How Come There Is No Mention of Seniors Golf On The BBC?

[mikejohnchapman]

I find it strange and disappointing that there is no mention of any seniors golf on the BBC or their website. I get that they don't really cover golf anymore but as a PSB you would think they would cover the basics.

Stephen Dodd was a worthy winner of The Senior Open at Sunningdale and not a mention on either the BBC website or sports reports. They had coverage of the LPGA, PGA and European Tours and the increased emphasis on the Ladies events is to be welcomed, but why nothing for the Seniors, Champions or Legends Tours?

If the analysis of the demographics for the BBC is to be believed with fewer young people using the BBC for their information and their biggest audience being a more mature person why are they ignoring this area which may be of interest to their prime audience?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/sport/golf/57958054.amp

Right now the focus is on the Olympics , a seniors event will not make a dent on anyone’s radar.

 

[sunshine]

Because it’s the BBC and they don’t care about golf?

 

[Orikoru]

Because it’s the BBC and they don’t care about golf?

Or old people

 

[IanM]

Yep. It failed all the bbc criteria, so wasn't covered.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I saw a reasonable amount of this and it was good viewing. As others have said however, it doesn't fit the demographic the BBC are determined to go after. To be ignored on the website though is unforgivable, not enough space in the golf section of a website?

 

[TogoPresley]

I saw a reasonable amount of this and it was good viewing. As others have said however, it doesn't fit the demographic the BBC are determined to go after. To be ignored on the website though is unforgivable, not enough space in the golf section of a website?

Old, white, male, wealthy - BBC just hate all of that unless it applies to themselves.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Old, white, male, wealthy - BBC just hate all of that unless it applies to themselves.

...there was also little or nothing on the BBC Sport website that I can could see on the English Under18 Girls Open just recently played. And that will be as important to some as the Seniors Open is to others. As ever with the BBC I can choose my own specific perspective to be upset with it - if that's my mindset.

 

[TogoPresley]

...there was also little or nothing on the BBC Sport website that I can could see on the English Under18 Girls Open just recently played. And that will be as important to some as the Seniors Open is to others. As ever with the BBC I can choose my own specific perspective to be upset with it - if that's my mindset.

Agreed that will be important to some. Do you think it is as important to as many as a tournament hosted by probably the best course in England, covered by Sky TV and Rolex sponsored for 2million Euros?

 

[Deleted member 29109]

The BBCs coverage of golf is poor, especially when compared to other sports such as cricket and tennis.

 

[Neilds]

The BBCs coverage of golf is poor, especially when compared to other sports such as cricket and tennis.

BBC coverage of most sports, especially live sport is terrible! They ignore/can't afford the majority of the events and then complain when the sports threaten to take the 'protected' events off them. Why should they have the FA Cup final, etc when they can't be bothered with the rest of the season? And then, because they don't cover that sport very often, they don't have the expertise to do it properly.

 

[TogoPresley]

The BBCs coverage of golf is poor, especially when compared to other sports such as cricket and tennis.

Unpopular opinion probably, but is their tennis coverage any good? I find their Wimbledon coverage cliched and elitist not unlike their cricket coverage before Channel 4 revolutionised it.
Channel 4 made cricket cool and got people interested in the sport and I'd wager they could have done this for tennis if the Wimbledon monopoly was theirs.

 

[jim8flog]

Because Peter Alliss died.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Agreed that will be important to some. Do you think it is as important to as many as a tournament hosted by probably the best course in England, covered by Sky TV and Rolex sponsored for 2million Euros?

No idea. Seniors maybe more, but in any case the numbers will be pretty small for both.

 

[TigerTime]

Without being political the BBC is state controlled so what do you expect?

 

[LincolnShep]

Is there coverage of any kind of seniors sport?

 

[YandaB]

Is there coverage of any kind of seniors sport?

Bowls? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/bowls

 

[LincolnShep]

Bowls? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/bowls

Can't see anything on that page about Seniors Bowls.
I think you may be confusing a game that can be played by older people (like bowls) with competitions that are only open to older people (like Seniors Golf).

 

[IanM]

Without being political the BBC is state controlled so what do you expect?

Except it isn't state controlled..... although that might change.

 

[Foxholer]

While I DO think BBC's Golf coverage (and 'non-key' sports in general) has declined, there seems to be a couple of fundamental reasons for this.
1. This year is dominated by the Olympics, so resources for other, concurrent, events (and there were more than normal last week) are likely extremely stretched for those limited resources. That, imo, explains the lack of 'normal' coverage of The Senior Open.
2. The entire setup of BBC Sport is simply under-resourced compared with 'competitors'. Sky, for example, charges something like 3-4 times as much for 'subscription' (equivalent) and gets an enormous amount of additional income - that BBC (generally) doesn't from intra-program ads.
So, imo, it's simply a case of lack of resources - and Golf coverage is expensive!
I'm certain the same folk who whinge about lack/decline of BBC coverage would also complain about BBC coverage that they had to subscribe to/pay for! Or would be early moaners about an increase in the License Fee!