Petition: Make The Masters and The Open free-to-air

[Deleted member 1147]

As far as I'm aware it's never been rebranded as the British open, it is just the open, it's the Americans who call it the British to distinguish it from the u.s open. I'm a scot aswell and agree that anything Scottish becomes british, andy murray is s prime example ?

Only when he’s winning...after a loss he’s a useless Scot ?

 

[Grant85]

I don't really agree that events should be protected as free to air - it's a commercial enterprise after all - but given that Wimbledon, FA Cup final, Olympics, World Cups etc are protected, then surely golf (as a sport that started here) should have some kind of protection.

Why is Wimbledon or the FA Cup final more worthy of special status than the Open?

It's probably true to say that very few people would watch Wimbledon if it was on Sky or BT - certainly a fraction of those who currently become ardant tennis fans on the last Monday in June.

It's all or nothing as far as I'm concerned.

However I do think there is almost zero chance of more sports having protected status and is far more likely that we'll see things open up and commercial broadcasters start bidding for Wimbledon, Olympics, World Cup etc.

 

[Wolf]

I don't really agree that events should be protected as free to air - it's a commercial enterprise after all - but given that Wimbledon, FA Cup final, Olympics, World Cups etc are protected, then surely golf (as a sport that started here) should have some kind of protection.

Why is Wimbledon or the FA Cup final more worthy of special status than the Open?

It's probably true to say that very few people would watch Wimbledon if it was on Sky or BT - certainly a fraction of those who currently become ardant tennis fans on the last Monday in June.

It's all or nothing as far as I'm concerned.

However I do think there is almost zero chance of more sports having protected status and is far more likely that we'll see things open up and commercial broadcasters start bidding for Wimbledon, Olympics, World Cup etc.

A quick google alone will give you those answers.
The last time it was free to air tv The Open = 5.5m viewers
Wimbledon Final 2019 viewers =6m
(plus a good couple of million each day of the tournament)
The 2019 FA cup final 7.4m (plus its classed as the national sport)
OLYMPICS 24.2M daily average of number of viewers from last known figures at least 42% of the nation tuned in at some point to watch..

Golf simply doesn't have the appeal of other sports.

 

[HankMarvin]

No actually it's a Scottish event that was hijacked by the English and rebranded as the British open, and yes the open should be free to air,

What is this British Open you mention ?

Have I missed a new tournament

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

The two big Opens are one thing.

The Masters is a celebration of ante bellum social regressiveness.
Good luck selling any modern ideas to those crackers.

 

[Swango1980]

A quick google alone will give you those answers.
The last time it was free to air tv The Open = 5.5m viewers
Wimbledon Final 2019 viewers =6m
(plus a good couple of million each day of the tournament)
The 2019 FA cup final 7.4m (plus its classed as the national sport)
OLYMPICS 24.2M daily average of number of viewers from last known figures at least 42% of the nation tuned in at some point to watch..

Golf simply doesn't have the appeal of other sports.

24.2 million daily average for Olympics. Is that accurate? Given the population of UK is only 66 million, and I suspect a large amount either don't care for sport, including very young children.

I mean, I doubt even 42% of my own family or friends would watch the Olympics.

Perhaps it means 24.2 million people, at least at one point or another, happened to flick channel onto the Olympics?

 

[casuk]

What is this British Open you mention ?

Have I missed a new tournament

The open is classed as a British event, when it's a scottish event, that's what I mean with rebranded,

 

[Wolf]

24.2 million daily average for Olympics. Is that accurate? Given the population of UK is only 66 million, and I suspect a large amount either don't care for sport, including very young children.

I mean, I doubt even 42% of my own family or friends would watch the Olympics.

Perhaps it means 24.2 million people, at least at one point or another, happened to flick channel onto the Olympics?

Just going by what came up on the quick Google search. It said those exact numbers, but what we have to remember is watching it is one thing but having the TV on in the background where it maybe be playing is 2 different things.

From my own friends and families experience I'd say the % of those i know who watch or at least have it on innthe backgrounds is probably 80%+.
It's generally covered from start of the day to end of the day by tv coverage usually both BBC1&2 sonat somepoint many people will be exposed to the coverage in someway each day so I can well believe those figures as ultimately viewing figures don't always tend to mean watching the entire broadcast, just mean having tuned in at somepoint

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

The open is classed as a British event, when it's a scottish event, that's what I mean with rebranded,

I just call them the R&A's and the USGA's Open Championships.

