While it may be turning down the volume a bit on expensive action movies, Netflix is maintaining the star wattage when it comes to new TV series. 

On Wednesday, the streaming giant announced that Will Ferrell will co-create and star in a new comedy about a fictional golf legend, titled Golf. 

Netflix said it has placed a 10-episode order for the show, which doesn't yet have a drop date.

Also read: Netflix Signs NFL Deal, Two Live Christmas Day Games Coming to Streaming Service

Ramy Youssef and Josh Rabinowitz will serve as co-creators, executive producers and showrunners of Ferrell's first TV comedy, with Youssef also appearing in front of the camera. 

Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum and Alix Taylor are executive producers for Gloria Sanchez Productions.

Netflix’s announcement Wednesday didn’t include a logline for the show, but IMDB describes the project’s story as revolving around “a professional golfer as he becomes the face of a new controversial league.”

Ferrell has long been established as one of the more reliable box office draws in cinematic comedy. But outside of the show that brought him to fame, Saturday Night Live, he has largely eschewed TV comedy. 

ESPN and two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media production company will take to the links for a third season of the Why Not Us sports documentary series focusing on the Howard University golf program.

The eight-episode, Why Not Us: Howard Golf series debuts August 21 on ESPNU and will follow both the Howard men’s and women’s golf teams as they look to compete at the top of college tournaments across the country, according to ESPN. 

This past spring, the Howard men’s golf team in its third year as a Division 1 program won its second consecutive PGA Works Collegiate Championship, while the Howard women’s team placed three players on the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team in 2023 in its second year of competition. 

“As we continue to shine a light on HBCU culture through the Why Not Us series, we’re inspired by the student-athletes, coached and administrators who dare to forge their own legacies while embracing and celebrating the history of their institutions,” ESPN Films senior VP of original content Brian Lockhart said in a statement. “The story of Howard Golf is particularly interesting, not only for the tremendous, immediate success of the program, but the way in which Coach [Sam] Puryear, his student-athletes and Steph Curry show us what is possible when you truly believe in a common vision and you put in the work to get there.”

FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer action and auto-racing events highlighted last week's sports ratings landscape. 

Fox’s July 26 coverage of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s draw against the Netherlands was the top viewed live sports event for the week of July 24-30 with an average of 6.43 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers published by SportsMedia Watch. Telemundo’s Spanish-language telecast of the match also made the top 10 most-watched events for the week with 1.16 million viewers.

According to Fox Sports, Fox averaged a record 4.3 million viewers for its three U.S. Women’s soccer team telecasts during the Group Stage event, up 19 percent from 2019. 

Auto racing events secured four of the top 10 positions on the live sports viewership chart, with USA Network's July 30 live race and pre-race coverage of the NASCAR Cup series Cook Out 400 playoff event finishing third and fourth for the week, while NBC’s July 29th NASCAR Xfinity Road America 180 race and ESPN’s July 30 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix pulled into sixth and ninth place, respectively. ESPN said the 1.16 million viewers for its Belgian Grand Prix telecast was the race's largest audience on record in the U.S. 

Once again this weekend’s TV sports programming spotlight is on the March Madness college basketball tournament, as Saturday night’s games will determine who plays in Monday's finals.

TBS will carry both semi-final games, beginning with Villanova-Kansas followed by North Carolina-Duke. TBS will also air Monday’s finals matchup from New Orleans.

ESPN will televise the women's college basketball finals matchup on Sunday. The game will feature the winners of Friday's Final Four games featuring Louisville-South Carolina and Stanford-UConn. 

On the links, Golf Channel and NBC will offer the final rounds of the PGA Texas Open tournament, while the National Women’s Soccer League kicks off its 2022 campaign Saturday with the Challenge Cup tournament, from which CBS will air the Angel City-San Diego game.

Fox will provide Sunday afternoon coverage of the NASCAR Cup Toyota Owners 400 race, as well as coverage of the Pro Bowlers Association tour’s USBC Masters tournament. 

On the ice, ABC on Saturday will televise the Pittsburgh Penguins-Colorado Avalanche game while on Sunday TNT will televise the New York Islanders-New Jersey Devils contest.

ABC on Sunday will offer an NBA doubleheader featuring the Dallas Mavericks-Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets-L.A. Lakers contests. 

Also, USA Network will feature live weekend coverage of games from soccer’s Premier League. 

This weekend’s lineup of live sports content on television begins in Tokyo with NBCUniversal’s Summer Olympics coverage. Linear television networks USA, NBCSN, NBC and CNBC will team to offer live coverage in such sports as softball, swimming, tennis, soccer and beach volleyball, skateboarding and water polo. A complete list of televised Olympics events can be found here.

Read Also: NBCU Gears Up for Olympics with Opening Ceremonies Coverage 

Beyond the Olympics, CBS will offer final round coverage of the 3M Open PGA golf tournament, while Golf Channel will feature the Amundi Evian Championship LPGA tour event. 

ESPN Saturday will present a UFC Fight Night card featuring a main event bantamweight fight between Cory Sandhagen and TJ Dillashaw.

On the soccer field, FS1 and FS2 will televise quarterfinal round action of CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. On Saturday, FS2 will televise the Qatar-El Salvador match, while FS1 offers the Mexico-Honduras game. On Sunday, team USA is in action against Jamaica on FS1, while Costa Rica meets Canada, also airing on FS1. Also, ABC will air a Saturday afternoon MLS game between Columbus and Atlanta.

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will originate from Milwaukee as the Brewers host the Chicago White Sox in an interleague matchup. 

