PGA Tour/Golf Channel Update

This story kind of fell through the cracks some, I think, but I had vowed to continue looking into it. I know if you're a TV fan, like I am, then I'm sure you have been curious as to how the Golf Channel has been doing in terms of ratings for their coverage of the PGA Tour. As it turns out, really well. The really well part assumes that you combine the viewership for the live Tour broadcast and the much-appreciated PGA TOUR Primetime re-broadcast. (92% of viewers of the replay don't watch the live show, so it's pretty valid.) But, here's the numbers courtesy of Alan Shipnuck at SI:

Using the combined numbers again, Golf Channel surpassed the previous year's ratings by the third tournament of the year, as both the first and the second round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic pulled in higher ratings than they did in '06. Thursday at Pebble Beach did too.

During Friday's action (at the WGC Accenture Match Play), when Tiger Woods was in a dogfight with Nick O'Hern, Golf Channel pulled a combined 1.7 rating, the highest in the channel's history, accounting for just under 1.3 million households.

And just when you thought that this was an isolated incident, Shipnuck also adds that "the Tour is also enjoying the effects of strong crosspromotion, with ratings for the Champions tour up by 41% so far in '07."

It's good to see that this is paying off for the Golf Channel. While they do have some shows that off me a bit - Fore Inventors Only is something I just haven't clicked with yet - TGC has really improved this year. Their website is excellent. Their scheduling somehow manages to broadcast 4 tours per week, and sometimes more. Sure, N'Wide Tour broadcasts tend to get shoveled to the 2am slot, but someone has to lose here. While I would prefer that the Hammer Time informercials get moved there, you can't have everything.