They're being first, and having organized the event as the ultimate annual championship defining the Champion Golfer, I can understand why the R&A would object to the "British" Open appellation.
The USGA is perfectly content with "US Open."

I can call them anything that I want since I won't be playing in either.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Personally, I prefer it on Sky. I'm willing to pay the Sky subscription to get, what I believe, top quality broadcasting on the golf. Even if the Open was to become free to air, every other golf tournament would still be on Sky, and I would still have to pay my Sky subscription (for that, the football and the Formula 1, all of which I watch). So, that would mean having to live with, very likely, a much poorer quality broadcast once The Open comes along. That is only an assumption, but I can't see a broadcaster such as BBC, ITV or Channel 4 having the same sort of money as Sky to invest in it.

Fair enough, a person who does not have Sky is very likely to have a desire for the free option. Not disputing that. However, if The Open is one of the so called flagship events on the calendar, either someone like the BBC are going to have to pay a massive amount to win the rights, or the people that own the rights are going to have to lose out on making a lot of money out of it because the likes of Sky are not throwing a lot of money at them (I think I've got that right?). So, would that not be like requesting that the biggest boxing fight of the year, such as Fury v Wilder, should be free to air, and the less popular fights can be on subscription TV?

Maybe, instead of The Open, another more minor event such as The Scottish or The Irish Open could be made free to air in the UK. After all, if that makes people enthusiastic, they may invest in watching The Open that is not long after. Even if you don't have Sky, can you not just get Now TV and spend something like £15 for a week pass to get the Sports? If so, it is not a huge amount of money.

I agree what others say about The Masters. Not sure how that can be made free to air in the UK when The Masters is not a UK event or owned by the UK. Not sure how much the rights are, but could the BBC or ITV afford to win the rights if competing against Sky?

Totally agree. The Masters is unique and those that run it have always restricted viewing for the first two days so irrespective of who had the rights in the UK are stymied to what they can show. BBC did have the rights and were showing what they could plus the weekend live and then Sky came in and we got the same first two day pictures but then their own (improved IMO) coverage on the last two days AND the Par 3 competition which many on here have written about and said how much they have enjoyed it. That has to be a bonus and an indication of their dedication to providing all round coverage

Again, the BBC showed their intent by jacking their rights in a year only and would any other of the free to air channels really be interested in clearing their entire schedules to give the full 7.00am-7.00pm coverage for four days. I firmly believe even if you add in the "Roe and McGinley" irritant and the ad breaks (which I believe are limited to a very specific and short amount of time per hour) then the Sky coverage still eclipses what the BBC would do to the coverage even now. Add in the fact that the Sky coverage has won awards for their coverage https://www.skysports.com/golf/the-...-sports-coverage-of-the-open-wins-bafta-award and I'm afraid it's a not to the petition for me

 

[Hackers76]

I genuinely couldn't care less. Sky has killed golf in my eyes and I've lost interest. As I said in the other thread Mark Roe is a big enough reason to turn off and that's before you add in the constant add breaks and crap that is spouted.

When I was younger I used to love the Open from 0700 till 1900 - uninterrupted coverage.

Add break after add break is just monotonous.

The constant ad breaks on the PGA Tour are down to the host broadcaster and not Sky. assume that’s what your talking about as Roe does the commentary. There are far fewer breaks during tournaments held in the UK where Sky are the host.

 

[Jacko_G]

The constant ad breaks on the PGA Tour are down to the host broadcaster and not Sky. assume that’s what your talking about as Roe does the commentary. There are far fewer breaks during tournaments held in the UK where Sky are the host.

Still as breaks regardless!

If they want to get into bed with host broadcasters they know the ads and have clearly agreed to them. Either way it really "rips my knitting".

 

[Swango1980]

Still as breaks regardless!

If they want to get into bed with host broadcasters they know the ads and have clearly agreed to them. Either way it really "rips my knitting".