Turner Sports and TNT will once again take to the greens in July for its Capital One’s The Match celebrity golf tournament, with this year’s version featuring 2021 PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson.

The July 6 live event is the fourth of The Match events and will feature Mickelson and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady -- who also teamed up for TNT's May 2020 The Match event -- against 2020 U.S. Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau and reigning NFL league MVP Aaron Rodgers, according to the network. The participants will play in a modified alternate shot match, with all four players having open mics throughout the competition. 

Read Also: Turner Sports Secures NHL TV Rights Deal

Mickelson this past November teamed with NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley to play Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning in Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change.  

Capital One's The Match will take place at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana. 

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 5-11, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The 2021 Masters Tournament took first place, capturing 2.70% of all minutes watched, while the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was in second place (0.94%). MLB baseball and NBA basketball both made the top 10 for watch-time, with 0.89% and 0.79%, respectively. Ranking newcomers for the week included Gunsmoke, which was at No. 19 (0.45% of all minutes watched) and The Price Is Right (No. 22, 0.42%). American Idol remained at No. 25, with a slight increase in watch-time from the previous week (0.40% vs. 0.39%).

Also Read: Just How Much of a Slam Dunk Has March Madness Been on Live TV?

CBS continued to reign supreme on the network ranking, snagging 9% of watch-time, up from 7.51% the previous week, thanks in part to the 2021 Masters Tournament and the NCAA basketball tournament. The Masters also helped boost ESPN and Golf Channel up in the chart: ESPN took sixth place with 2.58% of all minutes watched, while Golf Channel was No. 25 (1.02%). TBS, which had been benefiting from March Madness games over the last few weeks, dropped to No. 14 from ninth place; MSNBC also slipped in the rankings, down to No. 16 from No. 10 the week before.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Once again, college basketball was No. 1 for TV ad impressions, 930.7 million, a 74.82% week-over-week decrease as March Madness and the NCAA tournament came to a close. NBA basketball took third place with 729.3 million impressions, a 55% increase from the previous week. The 2021 Masters Tournament and Live From the Masters were neck and neck with 636.1 million impressions vs. 625 million, respectively, and MLB baseball made the top 10 with 622 million impressions, a slight 5.6% week-over-week increase.

CBS maintained its first-place position, although its 7.9 billion TV ad impressions constituted a minor week-over-week decrease. Both ABC and NBC had slight upticks in impressions from the week before, generating 5.6 billion and 4.9 billion, respectively, compared to 5.4 billion and 4.7 billion. Golf Channel jumped into 10th place from No. 17, with its 629.8 million impressions fueled almost entirely by Live From the Masters. MLB Network and Fox Sports 1 were close behind, each generating over 621 million TV ad impressions. Headline News took No. 19 with 369.1 million impressions, driven largely by The Death of George Floyd: Derek Chauvin on Trial.

 HBO debuts the first part of its two-part sports documentary series Tiger, focusing on the life of golf legend Tiger Woods. 

Tiger includes never-before-seen footage and revealing interviews with those who know the golfer best, including his former caddy Steve Williams; golf legend Sir Nick Faldo; and former Woods girlfriend Dina Parr, according to the network. Also, Rachel Uchitel -- the woman at the center of Woods' 2009 sex scandal -- breaks her silence with her first-ever sit-down interview about their relationship, said the network. 

Part two of Tiger premieres Jan. 17, said network officials. 

Alex Gibney serves as executive producer of Tiger alongside Sam Pollard, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Armen Keteyian, and Jeff Benedict, said HBO.

Read Also: Tiger Woods Catching Stardom By The Tail, Again

Turner Sports said it will televise a third golf challenge event, The Match: Champions for Change, with Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley taking on Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning on Nov. 27.

The event is being sponsored by Capital One and will appear live on TNT with live content on Turner’s Bleacher Report streaming service.

This is the third in a series of The Match events. Tiger Woods, golf’s biggest attraction will be absent for the first time. Earlier this year Mickelson and Manning participated in The Match: Champions for Charity, along with Woods and quarterback Tom Brady.

The competition format will be a modified alternate shot match play with five-time Major Champion Mickelson teaming with basketball Hall of Famer and NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley, as they take on three-time NBA Champion Stephen Curry – a near scratch golfer – and two-time Super Bowl Champion Peyton Manning, who played a key role in his team winning the last edition of Capital One’s The Match.

The players will again be wearing microphones, giving viewers enhanced access to the event. Cart Cam will also return.

“I’m excited to return for the third edition of Capital One’s The Match and get out on the course with these three legendary athletes,” said Mickelson. “While we may need a handicap for Chuck, I’m looking forward to playing with Peyton and Stephen and to help raise money for another important cause. It’s also going to give fans and viewers an up-close look at Stone Canyon Golf Club, a place that I’m extremely proud of and excited to show how special it is.”

Barkley, Mickelson’s teammate, added: “Capital One’s The Match has been a lot of fun to be a part of over the past few years and I’m excited to finally show off my skills on the course. Phil and I got this, I GUARR-AAAN-TEEEE!!!”

“Last year I had the incredible opportunity to play a small role in the rich history of Howard University through the game of golf,” said Curry. “I truly believe an investment in HBCUs is an investment in our future and I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to support these great institutions alongside some of my favorite players . . . and Chuck.”

Manning, Curry’s teammate, added: “Capital One’s The Match in May was such a memorable experience for me – not just competing against rivals and friends but, more importantly, contributing to COVID-19 and food insecurity relief efforts. I’m proud of the work the PeyBack Foundation has done to support HBCU students in both Louisiana and Tennessee, and I’m looking forward to helping raise additional funding and awareness for HBCUs through Capital One’s The Match.”

