Byline: Bob Molinaro
Jan. 10--If you were unfortunate enough to watch Fox's pre-game show from the site of Monday's national championship college football game, you know Ohio State did not turn in the night's lamest performance.
Presumably, and regrettably, Eddie George and Emmitt Smith were just winging it with their sophomoric banter about whose shaved head looked better and why George, a former Ohio State great, was wearing a tie that matched Florida's school colors. They were part of a panel in Glendale, Ariz., that included Jimmy Johnson, whose hair makes clearer statements than he does. Johnson is the weakest link in Fox's weekly NFL studio show, so it was predictable that he would add little to this ill-conceived discussion of the big game. He did, though, mention how good he thought his hair looked. But providing keen analysis wasn't the point, anyway. Most pregame shows are just an excuse to delay the inevitable in order to sell more ads. Everybody knows this; Fox's dismal effort was just more transparent than most. A more palatable viewing experience was presented earlier in the evening by local Fox affiliate WVBT. Bruce Rader went on the air live at 7 for a 30-minute studio special that included taped interviews with Percy Harvin, the Florida freshman from Virginia Beach, and Chris Beatty, who coached Harvin at Landstown High. Also featured was D.J. Dozier of Virginia Beach, a key ingredient in Penn State's 1987 title-game victory. A couple of hours before air time, Rader explained why he passed up the chance to use a canned pregame show offered by Fox. 'My feeling was, we were capable of putting together our own special.'
Any football show without Jimmy Johnson has the chance to be a little special. If you start having difficulty locating coverage of PGA Tour events on your TV, you may need to look a little harder. If that fails, check with your local cable provider about upgrading service. Otherwise, you'll be watching a lot less golf on the tube.
Now that the Golf Channel has signed a 15-year deal with the PGA Tour to be its primary carrier, many tournaments we were accustomed to finding on ESPN will be broadcast by this relatively untested niche network. In an attempt to establish itself as more than a destination for hardcore hackers, the Golf Channel opens the season with coverage of all four rounds of the tour's first three tournaments; in all, it will air 13 events from start to finish. In addition, the network will provide three hours or more of live coverage on Thursdays and Fridays from 43 PGA tournaments. The Golf Channel moved in when ESPN decided rights fees were getting too rich for its blood, given the sport's drooping ratings. But the stars of the broadcasts -- pro golfers -- are said to be less than thrilled with the new address. ESPN is carried in about 20 million more homes than the Golf Channel, but even those numbers don't tell the whole story, since viewership of the Golf Channel is minuscule compared with the Worldwide Leader's audience. And bars and restaurants are more likely to have TVs tuned to ESPN, which provides golf with a more universal audience. Locally, the Golf Channel is included on cable's digital sports and information tier, the same place you can find the NFL Network. According to Thom Prevette, spokesman for Cox Communications, 'a majority of our customers enjoy some level of digital programming.' That still leaves many viewers without the Golf Channel. And even more who only vaguely recognize it as the home of deadly dull minor-league men's golf or the LPGA Tour. Last year, the number of people watching the network each day was significantly less than the audience for the NHL on Versus. And everybody makes fun of pro hockey's ratings. People aren't accustomed to tuning in to the Golf Channel to see the biggest names. It will take time, maybe even years, for the network to build the audience ESPN guaranteed. Meanwhile, what sort of hit does the sport take at a time when only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are sure to attract a crowd? -- Reach Bob at (757) 446-2373or bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com
Copyright (c) 2007, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
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