Presumably then, if it went free to air, you wouldn't find any improvement unless it went specifically to the BBC? Mark Rowe aside

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I understand the point of the thread; some of my fondest early memories are of the Masters and Open (Faldo’s double at Augusta, IBF winning at Birkdale, etc).
But, the beeb won’t pay the going rate, & the Masters isn’t a UK event and therefore I can’t imagine there is any point in the petition.
Also, I’d rather listen to Mark Roe than an aging, out of the loop, Peter Alliss...and the rest of the beeb golf correspondents are even worse than Alliss has become (him and Alex Hay used to be brilliant).

 

[Deleted member 17920]

Would it make a difference if it was free to view.

NO, not a chance.

Most on here are saying it would as that is how they got into the game, most seem to forget, the early 80's we had 4 TV channels at the most so you had a 25% chance of watching the golf if it was on TV.

Now we have 100's of crap TV channels with nothing to actually watch, with youtube, prime TV, so much choice so if you are channel surfing how many will stop and watch the golf, ah yes the actual golfers or a few sports fans.

Not buying into the free to air will get a load more taking up the game, not possible,

And I am certainly not promoting Sky, I gave up on that years ago, you pay them £20 a month to watch the golf and the reality is you are actually paying them £20 a month to watch the adverts they are getting for as well, Sky are laughing there balls off. The golf is so minimal its untrue.

 

[Grant85]

A quick google alone will give you those answers.
The last time it was free to air tv The Open = 5.5m viewers
Wimbledon Final 2019 viewers =6m
(plus a good couple of million each day of the tournament)
The 2019 FA cup final 7.4m (plus its classed as the national sport)
OLYMPICS 24.2M daily average of number of viewers from last known figures at least 42% of the nation tuned in at some point to watch..

Golf simply doesn't have the appeal of other sports.

5.5m is actually not bad. If golf was on BBC1 & 2 solidly for 10 hours a day over 14 days in the summer I’d reckon there’d be even more interest.

 

[Wolf]

5.5m is actually not bad. If golf was on BBC1 & 2 solidly for 10 hours a day over 14 days in the summer I’d reckon there’d be even more interest.

I don't agree as those figures are from when it was on free to air tv. People still think because they watched the open as a kid or masters that others doing so will grow the game.

But imo is nowadays it won't make difference to many other channels available, PlayStation escapism etc, not to mention many other things.

 

[Jacko_G]

Presumably then, if it went free to air, you wouldn't find any improvement unless it went specifically to the BBC? Mark Rowe aside

It won't ever go to "free to air" it's going to go to pay per view at best.

 

[Jimaroid]

OK. For the millionth time. Broadcast television is dying out. This is a backwards looking discussion, the next generation of golfers are not watching free to air channels like we used to 30 years ago. They’re not watching any live sport like we used to.

This petition is bizarre frankly.

 

[NearHull]

Personally, I prefer it on Sky. I'm willing to pay the Sky subscription to get, what I believe, top quality broadcasting on the golf. Even if the Open was to become free to air, every other golf tournament would still be on Sky, and I would still have to pay my Sky subscription (for that, the football and the Formula 1, all of which I watch). So, that would mean having to live with, very likely, a much poorer quality broadcast once The Open comes along. That is only an assumption, but I can't see a broadcaster such as BBC, ITV or Channel 4 having the same sort of money as Sky to invest in it.

Fair enough, a person who does not have Sky is very likely to have a desire for the free option. Not disputing that. However, if The Open is one of the so called flagship events on the calendar, either someone like the BBC are going to have to pay a massive amount to win the rights, or the people that own the rights are going to have to lose out on making a lot of money out of it because the likes of Sky are not throwing a lot of money at them (I think I've got that right?). So, would that not be like requesting that the biggest boxing fight of the year, such as Fury v Wilder, should be free to air, and the less popular fights can be on subscription TV?

Maybe, instead of The Open, another more minor event such as The Scottish or The Irish Open could be made free to air in the UK. After all, if that makes people enthusiastic, they may invest in watching The Open that is not long after. Even if you don't have Sky, can you not just get Now TV and spend something like £15 for a week pass to get the Sports? If so, it is not a huge amount of money.

I agree what others say about The Masters. Not sure how that can be made free to air in the UK when The Masters is not a UK event or owned by the UK. Not sure how much the rights are, but could the BBC or ITV afford to win the rights if competing against Sky?

A rational assessment , totally agree.