List of PGA Championship broadcasters
The PGA Championship is televised in the United States by CBS and ESPN. ESPN holds rights to early-round and weekend morning coverage and airs supplemental coverage through its digital subscription service ESPN+ during CBS's weekend broadcast windows. They started in 2020,[1] replacing TNT.[2] CBS holds rights to afternoon coverage of the weekend rounds. ABC had historically broadcast the tournament until 1991, when it moved to CBS.[3][4]
Broadcasters by territory
The current broadcasters (correct as of 2019) of the PGA Championship are:[5]
Territory | Broadcaster |
---|---|
Australia | Fox Sports |
Belgium | BETV / Telenet |
Bulgaria | MTEL |
Canada | TSN / RDS |
China | CCTV / IQIYI |
Czech Republic | Golf Channel |
France | Canal + |
Germany | Sky Deutschland |
Greece | Forthnet S.A. (NOV A) |
Iceland | 365 |
India | ATR (1Sports) |
Italy | Sky Italia |
Japan | TV Tokyo / JGN |
Latin America | ESPN |
Netherlands | Ziggo Sport |
New Zealand | Sky |
Pacific Islands | FIJI Television LTD |
Pan Asia | Fox Sports Asia |
Poland | ITI Neovision |
Portugal | Sport TV |
Scandinavia | Viasat |
South Africa | Supersport |
South Korea | JTBC Golf |
Spain | Movistar |
Taiwan | Sportcast |
Turkey | Saran |
United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
United States | ESPN / CBS |
Yugoslavia (Former) | Adria Media - Golf Klub |
Coverage overview
CBS (1958–1964; 1991–present)
CBS has long-term deals for the PGA Championship[6] (initially from 1958 to 1964[7] and again starting in 1991).
Frank Chirkinian was known as the 'father of televised golf' for the impact he had on golf broadcasting. He came to the attention of CBS after he impressed with his direction of the 1958 PGA Championship. Recruited by the network, who had no one with expertise in the relatively new field of golf broadcasting, he went on to be executive producer of CBS's golf coverage from 1959 to 1996.[8][9] During his time at CBS, he was nicknamed "The Ayatollah" for his brusque, uncompromising approach to directing broadcasts.[10]
ABC (1965–1990)
ABC broadcast golf events for the first time in 1962 when it began televising the
Beginning in 1982, ABC adopted its most well-known format of the Wide World of Sports era. The broadcast operated using anchor teams, in which an anchor and an analyst would call all of the action from the tower at the 18th hole, and the teams would be rotated on coverage after about a half-hour. Meanwhile, the three on-course reporters, which included Judy Rankin and Ed Sneed in addition to Rosburg, would be utilized when prompted by the anchor team. McKay and Marr would be the lead team, with Jack Whitaker and Alliss[11] as the second team. Occasionally, Rosburg or Whitaker would host if McKay was unavailable, while Roger Twibell would take over the secondary team. After his 1986 Masters win, Jack Nicklaus would appear on ABC after the end of his round and served as an analyst for the rest of the telecast.
In 1990, Roger Twibell took over as lead anchor, with Dave Marr as his analyst. Peter Alliss became sole anchor of the second anchor team. During this period, ABC acquired the rights to several non-major PGA Tour events, mostly important events such as the
ESPN (1982−1990; 2020−present)
In 1982, ESPN provided the first cable television coverage of the PGA Championship with three hours on both Thursday and Friday. While there was no cable coverage of the first two rounds in 1984, ESPN returned for weekday coverage the following year and expanded to three and a half hours each day. And then in 1986, ESPN increased their weekday coverage to four hours.
On October 10, 2018, it was announced that ESPN had acquired cable rights to the tournament from 2020 to 2030. ESPN will, as with TNT, carry early-round and weekend morning coverage, but will also have the ability to offer supplemental coverage through its digital subscription service ESPN+ during CBS's weekend broadcast windows.[2]
Turner Sports (1991–2019)
Until ESPN regained the rights following the
When TBS took over the cable package for the PGA Championship in 1991, they increased the weekday coverage to 6 hours per day. TBS also added 2 hours of Saturday and Sunday coverage. Because inclement weather stopped play during the third round of 2012 PGA Championship on Saturday, TNT added coverage starting at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday.
