Sky coverage of golf (or lack of).. rant)

[HomerJSimpson]

I also watched quite a bit of the tournament in Spain yesterday. The coverage there was well spread. Whether they were Sky cameras or Spanish cameras I don't know but it was very fair. The winner, James Morrison, was quite superb, and we got to see quite a bit of the chasing pack although none really threatened. (Just checked and Peter Uhlein in 69th was the top American). If only Francesco Molinari could putt. What a player he would be but yesterday was as painful as watching Sergio at times. Reliable off the tee, great irons, missed putt. Over and over again.

The difficulty in last nights coverage is that it was a procession and so there was little else to show. We got a lot of Mickelson and Rodgers, oh the agony of the 17th, but precious little else. As has been mentioned the leader board was US dominated so whoever covered the event it would have been an American fest.

Taking the feed from the host broadcaster is common and is done either by choice, cost, or because the host broadcaster owns the rights. Sky have to take what they are given. The alternative is no golf at all.

I think there is a company called European Tour Productions who basically have a crew that go from event to event and set up the camera, editing suite and feed the pictures back to Sky. Even on the European tour they are taking the pictures they are given

 

[palindromicbob]

This issue comes up from time to time. My response is that you should watch a PGA Tour event in the US and by comparison Sky's coverage looks like it is directed by Steven Spielberg. U.S. Coverage is full of ads, filler, nostalgia, interviews with sponsor CEOs. Painful and almost unwatchable. And if Tiger is playing, forget about seeing anybody else.

Me thinks I'll have to VPN to watch The Open this year then .

 

[HomerJSimpson]

This issue comes up from time to time. My response is that you should watch a PGA Tour event in the US and by comparison Sky's coverage looks like it is directed by Steven Spielberg. U.S. Coverage is full of ads, filler, nostalgia, interviews with sponsor CEOs. Painful and almost unwatchable. And if Tiger is playing, forget about seeing anybody else.

Mind you isn't that the same with all US sports on TV? You can substitute Woods for the big name player in either team but the rest remains constant

 

[Hacker Khan]

I think a lot of this is ignoring the fact that stroke play golf is mostly very dull to watch and it must be hard for the broadcaster to make it exciting. The game goes on for so long with actually very little action by any player. If you divide the number of shots by the time it takes them to complete a round you are looking at a shot on average every 4 minutes or so by most players.

And it's very hard to build up a narrative in stroke play golf as there's very little tension being built most of the time. How do you show the best shots that are being played round the course whilst at the same time try to make the battle for the lead exciting. Plus you could argue that most of the championships in the US are a bit one dimensional in their layout and whisper it but a lot of the golfers are a bit dull. So when you add all that together I think they don't do too bad.

But come on Sky, all the money you charge for your sports channels and you can't even send one miserable cameraman to the event.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think a lot of this is ignoring the fact that stroke play golf is mostly very dull to watch and it must be hard for the broadcaster to make it exciting. The game goes on for so long with actually very little action by any player. If you divide the number of shots by the time it takes them to complete a round you are looking at a shot on average every 4 minutes or so by most players.

And it's very hard to build up a narrative in stroke play golf as there's very little tension being built most of the time. How do you show the best shots that are being played round the course whilst at the same time try to make the battle for the lead exciting. Plus you could argue that most of the championships in the US are a bit one dimensional in their layout. So when you add all that together

I disagree and there have been a number of PGA events that have had close finishes and every shot has a consequence and it makes interesting viewing. You are basically saying that all golf, bar matchplay is dull because of it's stroke format. Are you including the majors in that then. It's hard to fill between add breaks and when a player is shown studying a putt or making a tap in but by and large both the US and European tours get the coverage right.

 

[Ethan]

Me thinks I'll have to VPN to watch The Open this year then .

You are watching The Open in the US? I have one word which will describe your viewing experience.

Bagpipes.

And for the ads;

"ask your doctor if [name of prostate or erectile dysfunction medicine] is right for you"