The Match will be held at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Arizona, owned by Mickelson Golf Properties, and will benefit Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Other initiatives are to be announced, Turner said.

“HBCUs are testaments to the ongoing achievements of the Black community in this country. As part of our work to advocate for equity and justice, we are honored to use the funds raised from Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Change to help strengthen HBCUs and create pathways to greater opportunity for the graduates of these vital institutions,” said Andy Navarrete, head of external affairs at Capital One.

The event will be closed to the public and tournament organizers are working with public health officials on competition and production logistics to ensure the event follows safety and health protocols.

NBCUniversal, looking to differentiate its Peacock streaming service with live sports, said Peacock will be part of its coverage of next month’s U.S. Open golf tournament.

Peacock has already added an NBC Sports channel featuring talk shows and will have an NFL playoff game in the fall as well as Olympic action next year.

During the U.S. Open, Peacock will exclusively stream two hours of live coverage as part of its free tier. Peacock will also have featured groups and featured hole coverage.

“The USGA is excited to be back in the NBCUniversal family, including Golf Channel and NBC’s Peacock platform, in providing extensive coverage of the U.S. Open Championship,” said USGA CEO Mike Davis. “A talented and knowledgeable group of broadcasters, including several USGA champions, and an experienced production team, led by Tommy Roy, will provide in-depth perspective on the championship and help us celebrate the greatness of the U.S. Open and the players who compete in it.”

The USGA in June said it transferred the U.S. media rights for its championship to NBCU, starting this year and continuing through 2026.  Fox ended its relationship with the USGA. NBCU most recently aired the U.S. Open in 2014.

NBCU will have nearly 45 hours of live primary coverage of the U.S. Open on NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock. 

The final hour of NBC’s coverage on the closing Sunday of the tournament will appear commercial free as part of Rolex’s long-time sponsorship of the USGA.

“It is with great pride that NBC Sports welcomes the return of the U.S. Open to our portfolio in partnership with the USGA, to further elevate their slate of championships,” said Pete Bevacqua, president, NBC Sports Group. “Under a tight timeframe, our world-class production team is prepared to showcase the U.S. Open next month from famed Winged Foot Golf Club, capturing the drama of the world’s best vying for this year’s second major championship.”

For NBC Sports’ David Feherty and Nick Faldo, covering the U.S. Open will place them among a handful of broadcasters who have covered all of golf’s major men’s championships. They will be the only ones to have covered those championships, plus the Players Championship, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Tour Championship and the Olympics.

NBC Sports’ coverage will be led by 29-time Emmy Award-winning producer Tommy Roy – along with NBC Sports’ producer Brandt Packer. 

Peacock will also be a part of NBCU’s live coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open in December. 

CBS had the top score in Sunday ratings, with golf leading the way. CBS had a 0.8 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 5 share. In second was ABC at 0.5/3. 

CBS had the PGA Championship for the first half of prime, golf doing a 0.9 and 1.0. 60 Minutes shot up 50% to 0.9 and Big Brother got a 0.8, down a bit from its 1.0 premiere. 

ABC had reruns of America’s Funniest Home Videos and its Sunday game shows. 

NBC and Univision both got a 0.3/2. NBC had reruns. 

Univision had Aqui y Ahora at 0.2 and ¿Quien Es La Mascara at 0.3, both level with last week. 

Fox and Telemundo both posted a 0.2/1. Fox had comedy reruns. 

On Telemundo it was Exatlon Estados Unidos at 0.2 and 0.3, mostly flat with last week’s 0.3, and La Voz at a level 0.2. 

The CW got a 0.1/1. Fridge Wars scored a flat 0.1 and a Supernatural rerun followed. 

This is a quick snapshot of linear TV trends for the week of July 13-19, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks 

Via Inscape.tv, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 15 million smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Looking at shows, of all the minutes watched by smart TVs that Inscape measured in all dayparts, 1.08% of the time was spent on PGA Tour Golf, an increase from the previous week’s percent share duration of 0.88%. Ridiculousness (0.82%) and Friends (0.79%), which both aired over 200 episodes last week, surpassed morning talk shows to round out the top three.

On the network side of things, of all minutes watched last week, 6.27% of the time was spent on NBC — a move up from the previous week where it was No. 2. Second and third places go to ABC (6.07%) and Fox News (6.02%). Other networks rising in the ranks compared to the previous week include Hallmark Channel, Investigation Discovery, Nickelodeon, Univision, TNT, The Golf Channel and TV Land. 

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Although the show ranking was mostly dominated by news and morning talk shows, sports programming makes an appearance — PGA Tour Golf was No. 1 by TV ad impressions (849.5 million), while NASCAR Cup Series was No. 11 with 466.7 million impressions. Meanwhile, America’s Got Talent and Days of our Lives both made the top 15; those two along with CMA Best of Fest were the only non-news or sports programming on the ranking.

For the second week in a row, Fox News took first place with over 6 billion TV ad impressions, a slight increase from last week’s 5.9 billion. CNN followed with nearly 4 billion impressions, and ABC (3.7 billion) edged out NBC to be the top broadcast network. Three Spanish-languge networks also made the top 25 list: Univision (1.4 billion impressions), Telemundo (814.1 million) and UniMás (237.2 million). 

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of July 6-12, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks 

Via Inscape.tv, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 15 million smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Looking at shows, of all the minutes watched by smart TVs that Inscape measured in all dayparts, 0.88% of the time was spent on PGA Tour Golf, putting it in first place, a move up from last week when it was No. 11. Morning talk shows Good Morning America and Today followed with 0.88% and 0.87% share duration, respectively. They held the same positions last week.

