Pebble Beach TV Ratings Go Low....

[Tom Zeni]

Mike,

My answer's between your questions in bold.

Is there a correlation to the change in viewership to the number of golfers playing the game?  Show me the study or analysis supporting your claim.

Maybe you shouldn't have deleted the Cheney reference, as it was the "attitude" that I was referring to that turns people off, rather than attracts.  

If your criteria to any discussion is to provide a study or analysis, then the board fails as to it's intent, and becomes the New England Journal of Medicine.  (I did provide a link to the USA Today TV ratings in my original post.)

Why do you want to attract more to the game?

I find that an odd question. There is a food chain in any sport as to how one aspect affects another. Just this, without renewed participation, more courses become housing developments.

And, how were the ratings for the Duke / Maryland game compared to last year?

The ratings for the Duke/Maryland game were up 5% from last year. With that lead in, the ratings for PB was down
40.5 % from last year.

[A_Clay_Man]

I'm skeptical of a conclusion that is closely linked to the snow bound logic.
Wasn't this the first snow storm of this magnitude, in the Northeast this year?
Don't people get awed the first time it snows, and go out to frolic in the new white stuff? Or at least have to shovel it?
Was the proximity to Valentine's Day a factor?

[Craig Sweet]

The golf was uninspiring. No Tiger. Too many amateurs. Lanny and Jimmy....the reasons for NOT watching were so many.

[Craig Sweet]

By the way, the coverage was so mundane and boring.

You can always count on the obligatory shots of the "beautiful people" sailing their boats, the whales frolicing, and the opening scene with the waves crashing into the seawall.

Its getting old

[Peter Galea]

Tom, what really got me and what I take issue with is your comment re: "weakened field".

Here is a partial list of players
Arron Oberholser 1 65 68 66 72 271 $972,000.00
Rory Sabbatini 2 69 69 68 70 276 $583,200.00
Mike Weir T3 63 67 69 78 277 $313,200.00
Luke Donald T7 62 72 71 74 279 $157,140.00
Tom Lehman T7 72 65 72 70 279 $157,140.00
Vijay Singh T7 68 71 72 68 279 $157,140.00
Chris DiMarco T14 68 69 73 71 281 $81,120.00
Jose Maria Olazabal T14 71 67 72 71 281 $81,120.00
Pat Perez T14 69 71 70 71 281 $81,120.00
Ryan Palmer T23 69 71 68 74 282 $49,680.00
Jim Furyk T27 68 71 74 70 283 $37,530.00
Duffy Waldorf T27 69 73 70 71 283 $37,530.00
Davis Love III T33 69 67 75 73 284 $29,160.00
Phil Mickelson T38 67 74 67 77 285 $23,760.00
Lee Janzen T42 69 73 66 78 286 $16,258.91
Steve Lowery T42 70 74 67 75 286 $16,258.91
Jeff Maggert T42 71 69 72 74 286 $16,258.91
Bob May T56 71 67 74 76 288 $12,150.00
Jeff Sluman T56 71 67 73 77 288 $12,150.00
Paul Stankowski T56 69 75 68 76 288 $12,150.00
Billy Andrade T60 70 73 70 76 289 $11,718.00
Charles Howell III T60 68 76 69 76 289 $11,718.00
Brad Faxon T66 68 71 74 78 291 $11,178.00
Kirk Triplett T68 73 69 72 214 $10,476.00
Robert Gamez CUT 71 76 68   215  
Matt Gogel CUT 72 72 71   215  
Corey Pavin CUT 67 78 70   215  
Arjun Atwal CUT 68 73 75   216  
Ricky Barnes CUT 72 72 72   216  
Notah Begay III CUT 73 73 70   216  
Rocco Mediate CUT 72 70 74   216  
Sean O'Hair CUT 75 71 71   217  
Bubba Watson CUT 73 70 74   217  
Jesper Parnevik CUT 72 76 70   218  
Jay Haas CUT 69 72 78   219  
Matt Kuchar CUT 70 74 75   219  
Scott McCarron CUT 73 76 70   219  
Tim Petrovic CUT 71 72 76   219  
Omar Uresti CUT 75 69 75   219  
Camilo Villegas CUT 71 74 74   219  
Alex Cejka CUT 73 73 74   220  
Jerry Kelly CUT 74 75 72   221  
Grant Waite CUT 74 75 72   221  
Fred Funk CUT 73 74 75   222  
Larry Mize CUT 71 76 75   222  
Esteban Toledo CUT 72 73 77   222  
Hank Kuehne CUT 69 76 78   223  
Andrew Magee CUT 71 78 76   225  
Mark O'Meara CUT 76 77 74   227  
Bill Glasson CUT 73 78 78   229  
David Frost CUT 78 77 81   236  

