Early Grades for The Golf Channel

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Date: 06 Jan 2007 07:38:38
From: Cal Golfer
Subject: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

We are two days into the new golf season, and so far I think the Golf
Channel is off to a pretty good start in broadcasting early tournament
rounds. Kelly T is much better than expected as the anchor, and she and
Nick Faldo have a pretty good rapport. Without Azinger in the booth, we
get to hear more of Faldo's insights and none of Azinger, which is how
I like it.

On the downside, what was with that piece on Golf Central last night
with Eric Axley and his drop-dead gorgeous wife Cortney? They had them
walk through some Hawaiin-spiritual maze at Kapalua. A pretty
transparent attempt to get all of us to see Cortney in tight white
shorts and tight little top. I don't mind looking at Cortney at all,
but I thought this was a little cheap for the Golf Channel.

Date: 15 Jan 2007 05:15:51
From: oconnell@slr.orl.lmco.com
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

KarlB wrote:
> I used to be able to watch the first two rounds on extended-basic cable on
> USA or other cable channels, but now I have to subscribe to digital cable to
> get TGC.

Local cable problem. We get it on the "extended basic" selection.

> One thing that has always bugged me about golf coverage is the cutting away
> from play on the course for long-winded commentaries, interviews and
> features...and TGC does it, too. They already have plenty of other programs
> for that sort of thing, so they don't really need to do it during
> tournaments.
>
> I tune in to watch golf, not all that other stuff.

I know what you mean, but the flip side is that they are doing those
for some reason, and it isn't clear what it is since they cost money
and
don't appear to be specifically sponsored. In my days in TV and radio

we used to do PSA's (public service announcements). Dunno if they
still do those things but we used to use them frequently to avoid
"dead air". If something went wrong in the studio, or we needed to
fill 15 seconds for some reason, jamming in a PSA was an easy way
to do such a thing. I've often thought that those pre-recorded
schticks
were some equivalent of the PSA. Some piece of fluff intended to fill
times that were otherwise gonna be the TV equivalent of dead air.

Date: 13 Jan 2007 00:01:53
From: KarlB
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

I used to be able to watch the first two rounds on extended-basic cable on
USA or other cable channels, but now I have to subscribe to digital cable to
get TGC.

One thing that has always bugged me about golf coverage is the cutting away
from play on the course for long-winded commentaries, interviews and
features...and TGC does it, too. They already have plenty of other programs
for that sort of thing, so they don't really need to do it during
tournaments.

I tune in to watch golf, not all that other stuff.

"Cal Golfer" <Bill_VP@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1168097917.957052.140960@42g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
> We are two days into the new golf season, and so far I think the Golf
> Channel is off to a pretty good start in broadcasting early tournament
> rounds. Kelly T is much better than expected as the anchor, and she and
> Nick Faldo have a pretty good rapport. Without Azinger in the booth, we
> get to hear more of Faldo's insights and none of Azinger, which is how
> I like it.
>
> On the downside, what was with that piece on Golf Central last night
> with Eric Axley and his drop-dead gorgeous wife Cortney? They had them
> walk through some Hawaiin-spiritual maze at Kapalua. A pretty
> transparent attempt to get all of us to see Cortney in tight white
> shorts and tight little top. I don't mind looking at Cortney at all,
> but I thought this was a little cheap for the Golf Channel.
>

Date: 09 Jan 2007 16:28:21
From: p4o2
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

Date: 09 Jan 2007 19:02:49
From: Dave Lee
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

"Cal Golfer" <Bill_VP@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1168097917.957052.140960@42g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
> We are two days into the new golf season, and so far I think the Golf
> Channel is off to a pretty good start in broadcasting early tournament
> rounds. Kelly T is much better than expected as the anchor, and she and
> Nick Faldo have a pretty good rapport. Without Azinger in the booth, we
> get to hear more of Faldo's insights and none of Azinger, which is how
> I like it.
>
> On the downside, what was with that piece on Golf Central last night
> with Eric Axley and his drop-dead gorgeous wife Cortney? They had them
> walk through some Hawaiin-spiritual maze at Kapalua. A pretty
> transparent attempt to get all of us to see Cortney in tight white
> shorts and tight little top. I don't mind looking at Cortney at all,
> but I thought this was a little cheap for the Golf Channel.
>

After having watched a bit more of this coverage, two related things came to
mind - neither of which are particularly unique to TGC's coverage.

