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Masters not to be shown on BBC
- Thread starter MarkT
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Not having Sky, yes I did.
Highlights were on after the live show so about midnight but then repeated the next morning
It would be a shame as at least it gives people that don’t buy Sky some golf to watch
It would be a shame as at least it gives people that don’t buy Sky some golf to watch
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You mean…… you haven’t been watching Happy Valley :-0
I haven’t watched the Masters on broadcast TV for the last few years, but suppose it may be a loss to more casual watchers
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Now TV here I come ......
? there is a whole thread for that - let’s keep it there
I know their coverage has been reducing over the years, and despite not wanting to, I personally have switched to watching it on sky/now tv in the last few years. However, it’s still sad to see it go completely. Like many of us, watching the masters on bbc as a kid is largely what got me into golf in the first place, being allowed to stay up late on the Sunday night, taking the 14 inch portable colour tv to my bedroom to watch it in bed, the volume so low I was barely able to hear Peter Alliss’s wonderful voice!
Any other channels looking to pick up the highlights package. Will be an interesting test if the BBC do not show highlights. People have been calling for golf on free to air TV for ages now and if no channel picks up the Masters highlights, it would be another major indicator that none of the free to air channels have any interest in broadcasting the sport.
It’s exactly how I started watching golf - The Master and then The Open , and finally the Matchplay at Wentworth - that was my start of watching golf
The problem is it’s just highlights that are available and not many will pick it up.
The Masters , The Open all used to be in the protected sports that had to be on Free to air - but the golf bodies wanted a slice of the money pie from subscription services so they asked the government to remove the events so that they could then go to the highest bidder
The money increased but viewing figure’s dramatically reduced
I don’t expect any other free to air to pick it up and it looks like BBC have to cut costs again so golf despite its high viewers will be cut
The problem is it’s just highlights that are available and not many will pick it up.
The Masters , The Open all used to be in the protected sports that had to be on Free to air - but the golf bodies wanted a slice of the money pie from subscription services so they asked the government to remove the events so that they could then go to the highest bidder
The money increased but viewing figure’s dramatically reduced
I don’t expect any other free to air to pick it up and it looks like BBC have to cut costs again so golf despite its high viewers will be cut
You have to start somewhere. Match of the Day is just highlights and most free to air TV companies would give their left arm for that. Cricket, rugby and other sports have a highlights package of free to air. Say what you like but if nobody picks up the rights to even a highlights package for a major golfing tournament, the indicator is clearly that free to air TV has no interest in showing golf. Wonder if the highlights for the Open are going to be at risk as well going forward.
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Channel 5 with Dan Walker hosting would be a great fit to be fair.
The problem is the highlights are not until after the play has finished in the US so that makes it not being broadcast until after 11 - if it was free live viewing of the events then they would be fighting over it
Match of the Day etc shows highlights of games that also haven’t been broadcast elsewhere , same with Rugby and the cricket ones are on around 7/8 when they are on for home test - at reasonable times , but I also expect both those packages are relatively cheap
I don’t expect the issue for the BBC is interest more a budget issue
But IMO there is no doubt that if both the masters and the Open were on free to air then viewing figures would be far greater than anything on Sky.
Match of the Day etc shows highlights of games that also haven’t been broadcast elsewhere , same with Rugby and the cricket ones are on around 7/8 when they are on for home test - at reasonable times , but I also expect both those packages are relatively cheap
I don’t expect the issue for the BBC is interest more a budget issue
But IMO there is no doubt that if both the masters and the Open were on free to air then viewing figures would be far greater than anything on Sky.
Also the Masters app / website is very good. With social media as well there are now multiple ways to see short clips of the key moments (just not a comprehensive highlights package). With shorter attention spans this seems the way forward
The Masters was never on the list. The Open is group B (always was since being introduced), with the Ryder Cup added later, which only means rights must include fta secondary (i.e. highlights) coverage. Even The Open was never Group A (alongside the Olympics, FIFA WC, FAC final, Wimbledon finals, Grand National, etc.) and restricted to fta for live broadcast.
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The biggest joke, for me, that the BBC are trying to pull off, is their coverage of womens football to compensate for the fact they can't afford proper football. They are a joke company now and the sooner they are made to fend for themselves the better it will be for them. They will get rid of ALL the hangers on and excess stuff, (regional weather and TV for one, who cares and all the regional radio, again who cares, we have enough local radio) and maybe get back to producing the quality programs they used to. Then people may return and pay x amount to have their programs again.