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Golf

Golf Channel grows beyond expectation

Started as pay-per-view service in 1995, network now shows tournaments, news and instructional programs in 57-million homes.

By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 30, 2003

ORLANDO -- Arnold Palmer marveled at all that surrounded him. Standing in the middle of the newly renovated, space-age set at the Golf Channel, the 24-hour cable network he cofounded, Palmer couldn't help but remember the day 11 years ago when he first was approached about the concept.

"How are you going to fill 24 hours with golf?" Palmer thought.

Now he knows.

The Golf Channel recently celebrated the start of its ninth year by unveiling a revamped set that will be the home for shows such as Golf Central and Golf Talk, along with new programs called The Golf Channel Pre-Game Show and The Golf Channel Post-Game Show. For the golf nut, TGC provides plenty of instruction, news and nostalgia.

The network, which started as a fledgling pay-per-view service in 1995 and wasn't available in the town where it is produced, now boasts 57-million homes worldwide, including more than 50-million in the United States.

And the Golf Channel is big in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market. According to the network, it is in approximately 1.1-million homes, which translates to 81.7 percent of all cable homes in Tampa Bay. That makes this one of the top five Golf Channel markets.

When Palmer first was approached by Birmingham, Ala., businessman Joe Gibbs, he was a major doubter. Long involved in business, Palmer said he had, at the time, been part of a concept that wasn't much different from what Gibbs was selling. It failed miserably. So Palmer was not quick to jump on board.

"I suppose I was the skeptic and Joe was the optimist," Palmer said. "I said to him at one point, 'Maybe you should just get someone else.' And he said, 'If you don't go, we don't go. There is no Golf Channel.' That was sort of the coup de grace for me.

"There was another time, sometime later, when Joe said, 'We spent all of our money. We may have to quit.' I said, 'We're not quitting now. We have to go on ... ' "

Interestingly, Palmer, 73, often is credited with helping golf become a popular sport on television in the early 1960s, when he was winning seven major championships, including four Masters.

Now he has helped give the game a TV channel devoted to it around the clock. With Palmer's clout, Gibbs raised $60-million in working capital.

"He's the one person responsible for making the game of golf so popular so that the Golf Channel can exist," TGC president David Manougian said.

Part of TGC's charm is the old highlight shows, many involving Palmer, that include Big Three Golf with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player and Challenge Golf. That, along with major championship highlights from years ago, helped the Golf Channel fill airtime.

Now, however, such shows are getting less run time because the network has so much programing. This year, for the first time, the Golf Channel will show 17 events on the Champions Tour (formerly Senior PGA Tour). It also has rights to the Nationwide Tour (formerly the Buy.com Tour), Canadian Tour, LPGA Tour and PGA European Tour events.

The network also will have 26 new episodes of Playing Lessons From the Pros, which features tour players on the course going through their thought processes and demonstrating shots. Jack Nicklaus is among the marquee names.

"We're going to have about 110 live tournaments, which is more than if you add up all the other networks combined," Manougian said. "At the same time, news is important, instruction is important. So you're constantly trying to find that right balance. Eight years ago we were saying, 'How do you fill up all that time?' Now our biggest problem is giving all the product we have its due.

"When we launch a new show, we might cut down a couple of plays of Masters highlights or British Open highlights. The first thing you know, our phone rings and people want to know what happened. Our biggest issue to figure out is really, we've got more product than we've got airtime. Which is a good problem to have."

TGC is not without criticisms. Although it lends itself nicely to infomercials, some are pitching products that have nothing to do with golf.

And then there is the network's penchant for going easy on controversial subjects.

When Palmer kicked off the new season (as he does each year) as the guest on Golf Talk, new host Vince Cellini (formerly of CNN) asked Palmer late in the show about the Augusta National women's issue.

TGC could have scored a national coup had it gotten Palmer to express his views. But Palmer declined, and Cellini failed to follow up. The network has yet to do a comprehensive feature on the issue, despite it being among the biggest stories in golf.

Perhaps that is out of respect to Palmer, who despite no day-to-day role is considered one of the bosses. And since the network only covers golf, there is a reluctance to annoy those who might be considered prime sources or interview subjects.

"It's a tough stance," Manougian said. "What you try and do is when there are significant, important issues in the game of golf, you try to make sure to present them in a way where you are having people who can intimately articulate their particular side. So the viewers can really sit back and say, 'I'm getting both sides. Now I can decide how I feel about that.' I think TV, quite honestly, errs too much of the time on trying to tell the viewer and persuade the viewer how they should feel about something."

Say this about TGC: It caters to its constituents. The network averages about 11-million viewers per month, which is not a big number but still sits favorably with advertisers. That's because, according to market research, more than half of TGC's primetime audience earns more than $75,000 per year. Those viewers also have college degrees and disposable income. In other words, advertisers know what they're getting.

"And God, look what's happened," Palmer said, looking around the studio. "It's so good. I'm just elated."

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