryder Cup from Minnesota.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2015/10/12/Media/NBC-Open.aspx