Golf Channel
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Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply "Golf" or "NBC Golf") is an American
The channel focuses on coverage of the sport of
Via the Golf Channel unit, Comcast also owns other golf-related businesses, including the course reservation service GolfNow, online golf instruction provider Revolution Golf, and the World Long Drive Championship. Some of these associated properties operate from the network's former home of Orlando, Florida.
As of September 2018[update], Golf Channel was available to approximately 70.3 million pay television households (76.2% of households with cable) in the United States.[2] As of June 2023[update], the channel was available in 61.0 million homes.[3]
History
The idea of a 24-hour golf network came from media entrepreneur Joseph E. Gibbs of
Announced in February 1993,
From 1999 to 2001, Golf Channel held part of the
Acquisition by Comcast
In 2001, Fox sold its 30.9% stake in Golf Channel, as well as its stake in
In January 2007, Golf Channel became the exclusive cable broadcaster of the PGA Tour as part of a new 15-year contract, replacing ESPN and USA Network. The contract included early-round coverage of all official money events, and 13 events per-season carried exclusively by the network. By then, Golf Channel had carriage in 75 million homes.[19] It also simplified its branding, dropping the article The from its on-air name.[21]
Concurrently, Comcast also launched Versus/Golf HD, a 1080i high definition channel featuring programming from Golf Channel and sister network Versus. Golf Channel programming was broadcast during the daytime hours, and Versus programming was broadcast during the evening and primetime hours. This arrangement ended in December 2008, when both networks launched their own 24-hour high-definition simulcasts.[22]
In March 2008, Comcast acquired the online golf reservation platform GolfNow. It was re-located to Golf Channel's headquarters in Orlando.[23][24]
Merger with NBC Sports
In January 2011, Comcast
In December 2013, Golf Channel unveiled a new logo, implemented in May 2014 to coincide with the 2014 Players Championship. The new logo replaces the "swinging G" emblem that had been used since the network's launch with a wordmark alongside the NBC peacock. The new logo was meant to provide a unified brand across Golf Channel's associated properties and services.[26] That month, it also partnered with Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio to feature audio simulcasts of its studio programming.[27]
In 2014, Golf Channel acquired rights to the
On June 8, 2015, it was announced that NBC Sports had acquired rights to The Open Championship beginning in 2017 under a 12-year deal;[29] after former broadcaster ESPN opted out of the final year of rights, NBC began coverage in 2016 instead.[30] Early round coverage is aired by Golf Channel, which marked the first time ever that Golf Channel had ever broadcast one of the four Men's major golf championships.[29] On May 3, 2016, NBC announced that Golf Channel would air the bulk of the men's and women's golf tournaments for the 2016 Summer Olympics, covering up to 300 hours of the tourney, with 130 of those hours live.[31]
In 2016, Golf Channel acquired the World Long Drivers Association, organizer of the
January 14th, 2018 broadcast technicians represented by IATSE went on strike affecting tournament coverage for the Sony Open in Honolulu, Hawaii, Web.com from the Bamahas and Diamond Resorts Invitational in Orlando. Ten days later the striking workers returned to work after a new contract was ratified on January 24, 2018. [34]
In February 2019, Golf Channel announced a new subscription service known as GolfPass. The service will feature a variety of content, including a streaming library of archive content, instructional content, as well as special offers (such as credit for free round of golf per-year, and a premium tier offering additional discounts). Rory McIlroy will also be involved in the service, hosting new instructional content for GolfPass, as well as an autobiographical web series.[35][36]
In February 2020, it was reported that Golf Channel would consolidate its television operations with the remainder of NBC Sports at its facilities in Stamford, Connecticut, in a move expected to occur over the next 12 to 18 months.[37] The GolfNow and GolfPass services will continue to primarily operate from Orlando. With the move to Stamford, Golf Channel also ended its long-time morning show Morning Drive, replacing it with the new midday show Golf Today from Stamford beginning January 4, 2021.[38][39]
In 2021, amid the renewal of NBC Sports' rights to the circuit, and the upcoming shutdown of long-time sister network NBCSN (the former Versus), NBCUniversal began to put a greater emphasis on Golf Channel's rights to the PGA Tour. That November, it was announced that early-round coverage of the Open Championship, U.S. Open (which moved to Golf Channel after NBC re-acquired the rights to USGA tournaments in 2020), and their women's counterparts, would move to USA Network in 2022.[40] At the 2022 Players Championship, Golf Channel adopted a special logo used on-air during PGA Tour telecasts and studio programming, which is co-branded with elements of the PGA Tour logo.[41][42]
Programming
Event coverage
Golf Channel is the pay television rightsholder of the
Golf Channel was the cable broadcaster of two of the
Since 2016, it participates in
Since its integration with NBC Sports, Golf Channel has been infrequently used as an overflow channel for non-golf programming, including two games of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs (due to programming conflicts with USA Network and CNBC), and as part of NBC's "Championship Sunday" effort to televise all matches on the final matchday of the Premier League soccer season.[43][44]
News and analysis
- Golf Central
- Golf Today
Factual and reality
- Feherty
- Golf's Greatest Rounds
- The Conor Moore Show
- Golf Road Trippin' with James Davis
- Better Off with Hally Leadbetter
- On Tour On Course
Instructional
- Golf Channel Academy
- PGA Tour Champions Learning Center
- Playing Lessons
- School Of Golf
- The Golf Fix
Notable personalities
Golf Channel uses a number of people for tournament, news and instructional programming.[45]
Current personalities
Hosts / Reporters
- Tom Abbott
- Matt Adams
- Cara Banks
- Grant Boone
- Steve Burkowski
- Kira K. Dixon
- Terry Gannon
- Damon Hack
- Dan Hicks
- Rex Hoggard
- Anna Jackson
- Ryan Lavner
- Rich Lerner
- Todd Lewis
- Eamon Lynch
- Bob Papa
- Jimmy Roberts
- Amy Rogers
- Steve Sands
- George Savaricas
- Mike Tirico
- Whit Watson
Analysts
- Notah Begay III
- Amanda Blumenherst
- Billy Ray Brown
- Curt Byrum
- Brandel Chamblee
- Kay Cockerill
- John Cook
- Nick Dougherty
- Brad Faxon
- Jim Gallagher Jr.
