Friday, September 8, 2000
ESPN gets more Tiger on air
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — All Tiger, all the
time.
That's what networks want when it comes
to televising a PGA Tour tournament, and that's what they are
increasingly maneuvering to get.
ESPN and ESPN2 are the latest channels to
do whatever they can to put Tiger Woods up front and center on
a golf broadcast, increasing coverage of the Canadian Open on
Thursday and Friday.
ESPN, which is airing all four rounds of
the tournament, originally was slated to broadcast from 4-6 p.m.
EDT both Thursday and Friday.
But when Woods' tee times for the two days
were announced, ESPN went into talks to be able to show his rounds
live.
Instead of 4 p.m., Thursday's first round
went on the air at 12:30 p.m. — because Woods was slated
to tee off at 12:47. ESPN made sure to show nearly each and every
one of his 72 strokes Thursday — seven behind first-round
leader Kevin Sutherland — as he tried to become the first
golfer since 1971 to win the British, U.S. and Canadian Opens
in the same year.
Then, because Woods was given a 7:57 a.m.
tee time for Friday's second round, ESPN2 added a window for the
tournament from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We made an arrangement with the PGA
Tour that allowed us to extend our coverage,” ESPN spokesman
Josh Krulewitz said.
He would not provide any details.
Woods' mere presence in a tournament can
boost TV ratings by 50 to 100 percent, and his draw on audiences
is even stronger when he's in contention.
At last month's Buick Open, The Golf Channel
devoted most of its first-round coverage to Woods even though
he finished his 18 holes nearly four hours before the live broadcast
opened.
His play was shown on tape, and the channel
apologized to viewers the next day.
The PGA Tour took advantage of his breakthrough
victory at the 1997 Masters to negotiate a new TV rights deal,
and talks start next year on a new contract — with Woods
more popular than ever on the strength of three consecutive victories
at Grand Slam events.
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