Graphics on Televised Golf - Question

[Carl Johnson]

Does anyone know how the networks and TGC, and others who televise golf, pay for graphics?  Sorry to say, I watched a lot of today's second round of the Players on the Golf Channel today.  They may have shown a couple of putt graphics, and a couple of drive line graphics.  Not much.  I've read that the LPGA events get no graphics, but then it's hard to find them on TV anyway, so who knows.  From an architectural standpoint, the green read graphics help me the most.  I don't recall ever seeing a fairway graphic, with the elevation and contours, which would also be helpful from an architectural standpoint, since normal TV seems to flatten everything out.  My sense is that the televisors must be paying a royalty for every graphic the show, as contrasted with a flat rate for the entire telecast.  I may be way off here.  What do you guys and gals know about this side of the business?

[Adrian_Stiff]

In the UK & Europe a company called Pinpoint do some of them. They do an aerial of the course and then use that information to zoom in on any angle to create fly bys and tours. I worked with them in their early stages before they got their european tour contracts, they did The Players Club and created a fly by video of each hole. I reckon it costs about £10,000 now. I give them to Sky TV to use when we have a tournament together with aerial fly over videos, I also erect 6 or 7 camera points about 2 metres off the ground to get better camera shots so it looks better when we have tournaments, I pay for that directly, but it makes for a better programme. The green/putts graphics is much more intense mapping and I think must be another firm, I suspect quite costly too.