Masters won't just be Tigervision, CBS says
By Langston Wertz Jr. / Knight Ridder Newspapers
Last year, the Masters was seen by more than 44 million viewers.
The final round's best-ever 14.1 rating was up 53 percent over
1996.
And as CBS readies to carry golf's biggest tournament for the
43rd straight year, host Jim Nantz sees no reason why the ratings
-- or the sport's popularity -- is going to slow down.
USA network's early-round coverage begins Thursday and Friday
at 4 p.m. CBS airs coverage Saturday at 3:30 and Sunday at 4 p.m.
Before Sunday's final round, CBS will rebroadcast a May 1964 "grudge
match" between Ben Hogan and Sam Snead at 3 p.m.
"The sport is going through an absolutely glorious phase,"
says Nantz, who has hosted CBS' Masters coverage since 1989. "And
Tiger (Woods) has been the primary reason why golf is going through
this wonderful stretch, and everyone can't wait to see his encore.
I don't want to miss a shot. He'll be the story line Thursday
through Sunday."
Nantz feels there's no other sport today that has the wealth
of young talent golf has.
"You've got Tiger, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood (among others),"
Nantz said. "It's amazing how golf has such a strong and
talented pack of players that are going to be at the top of their
games for a long time and they're all in their mid- to early 20s."
Though all eyes are sure to be on Woods, CBS has no special
plans to give viewers shots of the prodigy just to show him --
especially if Woods isn't in contention during championship Sunday.
"Our philosophy is Saturday we show you golf and start
building the story. Sunday we tell the story," said CBS producer
Lance Barrow. "Whatever the story is on Sunday, we're telling
it the way it should be told."
Sure, but everyone knows a Woods' title run will bring ratings,
something CBS has to be at least secretly hoping for.
"We'll do the best job we can with the tournament presented
to us," Nantz said. "We don't sit back in the truck
and say, 'The ratings are slipping away because Tiger just double-bogeyed.'
"
Added Barrow: "I think there can be too little Tiger.
People are interested in how he's doing. They're also interested
in how Greg Norman's doing or Fred Couples, people like that.
But I haven't found a place yet that it's too much Tiger."
What's he saying? You'll see a lot of Woods this weekend.
X X X
Langston Wertz Jr.is a columnist for The Charlotte Observer.
(c) 1998, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).
Visit The Charlotte Observer on the World Wide Web at http://www.charlotte.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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