- Tripp Isenhour
- Peter Jacobsen
- Julia Johnson
- Smylie Kaufman
- Kevin Kisner
- Colt Knost
- Billy Kratzert
- Jim "Bones" Mackay
- Paige Mackenzie
- Paul McGinley
- Emilia Migliaccio
- Frank Nobilo
- Arron Oberholser
- Craig Perks
- Morgan Pressel
- Judy Rankin
- Mark Rolfing
- Angela Stanford
- Karen Stupples
- Johnson Wagner
- John Wood
Notable former personalities
- Brian Anderson
- Billy Andrade (2010–2012)
- Lara Baldesarra (2012–2013)
- Adam Barr
- Michael Breed
- Ryan Burr (2012-2020)
- Donna Caponi-Byrnes
- Lisa Cornwell (2014-2020)
- Robert Damron
- Beth Daniel (2007–2010)
- Charles Davis
- Casey DeSantis
- Steve Duemig
- David Feherty (2011-2022)
- Jerry Foltz (1999–2022)[48]
- Matt Gogel (2007-2021)
- Jim Gray
- Brian Hammons (1995–2015)[49]
- Trevor Immelman (2016–2022)
- Kraig Kann (1995–2011)
- Jim Kelly
- Peter Kessler (1995–2002)[50]
- Gary Koch (1996–2022)[51]
- Erik Kuselias (2011–2012)
- Justin Leonard (2015–2022)
- Ann Liguori
- Nancy Lopez
- Mark Lye
- Andrew Magee
- John Mahaffey (2004–2019)
- Roger Maltbie (1991–2022)
- Chantel McCabe
- Win McMurry
- Johnny Miller (2011–2019)
- Jennifer Mills (1995–2006)[52]
- Peter Oosterhuis (1995–2014)
- Phil Parkin (2006–2015)
- Dottie Pepper (2005–2012)
- Ahmad Rashad (2013)
- Tim Rosaforte (2007–2019)[53]
- Charlie Rymer
- Kristina Shalhoup
- Val Skinner (2002–2013)
- Holly Sonders (2011–2014)[54]
- Stephanie Sparks (2000–2013)
- Kathryn Tappen[55] (2022)
- Brian Tennyson
- Lauren Thompson (2008–2020)
- Kelly Tilghman
- Ted Tryba
- Bob Valvano
- Scott Van Pelt (1995–2000)
- Gary Williams (2011–2020)
Viewership
For the month of October 2013, Golf Channel averaged a daily viewership of 84,000.[56]
International version
Canada
The Golf Channel is also available in Canada on most cable and satellite providers, as it is authorized for carriage as a foreign cable television service by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. While it mostly airs the American feed, live events coverage is subject to blackouts due to TSN holding many of its broadcasting rights domestically.
Poland
Golf Channel Poland (Polish Golf Channel Polska) is licensed version of the network owned by MWE Networks launched on 18 March 2017.
Golf Channel UK
A British version of the channel called Golf Channel UK was operated by sporting goods retailer
Since the acquisition of
Golf Channel Latin America
The Latin American version of the Golf Channel was launched in 2006 as a DirecTV joint venture, and was acquired from DirecTV by former DirecTV executives Jason Markham and Evan Grayer together with Inversiones Bahia in 2018.[58] The channel broadcasts professional tournaments from the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, European Tour and LPGA Tour with Spanish-speaking journalists, as well as Golf Central and other English-language shows.[59] In 2019, Discovery bought the channel, but continues to license the brand and service marks for Golf Channel from Comcast.[60]
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