I don't see too much weakness there. As a matter of fact there are several Master's champs, US Open winners and multiple tour event winners. Conspicuous by their absence: Tiger, Els, Goosen and Campbell. Is that what makes it weak?

[Tom Zeni]

Adam,

While I don't have a statistical analysis to prove my theory, I fully suspect there was more frolicing due to pre-Valentine warm-ups, than there was due to the snow. The prevailing thinking is, if you settled in to watch PB, you soon needed a distraction!

As for the snow, that's why God invented Snowblowers. And while I have a great turn of phrase coupling Valentine's Day to snowblowers to finish that thought, I'll let it go at that.

As for TV viewing, there's a reason why they have February sweeps. You'll never find a sweeps period in say, oh, July.

[Tom Zeni]

Pete,

We're two pages into this thread, and you're finally coming up with your primary thought, which was only a passing thought in your first post.

However, your point is well taken. But I'd question, whether or not they were in contention, how often we saw them  vs. how often we saw the Chairman of some corporation, or Peter Kostis swing analysis of Rush limbaugh?  Hell, everyone knows his shots go to the far right! lol.

[Scott Cannon]

How do ratings on TV (good or bad) effect my round this Sunday? How do they effect me enjoying playing classics like WF W, Shinny, Maidstone, Fishers, BCC (I still dont know why the membership wants a Champ tour event there), Olympic, LACC, Riv.......
My point is, this thread is somewhat interesting, and I like everyones enthusiasm for debate, but why should I care?

[Tom Zeni]

Scott,

Unless you have an opinion of Golf on television, or the state, or a perceived state of the PGA tour visa vie the AT&T Pebble Beach, then you probably shouldn't care.

However, you may not want to break those wrists when putting.  

[A_Clay_Man]

Tom, I like the way you think!

So, it turns out, the major error was not the marketing plan for the pga tour/players. It was the companies desire to move the tournament just a little later each year, inorder to avoid the constant threat of the January rains. Which pushed them into the ratings sweeps month.
I realize it's a little lite, and a stretch, but any opportunity to bash the management there, is hard to pass up.  

[George Pazin]

Am I the only one that doesn't mind seeing the celebs once a year?

What a beautiful area, wish I could visit it more often.

[Craig Sweet]

George, unfortunately they are on TV more than once a year. How about the Michael Douglas Shootout,and other "silly season" golf events?

[George Pazin]

Guess I should have been more specific. You know it's possible to not watch those other shows, Craig, don't you?

It really doesn't bother me seeing the celebs at Pebble once a year. In fact, in some ways it's comforting to not see the robot pro swings. Besides, we can all fantasize that our 15 minutes might end up being there.

And does anyone else out there think Mark Wiebe looks kind of like a white haired JohnV?

[Mickey Boland]

George,

My life would be no less complete without these celebs once a year.

I do enjoy watching golf on TV, but I have to agree with most posters in this thread that this tournament has become particularly excruciating to watch only because of the manner in which it is presented by CBS.

[Rick Shefchik]

It was a luckluster leaderboard. If Phil and Vijay and maybe DiMarco, Love or Fred Funk had been in the mix, ratings would have been higher.

The hard-core fans tend to skip it because they're not interested in watching Craig T. Nelson play golf (though I was fascinated by seeing Neil Young there last year), and the marginal fans tend to skip it if Phil and Tiger aren't in the hunt.