On the network side of things, of all minutes watched last week, 6.11% of the time was spent on Fox News Channel — a move up from the previous week where it was No. 2. Second and third places go to NBC (5.91%) and ABC (5.85%). There was no week-over-week change in the network rankings for third through ninth place.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Morning talk shows and other news programs dominated the top 25 list, with the sole two outliers being Days of Our Lives and SportsCenter. Good Morning America took first place with over 930.6 million TV ad impressions, followed by Today (846.8 million) and America’s Newsroom (726.7 million).

Looking at networks, cable news took three of the top five spots: Fox News was first with nearly 5.9 billion TV ad impressions, CNN was at No. 2 with just over 4 billion impressions and MSNBC captured fifth place with 2.5 billion impressions. It’s also worth noting that Spanish-language network Univision was in seventh place with 1.6 billion impressions.

The Golf Channel today (June 11) begins its live coverage of the four-day Charles Schwab Challenge PGA golf tournament, the first PGA Tour event since play was halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Golf Channel and CBS will offer 59 live hours of tournament coverage from the Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, Texas, all while implementing health screenings and safety protocols as well as a reduced on-site footprint.

Golf Channel executive producer Molly Solomon spoke to me on the eve of the tournament regarding the network’s production strategy -- Golf Channel and CBS for example will share one announcing crew -- as well as the network’s plans for covering a very busy PGA tournament schedule that is scheduled to extend into the fall. An edited version of the interview appears below.

What does the return of the PGA Tour to full time play mean for the Golf Channel?

It’s going to be great for golf fans and all of us who produce television to be back in the chair again. We have 11 hours of consecutive news and coverage from the tournament beginning at 9 am. (today). CBS produces the broadcast, including first and second round coverage for the Golf Channel, so this has been a collaborative process over the last month and a half to create a unified, linear broadcast production. CBS has had to reduce its personnel footprint, and yet they are going to give us everything we want in terms of three hours of coverage. Because they can’t have all of their announcers together, Jim Nantz is going to host all four rounds from Colonial and announcers Nick Faldo, Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo will be announcing from Golf Channel’s Morning Drive set in Florida. We wanted to give them the best technical setup to succeed remotely, so we were anxious to lean in and help our partners in whatever way we could.

Other than the lack of spectators, will viewers see anything different from a production standpoint with the tournament coverage?

We’re able to try some things like putting mics on the players and framing the action more intimately. We’ve always been interested in what the players say to their caddies and the interactions with their playing competitors. There is some hesitation from some players about wearing a mic, so we’re hopeful some of the players will lean in, and we'll get conversations that we haven’t had in the past. The audiences are in the loop in terms of what the restraints are for production, so I think imperfect is going to be accepted during this pandemic. All of us in television production really pride ourselves on the excellence and quality of the broadcasts, and CBS is going to be charged with providing the same amount of hours but with less people. They have a terrific production plan, so we’ll just be happy to see the sport back in action. We have the top five players starting at Colonial, so it starts with the action, and I think it's going to be terrific.

How difficult was it for the Golf Channel to get through the pandemic from a business and production standpoint?

The priority is and has always been the safety of our employees, and so initially when we were reduced to working from home we put on [PGA] tournament replays, which were really attractive for our audience. Slowly but surely our operations team really relied on their production ingenuity and created production control rooms from home. We were able to start producing news content with the anchors and directors at home, beginning with short form digital news and ramping up to doing half-hour shows from home. We felt with the tournaments coming back that we were ready to bring people back to the building, but in very limited numbers. There’s a health and safety plan in place, but it was time to get back to doing what we do when the PGA Tour players are back in action.

How does the rest of the year shape up for The Golf Channel?

It’s going to be a great fall if you are a sports fan -- you’re going to have all the leagues back. Usually the big golf events finish before the end of the summer to make way for football, but in these unprecedented times we’re going to have a fall that is chock full of PGA championships. Golf fans are really loyal and really excited about the prospect of fall golf. They want to see what the [2020 Masters Tournament] looks like in November. We’re going to have the [FedEx Cup] championship finish on Labor Day. As sports fans we’ve been so starved for so many months, so I think there’s room for golf championships taking place later than normal in the calendar year.

B&C has partnered with always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv to bring you a weekly chart we call Promo Mojo: exclusive data showing the top five TV promos ranked by ad impressions. This is the programming the networks have been promoting most heavily to drive tune-in (our data covers the seven-day period through May 24).

On the strength of 293.6 million TV ad impressions, a promo for TNT’s The Match: Champions for Charity is No. 1 (the golf special was also simulcast on TBS, TruTV and HLN). Cable networks dominate our top 5, with TNT joined by Nickelodeon, which hypes its Wild About Movies family film night in second place, and National Geographic and Discovery, which promote, respectively, Barkskins and All on the Line in fourth and fifth.

Meanwhile, NBC, the sole traditional broadcaster in our mix, grabs third place for The Titan Games. 

Notably, the Nickelodeon promo has the highest iSpot Attention Index (146) in our ranking, getting 46% fewer interruptions than the average promo (interruptions include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).