For the
Beginning with the 1995 PGA Championship, Ernie Johnson Jr. became the primary golf anchor for Turner. During the 2006 PGA Championship, Verne Lundquist filled in on TNT for Johnson, who was undergoing chemotherapy. During TNT's Sunday coverage of the 2011 PGA Championship, Lundquist once again stepped in for Johnson after Johnson's father died. On both occasions, Lundquist was already on-site as a tower announcer for CBS's coverage.
Dave Marr served as the lead analyst for TBS during their 1995 PGA Championship coverage. By the 1996 PGA Championship, Bobby Clampett once again assumed the lead Turner analyst role. Also for the 1996 PGA Championship, former LPGA player Mary Bryan moved over from CBS to join the TBS team.
Commentators
Play-by-play/anchors
Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
---|---|---|
Brian Anderson | 2019 | TNT |
Gary Bender | 1992 | TBS |
Ernie Johnson Jr. | 1995–2005; 2007–2010; 2012–2018 | TBS TNT |
Verne Lundquist | 2006; 2011 | TNT |
Jim McKay | 1958–1960; 1965–1987; 1989 | CBS ABC |
Jim Nantz | 1991–present | CBS |
Bob Neal | 1991–1994 | TBS |
Chris Schenkel | 1961–1975 | CBS ABC |
Jim Simpson | 1986 | ESPN |
Pat Summerall | 1991–1993 | CBS |
Roger Twibell | 1987–1990 | ESPN ABC |
Scott Van Pelt | 2020–present | ESPN |
Jack Whitaker | 1988 | ABC |
Analysts
Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
---|---|---|
Ian Baker-Finch | 2007–present | CBS TNT |
Mary Bryan | 1995–1996 | CBS TBS |
Donna Caponi | 1991 | TBS |
Bobby Clampett | 1991; 1996–2007 | TBS TNT |
John Deer | 1958–1964 | CBS |
Bruce Devlin | 1986 | ESPN |
David Duval | 2020–present | ESPN |
Nick Faldo | 2007–2022 | CBS |
Andre Iguodala | 2018 | TBS |
Trevor Immelman | 2017–present | CBS TNT |
David Leadbetter | 1991–1994 | TBS |
Dave Marr | 1970–1990 | ABC |
Gary McCord | 1991–2019 | CBS |
Steve Melnyk | 1991 | CBS |
Byron Nelson | 1965–1974 | ABC |
Jack Nicklaus | 1986–1990 | ABC |
Ken Venturi | 1991–2001 | CBS |
Lanny Wadkins | 2002–2006 | CBS |
Ben Wright | 1991–1995 | CBS |
On-site reporters
Announcer | Years | Network(s) |
---|---|---|
Michael Eaves | 2021−present | ESPN |
Pat Haden | 1991 | TBS |
Tom Rinaldi | 2020 | ESPN |
Marty Smith | 2021−present | ESPN |
Don Sutton | 1992 | TBS |
Gene Wojciechowski | 2021−present | ESPN |
See also
References
- ^ Lucia, Joe (August 5, 2020). "Your 2020 PGA Championship announcing schedule". Awful Announcing.
- ^ a b Ourand, John; Lombardo, John (October 10, 2018). "PGA Championship Leaving TNT For ESPN In '20, Re-Ups With CBS". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ "NBC gets U.S. Open golf". The New York Times. June 2, 1994. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ Stewart, Larry (July 21, 1995). "ABC getting a major chance with British Open coverage". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ "PGA Championship Broadcaster List" (PDF). PGA of America. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ "CBS at 75". CBS Sports.
August 2000 Tiger Woods outduels Bob May in the first three-hole playoff in PGA Championship history, seen by an estimated 38.5 million total viewers, the largest audience ever for a PGA Championship.
- ^ a b Haggar, Jeff (August 5, 2013). "History of PGA Championship TV coverage (1958-present)". Classic TV Sports.
- ^ Elling, Steve (March 4, 2011). "Father of golf broadcasting dies at 84". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ Boyette, John (March 4, 2011). "Masters Tournament golf broadcasting pioneer dies". The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ Yocom, Guy (September 2003). "My Shot: Frank Chirkinian". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ Hagger, Jeff (June 15, 2015). "Original ABC footage of TC Chen double hit in 1985 US Open". Classic TV Sports.