OT: Golf, But Louder

[Tim_Cronin]

I watched all five hours of both the LIV Golf and PGA Tour telecasts today, thanks to setting up two TVs side-by-side. I took a few notes on commercials. The LIV telecast had about 45 minutes of breaks. I didn't notice any national ads, though there were plenty of CW Network promos, including one for their other sports offering, a documentary series on the road to the Indy 500 starting in March. There were plenty of local ads on WGN Chicago, plus a few promos for WGN shows and the NewsNation, which runs on WGN America (and which might have run on the CW network, for that matter).


I didn't specifically chart golf shot frequency on the two telecasts, but there did seem to be more on the LIV show. The move by CBS and NBC to rely on Trackman-type graphics for tee shots seems to lead to longer set-ups for a shot. LIV uses those too but gets to the shot faster (and on one hole had an interesting dispersion-pattern graphic for the shots). Both had plenty of aerials and beauty shots.


I only listened to the LIV show. David Feherty seemed in good form, Arlo White anchored well enough, and Jerry Foltz and the on-course folks, also holdovers from last year, still aren't interesting. At least there was less "this is the greatest innovation in golf" tail-kissing than before.

[Ian Mackenzie]

I watched a lot of the LIV telecast on WGN yesterday.
I admit to enjoying the golf...;-)


The broadcast and the announcers kinda reminded me of watching "Mystery Science Theater 3000" where Ferrety and Co. were like those three robots at the bottom of the screen making comical color commentary on an otherwise plot-less backdrop...;-)

[John Kavanaugh]

I was wrong about thinking that YouTube was enough. Even my favorite cigar bar had LIV on next to the PGA.


Shane Lowry has shorts and 54 holes written all over his face. He deserves it.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Interesting that some of the golfers in shorts were wearing calf-high socks, which are not allowed at private clubs in this area.  If you were shorts then your socks must be ankle high(or shorter) or knee high.

Of all the things not to legislate against at a country club, sock length would be the first thing that comes to mind.

Well at least you can wear shorts at any club in Canada.  At the fancier Montreal clubs (Royal Montreal, Mt Bruno) you have to have knee high socks, or at least you did about 7-8 years ago.  Here in Toronto you can wear shorts everywhere but many or most clubs have sock rules.

I believe that there are a large number of private clubs in the US where shorts are not allowed at all.  Better to have a silly sock rule than a no-shorts rule.

[Tim Martin]

Interesting that some of the golfers in shorts were wearing calf-high socks, which are not allowed at private clubs in this area.  If you were shorts then your socks must be ankle high(or shorter) or knee high.

Of all the things not to legislate against at a country club, sock length would be the first thing that comes to mind.

I believe that there are a large number of private clubs in the US where shorts are not allowed at all.  Better to have a silly sock rule than a no-shorts rule.

What clubs still have the no shorts rule in effect besides ANGC in the U.S.?

[Jim_Coleman]

Bel Air and I think LA Country Club

[John_Cullum]

So sad.   


Deadline reports that several CW affiliates will *not* be airing LIV Golf events, including all eight CBS-owned and operated affiliates across the country. Those eight affiliates are in Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Tampa, Seattle, Detroit, Sacramento, and Pittsburgh. Additionally, the Weigel-owned affiliate in Chicago will not air LIV, nor will Tegna-owned affiliates like San Diego and Hartford

https://awfulannouncing.com/golf/eight-cbs-owned-cw-affiliates-several-others-will-not-air-liv-golf.html

I'm watching it now on the Tampa affiliate, but let's not let facts get in the way of a good story

[Michael Morandi]

https://twitter.com/jnucci23/status/1629547910047178752?s=61&t=SKoEI8B-GCZl0JndzjaMBw

[Rob Marshall]

So sad.   