1) The Match: Champions for Charity, TNT

Impressions: 293,558,538

Attention Score: 94.84

Attention Index: 115 (15% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 93%, Local 6%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $2,097,133

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $102,767

2) Wild About Movies, Nickelodeon

Impressions: 278,171,303

Attention Score: 96.74

Attention Index: 146 (46% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 97%, Local 2%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $7,513,393

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $0.00

3) The Titan Games, NBC

Impressions: 262,381,313

Attention Score: 89.24

Attention Index: 57 (43% more interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 85%, Local 14%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $3,591,382

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $779,720

4) Barkskins, National Geographic

Impressions: 246,738,072

Attention Score: 93.26

Attention Index: 90 (10% more interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 88%, Local 10%, VOD/OTT 2%

In-network Value: $2,446,204

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $701,059

5) All on the Line, Discovery Channel

Impressions: 229,228,279

Attention Score: 94.19

Attention Index: 105 (5% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 99%, Local 1%, VOD/OTT 0%

In-network Value: $1,104,549

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $0.00

*Data provided by iSpot.tv, TV Ad Measurement for Disruptive Brands*

Impressions - The total impressions within all US households including National Linear (Live & Time-shifted), VOD+OTT, and Local.

Attention Score - Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.

Attention Index - Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs. the average in its respective industry. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.

Imp. Types - Impression types tracked include National (Live + Time-shifted), Local, VOD & OTT. See below for further details.

In-network Value - Estimated media value of in-network promos.

Out-of-network Spend - The estimated amount spent on TV airing time for this promo's spots during a given date range.

National: Live - A national promo which was viewed during live linear television broadcast or same day, via DVR or on-demand.

Local - A promo that was aired during a local ad break slot.

VOD - This includes promos that run in on-demand content past three days (i.e. do not contain the linear promo load)

OTT - On-demand streaming content (i.e. Hulu, Roku, Fire TV Stick, Chromecast).

Turner Sports’ live telecast this past Sunday of a charity golf tournament featuring Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning scored big ratings numbers, continuing a trend of strong ratings performances from the return of live sports events amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The May 24 Capital One The Match: Champions for Charity drew 5.8 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN, according to Nielsen. The event, which generated  $20 million for COVID-19 relief efforts, was the most-watched golf telecast in cable TV history, according to Turner.

The Match event marked one of a few but growing number of live sports events that have taken place since the pandemic forced the shutdown of most events in mid March. Most sports events that have returned have brought a large following of fans to TV screens. 

Fox Sports has averaged nearly 4 million viewers for its first three live NASCAR telecasts, led by its first post-pandemic telecast. The May 17 race at Darlington drew  6.3 million viewers on Fox Broadcasting -- the second best performing race this season on Fox Sports, according to Nielsen.  

RELATED: Fox Sports Revs Up For NASCAR Return 

ESPN has pinned down some impressive numbers for its live UFC telecasts. The sports network averaged more than 1.2 million viewers for the main card of its May 16 UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris telecast after generating a reported 700,000 pay-per-view buys for its May 9 UFC 249 event.

With most live sports sidelined since early March due to the coronavirus outbreak, industry observers say sports fans have been salivating for live sports events, whether or not they were big fans of the sport being televised.

“The audience for televised sports is not going away --if anything it’s getting larger and perhaps more passionate because they miss what they haven’t been able to see during the past few months,” sports analyst Lee Berke said.

As more sports make their way back to television -- pro bowling, auto racing events and a potential boxing match are on deck for June -- Berke said that viewership for live sports events will only increase.

“You can’t go out to games, you can’t go out to shows, you can’t go to the movies, so the audience is starving for live events and content,” he said. “If sports can be brought back safely there’s a ready-made, large audience ready to watch.” 

After a months-long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, a handful of live sports events began returning to TV screens the weekend of May 16 and continuing through Memorial Day weekend, including German soccer matches, various NASCAR races and a couple of high-profile golf fundraisers. Below, a look at viewership and advertising insights around a few of these events. (Data is from May 16-24.)

According to Inscape.tv, the TV data company with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 15 million smart TVs, Sunday, May 24 was the biggest recent day for sports, capturing 7.7% of all live viewing (including non-sports programming).

Looking at just live sports that were on TV during this time period by share of all TVs, The Match: Champions for Charity golf event was tops with 11.72%. Given the celebrities who participated — Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning went up against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady — it’s not surprising that this was a huge draw for viewers. In second place was NASCAR on May 17 (9.43%), followed by NASCAR on May 24 (9.11%) and the TaylorMade Driving Relief golf event on May 17 (7.35%). 

Below, a deeper dive into the golf and NASCAR events, with insights from Inscape as well as iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company.

Golf

Inscape took a look at crossover for the golf events and found that 41% of people who watched TaylorMade Driving Relief also tuned into Champions for Charity, but only 22% of Champions for Charity viewers watched TaylorMade.  

Looking at DMA tune-in for both events, you can see some similarities (Florida hotspots of viewing, for example), but one big difference is that there was significantly more tune-in for Champions for Charity in the Denver DMA.

According to iSpot, Champions for Charity racked up 783.8 million TV ad impressions, over twice as many as TaylorMade Driving Relief (312.7 million) and enough to put it in the top 20 programs by impressions during this period (at No. 13). 

For both events, Michelob was one of the advertisers with the most TV ad impressions: 69.5 million for Champions for Charity (second place, behind Progressive), and 23.7 million for TaylorMade (second place not counting network promos for Golf Channel, behind Farmers Insurance). 

NASCAR 

As mentioned above, the biggest day for NASCAR was May 17, with it capturing a 9.43% share of all TVs, per Inscape. Here’s a look at minute-by-minute viewership during NASCAR on the 17th. The biggest spike occurred right before 5 p.m. ET:

While Champions for Charity may have captured a larger share of TVs, with multiple races during the period measured, it’s no surprise that NASCAR generated far more total TV ad impressions — 1.14 billion across Fox, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, according to iSpot, making it the No. 6 program by impressions from May 16-24. The biggest impressions-generating day was May 17, with 505.1 million. 