And now that the tournament is played later in the winter, it's no longer the first ray of golf sunshine we shut-ins are exposed to.

I don't think the announcers had anything to do with the ratings.

[Brian_Sleeman]

The hard-core fans tend to skip it because they're not interested in watching Craig T. Nelson play golf (though I was fascinated by seeing Neil Young there last year),

And for a slight change of topic, as for how the pro-am affects some of the celebrity ams: Neil hasn't played a single round since then.

[A_Clay_Man]

I wouldn't expect everyone to enjoy it. But, the more you have played her the more you love her. Watching her on TV is great fun for me. Looking for the slight changes in bunker shapes.

That Shivas bunker on 15 is so out of place it should be blamed for the lack of viewer interest.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tom Zeni,

The telecast transitioned from broadcasting a unique golf tournament to being nothing more than a shill for CBS's programs.

Call it cross selling if you'd like.

I think the public has tired of the excessive exposure given to the CBS lineup at the expense of watching the golf, a magnificent golf course and interesting celebrities.

CBS's focus also seems excessively narrow.

It would seem that with a three (3) hour broadcasting window that you'd see more golfers, more shots and less nonsense.  And certainly far fewer interviews with people that noone cares about while they're on the golf course.

Whoever's in charge of the production should consider making substantive changes and certainly ceasing the practice of exposing us to the CBS line up ad nauseam.

It's golf and the golf course the viewers want, not promos for other programs.

[Tom Zeni]

Patrick,

Well said.

Maybe we should all thank Marfa Burke for providing us with a commercial free Masters!

[KJaeger]

The TV coverage was awful. They showed more shots of the dogs on the beach than they did the golf and then they would show some am making a fool of himself.

I agree.  I watched the Sunday telecast via my DVR about 45 minutes behind the actual broadcast, fast-forwarding through Nantz's blatherings and everything that wasn't golf or a particularly pretty shot of the course (I did not get to attend this year in person because my 8-month-old would struggle with the proper etiquette involved   ), and it did not take me more than 90 minutes to catch up to the live action.  (Heck, I didn't even fast-forward through the sea otters.)  Very little actual golf was shown, which is puzzling since I am quite sure that at any given moment someone on the course would have been hitting a shot.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Patrick,

Well said.

Maybe we should all thank Marfa Burke for providing us with a commercial free Masters!

Tom,

That's an interesting point.

One tournament, run by the network, appears to produce nothing more than a promo for their network, a three hour commercial, the other tournament, run by the CLUB, appears to produce a telecast for lovers of golf everywhere.

What a contrast in production, from quality to content.

There is nothing like The Masters ![/color]

[Craig Sweet]

Pat...it's a good thing Hootie doesn't have his own sitcom on CBS...

[Tom Zeni]

I don't know if you gents know this, I know I didn't until talking to a reporter for Golf Magazine. During the Masters, only the United States doesn't receive commericals.  Japan, Europe, etc. does receive and pay AN for the small amount of commerical time the Master's permits.

In short, when we get "Master's Moments", the rest of the viewing countries are getting commericals.

Regardless, unlike any other in many respects. So goes the Master's, so goes golf.

[Voytek Wilczak]

Its getting old

My sentiments exactly.

I am sooo tired of Bill Murray's hats and act, some rich CEO's bad swings, and mundane TV commentary at Pebble.

The TV world is changing incredibly fast, and the PGA Tour is NOT keeping pace if this tournament is any example.

[Jordan Wall]

Its getting old

My sentiments exactly.

I am sooo tired of Bill Murray's hats and act, some rich CEO's bad swings, and mundane TV commentary at Pebble.

The TV world is changing incredibly fast, and the PGA Tour is NOT keeping pace if this tournament is any example.

I personally love to watch Bill Murray and I feel he never gets old

The thing that gets old for me is a mediocre field, especially on such nice courses

I would rather watch Natalie Gulbis and the LPGA then the past Pro-Am

...you think Pebble Beach is beautiful...