Pay-Per-View Majors
21st century media has become about choice. With TiVo, iPods, XM Radio, podcasts, blogs, webcasts and their various kin, people have a choice about not only WHAT they watch, read, or listen to, but WHEN and HOW they digest their information and entertainment.
However, there is a major exception to this array of choice -- network golf broadcasts. The amount of commercials, highlights, and flashbacks aired during this weekend's PGA compared compared to the amount of live shots shown was horrendous. I don't want to even get into CBS' and the PGA of America's botched scheduling of the final round on Sunday. What makes me crazy is the complete lack of live footage of the event. Some of us want to see some actual golf being played!
My solution to this problem is to give viewers a choice. Continue to offer the normal, commercial-laden broadcasts for free so Joe Casual Golf Fan can watch the sorry network version of the tournament, but also give serious fans the option to watch the tournament as a pay-per-view event without commercial breaks. I would be willing to pay up to $150 for a four-day package and up to $100 for all day weekend broadcasts if it meant no commercials.
We need a choice about how to watch our major tournaments, and since we'll never see CBS, NBC, or ABC go commercial-free, at least offer a pay-per-view option. The networks can still demand their massive fees for commercials, they can make money from the pay-per-view subscribers, and golf fans everywhere can get what they want - more live coverage.
However, there is a major exception to this array of choice -- network golf broadcasts. The amount of commercials, highlights, and flashbacks aired during this weekend's PGA compared compared to the amount of live shots shown was horrendous. I don't want to even get into CBS' and the PGA of America's botched scheduling of the final round on Sunday. What makes me crazy is the complete lack of live footage of the event. Some of us want to see some actual golf being played!
My solution to this problem is to give viewers a choice. Continue to offer the normal, commercial-laden broadcasts for free so Joe Casual Golf Fan can watch the sorry network version of the tournament, but also give serious fans the option to watch the tournament as a pay-per-view event without commercial breaks. I would be willing to pay up to $150 for a four-day package and up to $100 for all day weekend broadcasts if it meant no commercials.
We need a choice about how to watch our major tournaments, and since we'll never see CBS, NBC, or ABC go commercial-free, at least offer a pay-per-view option. The networks can still demand their massive fees for commercials, they can make money from the pay-per-view subscribers, and golf fans everywhere can get what they want - more live coverage.
posted by John Gorman at 10:53 AM
3 Comments:
You really were spoiled by Augusta National's decision to go commerical free for two years ... it will never be that good again.
Hootie set a good precedent. However, he did it to make a point, whereas the motivation behind this idea is to benefit the viewer.
DOWN WITH CBS!!! I haven't been this inspired since I heard the "I Have a Dream" speech for the first time. Johnny, you're the MLK Jr. of our generation or at the very least, the poor man's Malcolm X. If the rumors are true, I'll be right next to you on our Walk on New York. We'll bring the execs in NYC to their knees! 50 years from now, politicians will be holding ribbon-cutting ceremonies renaming "Country Club Road" to "John Gorman Drive" all over America.
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