Aside from network promos, across the races and simulcasts, GEICO was the most-seen brand (78 million impressions), followed by Wendy’s (50.5 million) and Subway (41.8 million).

Turner Sports this Sunday (May 24) will take viewers to the golf course for a live competition featuring Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson that is expected to raise $10 million to benefit COVID-19 relief.

Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity will feature Woods and Mickelson in a sequel to their November 2018 Turner Sports-distributed pay-per-view golf match, as well as iconic NFL quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. The event is Turner Sports’ first live sports telecast since the COVID-19 pandemic forced most live sports events to the sidelines. 

Live coverage of the tournament airing on TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN will feature access with all players having open mics throughout the entire competition. The players will have the capability of communicating directly with other golfers and  broadcast commentators, which includes former NBA star Charles Barkley.

Turner Sports chief content officer Craig Barry recently talked about the origins and production of the event.

How did this event come together in light of the pandemic?

It’s really been months of preparation and it’s touched every part of our organization. Despite the pandemic, and with everyone working remotely, we’ve all come together in support of the event and we’re excited to produce a fun, entertaining event this weekend. We have four of the most iconic athletes on the planet involved and it’s all for COVID-19 relief. We hope fans will be able to take a break and enjoy it.

How big is The Match for sports-starved fans in general and golf fans in particular?

From the response we’ve been seeing, there’s strong interest in this event from both hardcore and casual sports fans. Above all, we hope it will drive meaningful funding for COVID-19 relief, while also offering people a bit of distraction from everything else they are facing in this unprecedented moment in time.

How has advertisers responded to The Match?

We were seeing a very strong marketplace before the pandemic, so it’s not a surprise that this event has generated an overwhelming response from our advertising partners. Capital One, as the title sponsor, and all of our marketing partners have enthusiastically supported both the event and its mission to drive funding for COVID-19 relief. We’re proud that we’ve been able to bring together these partners and hopefully deliver some moments that bring levity to viewers, all while maximizing how much funding we can raise in those relief efforts.

What production adjustments has Turner Sports made to televise the event due to the pandemic?

As you can imagine, our event footprint is significantly reduced to only include those individuals that are essential to the production. Most of those personnel have been hired locally for this event. That said, we’re confident in producing a high quality, entertaining show for our viewers.

What are your viewership expectations for The Match?

The key number we’re focused on for this event is the amount of funding for COVID-19 relief. That’s at the center of everything we’re doing. We don’t project viewership numbers, but we have four of the best athletes in the world on display and we think it is going to be a lot of fun for us and our fans.

Is Turner Sports developing on any other live sports events to televise in the near future?

We’re constantly seeking innovative ways to deliver premium sports content for our fans across all platforms, with this event being the latest example of that commitment. We’re very engaged with all of our partners and we’re going to keep exploring opportunities to provide content that truly resonates with fans.

Illustrating the pent up demand for live TV sports, Turner Sports has sold out the sponsorships for the upcoming Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity, pitting Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.

In addition to Capital One, presenting sponsors are Audi of America, Michelob Ultra and Progressive.

Cisco and DraftKings are content integration partners and AT&T, HBO Max, Callaway, Wheels Up and E-Z-Go are associate sponsors.

The event will be simulcast on TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN on May 24 at 3 p.m. ET., which pre-match coverage on the Bleacher Report App.

While television ads are sold out, some digital packages are still available via Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and Xandr.

Turner Sports’ parent company WarnerMedia and the golfers will be donating $10 million to COVID-19 relief charities.

The event is a rematch of the Tiger-Mickelson pay-per-view showdown in 2018. Because of technical difficulties viewers wound up watching for free or getting their money back.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unimaginable tragedy and heartbreak,” said Jeff Zucker, chairman, WarnerMedia News and Sports. “We’re hopeful this event and platform will help raise meaningful funding for COVID-19 relief, while also providing a source of brief distraction and entertainment for all sports fans.”

Live coverage will feature unprecedented access with all players having open mics throughout the entire competition, including the capability to communicate directly with other golfers and the broadcast commentators.

“At Capital One, we’re committed to supporting our customers, communities and partners through this difficult time, and that is why we are proud to be the returning title sponsor of Capital One's The Match: Champions for Charity. This wonderful event will bring four of the world's best athletes together for a tremendous cause," said Marc Mentry, chief brand officer, Capital One. “Capital One knows our customers are passionate about sports, which is why we are excited to support this event and to help bring awareness to these amazing charities."

Illustrating the pent up demand for live TV sports, Turner Sports has sold out the sponsorships for the upcoming Capital One’s The Match: Champions For Charity, pitting Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.

In addition to Capital One, presenting sponsors are Audi of America, Michelob Ultra and Progressive.

Cisco and DraftKings are content integration partners and AT&T, HBO Max, Callaway, Wheels Up and E-Z-Go are associate sponsors.

The event will be simulcast on TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN on May 24 at 3 p.m. ET., which pre-match coverage on the Bleacher Report App.

While television ads are sold out, some digital packages are still available via Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and Xandr.

Turner Sports’ parent company WarnerMedia and the golfers will be donating $10 million to COVID-19 relief charities.

The event is a rematch of the Tiger-Mickelson pay-per-view showdown in 2018. Because of technical difficulties viewers wound up watching for free or getting their money back.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unimaginable tragedy and heartbreak,” said Jeff Zucker, chairman, WarnerMedia News and Sports. “We’re hopeful this event and platform will help raise meaningful funding for COVID-19 relief, while also providing a source of brief distraction and entertainment for all sports fans.”