Deadline reports that several CW affiliates will *not* be airing LIV Golf events, including all eight CBS-owned and operated affiliates across the country. Those eight affiliates are in Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Tampa, Seattle, Detroit, Sacramento, and Pittsburgh. Additionally, the Weigel-owned affiliate in Chicago will not air LIV, nor will Tegna-owned affiliates like San Diego and Hartford

https://awfulannouncing.com/golf/eight-cbs-owned-cw-affiliates-several-others-will-not-air-liv-golf.html

I'm watching it now on the Tampa affiliate, but let's not let facts get in the way of a good story

I heard from two guys today it's unwatchable, They said something about the music being to loud. I am looking forward to seeing Cam Smith this year at Oak Hill. I want to see that putting stroke in person. He's the only guy I miss.

[Tim Leahy]

Charlie three sticks wins LIV. I thought he retired. Another has-been on a joke tour. I'll never watch a minute of this circus even if I could find the channel.

[Mike Bodo]

I heard from two guys today it's unwatchable, They said something about the music being to loud. I am looking forward to seeing Cam Smith this year at Oak Hill. I want to see that putting stroke in person. He's the only guy I miss.

I'm a LIV supporter and this week's tournament was the worst I'd seen. It was bad golf all the way around save for Chucky Three Sticks. The fact he won the tournament going away is an embarrassment to the league, considering he hadn't won anything of real substance on the PGA Tour in years. Watching Peter Uihlein snap-hook three consecutve drives into the woods on 11 or 12 and Taylor Gooch follow suit by putting one in the woods on the same hole epitomized just how bad play on the circuit has become. They're all a bunch of fat happy cats with no incentive to practice and keep their games sharp. Greg Norman should take each of their "so-called" stars behind the woodshed and tell them that their level of play is unacceptable.


Mayakoba was probably the worst choice of venues to host their 2023 "coming out" event, as it's a friggin' resort community with no real local population to draw from and few golf fans at that. I suspect the only reason they even went there was due to Norman's connection as course architect, same as the venue hosting the tourney in Adelaide. I suspect LIV received favorable rent terms as a result. However, if their intent was to appeal to the masses in that country and establish LIV as a legitimate alternative to the PGA, they failed miserably. If anyone at LIV had so much as a brain they would have held this event at Chapultepec Country Club outside Mexico City, which had hosted a WGC event each Feb. from 2017 - 2019. That tourney drew massive crowds - mainly locals from the city and surrounding areas. A LIV event there I'm sure would have attracted much the same. So much for their claim of "growing the game." Yeah, let's go to Mexico and have a tournament where the people aren't. That makes sense. LOL!


Bottom line; if the players that are eligible to participate in the majors from LIV don't show up and produce in meaningful ways, the league is dead, as whatever shred of legitimacy it had will be lost.

[Dave Doxey]

I never watch live golf, only recorded where I can skip commercials, puff pieces, and sponsor interviews.   


Last season I enjoyed watching LIV on YouTube. Never live, I watched whenever I found it convenient.   This week I was unable to watch LIV, as it was not on YouTube, but on CW.  I have no local CW OTA station, so I was unable to record.  The CW streaming app did not allow watching previous day rounds or allow watching a round from the beginning.  Live only.  Being busy elsewhere during the live rounds, I missed out.  I sure miss YouTube coverage.   


LIV will no doubt be unpleasantly surprised when the viewer numbers come out.  Picking CW was a big mistake.  LIV lost me as a viewer.  I’m back to watching occasional recorded Tour telecasts only.

[JLahrman]

Picking CW was a big mistake.

Did LIV have its pick of networks?

[Mike Bodo]

Did LIV have its pick of networks?

I highly doubt it. I believe the only reason CW expressed an interest is because they view it as an opportunity to bolster their CW Sports Network intiative. I'm not sure what other sports they air besides Women's College Basketball though.

[John Kavanaugh]

I have few remaining numbers in my head. Now I have channel 8. That is worth approximately $16 to the CW.

[Dave Doxey]

Picking CW was a big mistake.

Did LIV have its pick of networks?

