The Golf Channel stands to be the big money winner when Tiger Woods returns to the links April 8.
While ESPN and CBS will split live coverage of The Masters — Woods’ first tournament since his sex scandal broke last November — they’re handcuffed in terms of any additional financial gain they might reap from Woods’ ballyhooed return.
Neither network can jack up ad rates for the telecast, for example, since those ads (and rates) were pre-sold by the Augusta National Golf Club, which runs The Masters.
But Golf Channel has no such limitations, since it’s not affiliated with Augusta.
“We have the potential to do an eight-hour pre-game show on the first two days and a minimum of six hours of pregame coverage both those days,” says Tom Stathakes, Golf Channel’s senior VP/programming, production and operation.
“This is a tournament that takes care of itself . . . but the fact it’s featuring Tiger’s return sheds a whole different light on it.”
Industry insiders predict that Golf Channel, owned by Comcast, could see a ratings bump of over 10 percent during the tournament (April 8-11).
“To be totally honest, I don’t predict ratings . . . but we’d like our numbers to be 20 to 25 percent better [than usual],” Stathakes says.