Live coverage will feature unprecedented access with all players having open mics throughout the entire competition, including the capability to communicate directly with other golfers and the broadcast commentators.

“At Capital One, we’re committed to supporting our customers, communities and partners through this difficult time, and that is why we are proud to be the returning title sponsor of Capital One's The Match: Champions for Charity. This wonderful event will bring four of the world's best athletes together for a tremendous cause," said Marc Mentry, chief brand officer, Capital One. “Capital One knows our customers are passionate about sports, which is why we are excited to support this event and to help bring awareness to these amazing charities."

The Masters Golf Tournament has been delayed among concerns about the coronavirus, which have led to the cancellation and postponement of nearly all high-profile sports events.

The Masters has long been a mainstay for CBS, which airs the final rounds, and for ESPN, which televises the early rounds on cable.

On Thursday, the PGA Tour canceled its golf tournaments leading up the the Masters.

The Masters had been planning to go head with the tournament as recently as March 4.

But in a statement Friday, Fred Ridely, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, said, “considering the latest information and expert analysis, we have decided at this time to postpone the Masters Tournament, the National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals.”

The statement added that “Ultimately, the health and well-being of everyone associated with these events and the citizens of the Augusta community led us to this decision. We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the Masters Tournament and our amateur events at some later date.”

“We recognize this decision will affect many people, including our loyal patrons. Your patience as we make every effort to communicate effectively and efficiently is appreciated, and we will share any additional information as soon as it becomes available. Updates also will be posted to our website, Masters.com,” Ridley said.

Earlier, the NBA and the NHL canceled their regular seasons. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has also been canceled and the start of the Major League Baseball season has been pushed back.

[embed]https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/1238465017202315264[/embed]

Fox Sports tees off its primetime coverage of the U.S. Open golf championship tonight (June 13) with FS1 offering a alternative feed that will follow every shot from such golfers as Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka alongside Fox Broadcasting’s main telecast.

FS1, which launched Fox Sports' live U.S. Open coverage this afternoon, will switch to a targeted feed at 7:30 that will follow two groups featuring Woods, Jordan Spieth and defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka. Fox Broadcasting will pick up full coverage of the championship at the same time.

Usually featured group feeds are only available digitally on Fox Sports apps and other sports sites, but Fox Sports executive vice president and head of programming Bill Wanger said that Fox wanted to experiment with offering the dedicated feed on a linear TV channel.

“We thought it was a unique opportunity being at Pebble Beach -- and with Tiger’s group and Brooks Koepka’s group playing in primetime -- to showcase those two groups on FS1 at the same time that Fox broadcast network has the main telecast with all the golfers,” he said. “We thought it would be a great benefit for the fans.”

Wanger said the FS1 coverage will not hurt viewership for the Fox’s general coverage of the championship, adding that both networks will run the same advertisements at the same time during its telecasts.

“We’ve found in the past that you’re not actually taking away viewers, but adding viewers to the pot, so we feel confident that both numbers will be strong,” he said. “It’s also an added benefit for our advertising partners as well because you get a little boost -- we get to cume up ratings.”

Wanger said that the alternative feed will only run on Thursday night due to other FS1 contractual primetime scheduling commitments -- including live FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer coverage -- over the weekend. Overall, Wagner said he’s confident the Fox Sports will be able to drive strong ratings for its Open coverage through the weekend.

“We’re definitely confident in the viewership we’re see for the tournament,” he said. “One of the great thing about being on the west coast is being able to put golf into primetime. On Thursday and Friday we’ll run until 10 or 10:30 when most people are home and available to watch. Anytime you get a west coast location for a tournament as iconic as Pebble Beach, I think there will be a lot of interest.” 

The now infamous technical glitches that ultimately made the Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson Black Friday pay-per-view golf event a free-per-view event weren't a total bogey for the industry.

Yes, the match failed to deliver reported millions of dollars from PPV buys for the category after most PPV distributors offered refunds to viewers purchasing the event due to OTT streaming service Bleacher Report Live's decision to put the $19.95 event in the clear for its subscribers after suffering through technical issues delivering the live golf match. 

But the silver lining for the Turner Sports-distributed event-- which pitted two of the most popular and successful golfers of this generation against one another -- is that it ended up generating better than expected PPV orders from both the traditional cable and digital streaming side, according to sources close to the situation. No official PPV buy tally for the event was available at press time. 

While the PPV numbers for Tiger vs Phil will not come anywhere near that of 2015's industry record- setting Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, industry observers say the performance does bodes well for the much-needed expansion of the PPV event category beyond boxing and mixed martial arts in terms of the category's ability to attract viewers to a non-ring sports event.

Traditional cable, satellite and telco distributors did not report any technical glitches offering the event, in which Mickelson defeated Woods in 22 holes of golf competition. Nevertheless, most distributors provided rebates to consumers after Turner Sports’ upstart Bleacher Report Live streamed the event free to its subscribers due to technical glitches that kept paying viewers from watching the golf competition.

The streaming of live pay-per-view sports events is still in an infancy stage, so inevitably technical problems can and will occur. PPV event distributors say a small percentage of overall PPV buys for big events are generated from streaming services, but when technological issues pop up during marquee events like Tiger vs. Phil or last year’s Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor mega fight, the category’s growing pains are magnified.

Unfortunately, Bleacher Report Live’s glitch and Turner’s decision to pull the event from behind B/R Live’s pay wall -- and the subsequent refunds offered by cable, satellite and telco distributors -- all but wiped out any chance of the event generating significant revenue from PPV transactions.