YouTube was a much better choice and would generate more viewers.   Moving to CW will result in fewer viewers than last season on YouTube. CW adds commercials with a questionable revenue yield while making broadcasts less watchable. 


In my opinion, viewership on YouTube would have increased this season had LIV stuck with it as more fans became aware.  There must be a strategy to CW that I don't see,


I just discovered that LIV has a streaming app that will let me watch the way I want without CW.

[Kalen Braley]

And the flip side to that...

The Honda had a cracker of a finish yesterday with two guys going toe to toe on the back 9 and ended up in a playoff.  I tuned in when I saw they were neck and neck on the 10th hole.  Sure they weren't big names but some good drama with trouble lurking everywhere.

[John Kavanaugh]

No one in the history of golf has proven more resilient after failure than Norman. This is going to happen. Patience.

[Bruce Katona]

So true JK, so true.

[Ian Mackenzie]

I dont know if you saw during the broadcast yesterday that Feherty and the two others in the booth aired their OWGR grievances in a 60 second segment that was, for me, just hard to watch as they sounded like a trio of misinformed Trump supporters playing the victim card...it was sad.
They literally started out the segment by decrying the horribly biased media being against LIV.

- They conveniently leave out that the guy who funds the LIV Tour murdered and dismembered one of their WaPo industry colleagues so kinda natural for the rest of the industry to hold a grudge.

 
They offered that the LIV golfers are being "punished" by OWGR because they chose a personal lifestyle career move.
- They leave out that the LIV golfers all knew this before they signed on the LIV dotted line.
Then they have the gall to offer that the Majors were in jeopardy for many LIV tour members due to OWGR rankings, but that at least in the two Opens they could qualify as the PGA and DP Tours would not allow them to play in their regular events.

- They leave out the fact that THEIR events are closed to ALL golfers in the world regardless of ranking or status unless you are invited by LIV offering the audience a "same-sauce" rinse/repeat of talent without the introduction of fresh faces or guys that just got hot that week.

The Honda Classic, while perhaps a weak field, had two Monday qualifiers on the leader board with Eric Cole finishing second.
It was fun to watch.
LIV will never see this type of competitor - be it Eric Cole or first round contender, Pierceson Coody.
It's not just "Golf, but louder", it's also "Golf, but less inclusive".

[JohnVDB]

No one in the history of golf has proven more resilient after failure than Norman. This is going to happen. Patience.

I’m sure he’ll need to be resilient again.

[Chris Kane]

I suspect the only reason they even went there was due to Norman's connection as course architect, same as the venue hosting the tourney in Adelaide. I suspect LIV received favorable rent terms as a result.

The South Australian Government is paying $5m for the LIV event in Adelaide. Might be the only revenue LIV books all year!

[Pete_Pittock]

Our CBS affiliate promoted the CW LIV coverage during their late news broadcast. Probably because they use the local CW station for an additional hour of news on a mostly daily basis. Didn't change my viewing habit.

[JLahrman]

Well the initial TV ratings for LIV are in and...they're not good. For those of you on this thread claiming you watched LIV this weekend - I'm not sure I believe you. For the record, I didn't watch LIV or World's Funniest Animals so I'm not skewing the results. I guess you've got to start somewhere. And I'm not sure that huge TV ratings are the goal of LIV. But those are some ugly numbers. Golf, But Quieter.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/liv-golf-loses-cw-ratings-battle-to-worlds-funniest-animals

[Wayne_Kozun]

The Honda Classic, while perhaps a weak field, had two Monday qualifiers on the leader board with Eric Cole finishing second.
It was fun to watch.
LIV will never see this type of competitor - be it Eric Cole or first round contender, Pierceson Coody.
It's not just "Golf, but louder", it's also "Golf, but less inclusive".

Agreed, despite the weak field the back nine and playoff at the Honda was fun.  That is partially because Kirk hit a horrible shot into 18 that screwed it up, but that is the pressure of tournament golf.