1) I really enjoy watching those rear-view shots where you can actually see
the ballflight in the context of the target - partcularly those hit with
fairway woods and long irons. I wish they would show more of those including
maybe a split screen (rear view plus view of the green). Those "camera
tracking the ball through the sky" views are worthless. They might as well
take a still picture of a ball against a blue sky (plus maybe one of a ball
against a cloudy sky) and show that still until the ball gets pretty near
the ground and you have some visual context again.

2) Why do the various channels seem so focused on 'absolutely live' as
opposed to "20 seconds ago"? A couple of times they cut away from a shot
before it had stopped moving just so they could show some putt "live". I
would have preferred to see the end of the shot they were showing and am
more than willing to see the next shot on "20 second delay" which is live as
far as I am concerned.

dave

Date: 09 Jan 2007 04:56:24
From: oconnell@slr.orl.lmco.com
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

Cal Golfer wrote:
> We are two days into the new golf season, and so far I think the Golf
> Channel is off to a pretty good start in broadcasting early tournament
> rounds. Kelly T is much better than expected as the anchor, and she and
> Nick Faldo have a pretty good rapport. Without Azinger in the booth, we
> get to hear more of Faldo's insights and none of Azinger, which is how
> I like it.

It's early. They were competent but there were obvious signs of
growing pains. Mostly it was it various seguays. I suspect the
problem
may be in the direction more than anything else. There were repeated
times that the booth anchors would "throw" it to the on course folks
and
it was pretty obvious the guys on the course weren't ready, or
expecting it.
Could be that the guys on the course aren't used to thinking ahead and
being ready, or it could be that the director isn't telling them what
the
set up is.

Some of the camera work was different. I don't know if that was
intentional
or not. Several camera shots of ball motion where the ball was
anything
but centered. It might have been on purpose though because it kept
things like the pin, or green, or traps in the frame.

We don't appear to be getting any relief on commercials. However,
we are being saved from regular bits for other shows "coming later"
on whatever network is doing the broadcast. I suppose if we start
another Big Break that will change fast. What will also be interesting
is
to see if anything significant changes on days when the networks
take over the broadcast. The on air talent changes, but I'd suspect
much of the rest of it remains the same.

Date: 07 Jan 2007 00:17:05
From: Michael Anselmo
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

Date: 06 Jan 2007 19:46:57
From: Dave Lee
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

Date: 06 Jan 2007 09:30:18
From: Cal Golfer
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel

Probably all day today....it was immediately after the interview with
Trevor Immelman .
Bert Robbins wrote:
> Cal Golfer wrote:
> > We are two days into the new golf season, and so far I think the Golf
> > Channel is off to a pretty good start in broadcasting early tournament
> > rounds. Kelly T is much better than expected as the anchor, and she and
> > Nick Faldo have a pretty good rapport. Without Azinger in the booth, we
> > get to hear more of Faldo's insights and none of Azinger, which is how
> > I like it.
> >
> > On the downside, what was with that piece on Golf Central last night
> > with Eric Axley and his drop-dead gorgeous wife Cortney? They had them
> > walk through some Hawaiin-spiritual maze at Kapalua. A pretty
> > transparent attempt to get all of us to see Cortney in tight white
> > shorts and tight little top. I don't mind looking at Cortney at all,
> > but I thought this was a little cheap for the Golf Channel.
> >
>
> When will they be replaying that piece? I missed it and would like to
> view it with a critical eye towards posting a competing review to yours.

Date: 06 Jan 2007 10:47:12
From: Bert Robbins
Subject: Re: Early Grades for The Golf Channel