Once the smoke clears however, the PPV industry might eventually view the Tiger vs Phil PPV event as a success in bringing new viewers to category. That will hopefully encourage Turner Sports and other content producers to consider offering unique and potentially attractive sports events to the PPV category. 

Turner Sports Thursday released a new video showcasing its upcoming Nov. 23 Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil pay-per-view golf event.

The “Destiny” video short features golf legends Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as they discuss their storied careers and on-course meetings over the past three decades through a mashup of highlights. The PPV event will feature the two golfers as they face off against each other in an 18-hole golf match.

Tiger vs. Phil will be available on PPV through Turner’s digital SVOD sports service Bleacher Report Live as well as to MVPD providers through through In Demand and Vubiquity, according to Turner.

Turner Sports’ Nov. 23 Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson pay-per-view golf match highlights what has been a very unique and successful fall for the PPV event category.

The Capital One’s The Match: Tiger vs. Phil event – the first live, head-to-head golf event ever carried on PPV -- will retail at a suggested price of $19.99, according to Turner executives. Turner is treating the event, in which the winner will receive a $9 million prize -- like a big, boxing match. It has commissioned sister premium service HBO to offer its 24/7 sports documentary series – which is usually associated with marquee boxing matches – to follow the two iconic golfers leading up to the big event.

Golf fans can buy the match through traditional companies like In Demand and Vubiquity, as well as through new entrants like Turner’s Bleacher Report Live streaming sports service.

Tiger vs. Phil adds to what has become a very fruitful period for the PPV event category.

For the first eight months of the year, the pay-per-view event industry hadn’t had a lot to cheer about. Then in September, Canelo Alvarez and Genaddy Golovkin stepped into the boxing ring for a rematch of their highly controversial November 2017 fight, which ended in a draw. Along with being an action-packed fight -- won by Alvarez in a close decision -- the rematch drew approximately 1.1 million PPV buys, according to ESPN.

The Oct. 6 UFC 229 Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov fight will be remembered mostly for the wild, post-fight melee that took place both inside and outside the octagon. Yet the event is trending to become the most successful PPV event in UFC’s history with more than 2 million buys, according to published reports.

Showtime will step into the PPV ring Dec. 1 with its big heavyweight championship fight between Deontay Wlder and Tyson Fury.

Looking ahead, the PPV category will certainly face some challenges beginning in 2019 as upstart streaming services like ESPN and DAZN compete for mid-sized combat sports events. DAZN’s deal to stream current PPV boxing champion Alvarez’s next 11 fights is a major body blow to the category.

But for now, the PPV category is enjoying a very event-filled and lucrative end to 2018. 

ESPN and its streaming service ESPN+ have scored a long-term deal with PGA of America to cover the prestigious PGA Championship golf tournament beginning in 2020.

The 11-year agreement calls for ESPN and ESPN+ to cover the first two rounds of the tournament, with CBS Sports airing live coverage of the final two rounds of the event, according to the parties involved.

ESPN, which aired the first two rounds of the event in 1982 and 1983 as well as from 1985 to 1990, regains the rights currently held by Turner Sports and TNT. CBS has covered the tournament since 1991.

“This agreement is going to be great for golf fans and is significant for ESPN and ESPN+,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming and scheduling in a statement. “The PGA will bolster ESPN’s diverse collection of big events and deliver another world-class competition to the ESPN+ platform and its growing audience. We look forward to working with the PGA of America to help increase the sport’s popularity.”

ESPN will provide exclusive coverage of the first and second rounds of the tournament – which will take place in May instead of August beginning in 2020 -- across its linear ESPN channel as well as ESPN+. 

 For the third and final rounds, ESPN and ESPN+ will have multiple hours of live coverage throughout the morning, leading into the CBS telecast later in the day, while ESPN+ will continue with featured groups and featured hole coverage during the weekend afternoon windows, said the company. 

Golf Channel’s latest swing at original documentaries recounts pro golf’s most epic tournament collapse as part of NBC Sports’ lead up to its coverage of the 2018 Open Championship.

The documentary, Go Down Swinging: ’99 at Carnoustie will debut July 9 and take a look at the conclusion of the 1999 Open in which Frenchman pro golfer Jean van de Velde relinquished at 3-shot lead on the last hole of the tournament.

The special will feature interviews with Jean van de Velde and his caddie, along with eventual winner Paul Lawrie, according to NBC Sports.

The special is part of NBC Sports’ lead-up to the Open tournament, in which Golf Channel and NBC will provide a total of 180 hours of content profiling and covering The Open, said network officials.

As for the tournament, NBC Sports group will offer nearly 50 hours of live coverage of the championship golf tournament beginning July 19.

In a deal similar to its earlier pact to carry the Olympic Games outside of the U.S., Discovery Inc., has reached a 12-year multiplatform agreement with the PGA Tour valued at $2 billion to carry top tournaments beginning in 2019.

 The deal will last through 2030 and includes global multi-platform live rights outside the United States to all PGA Tour media properties totaling about 2000 hours of content per year, including the six Tours operating under the PGA Tour umbrella and nearly 150 tournaments annually, like The Players Championship, the FedExCup Playoffs, and the Presidents Cup.

In addition to live linear rights in 220 markets outside of the U.S., Discovery and the PGA Tour also will create a dedicated, PGA Tour-branded, OTT video streaming service, utilizing Discovery’s existing Eurosport Player.

Discovery will broadcast the PGA Tour on its portfolio of pay-TV and free-to-air channels, digital and short-form platforms, and will work with the organization and its extensive non-live and library rights for all media platforms.

“Today is a fantastic day for golf fans around the world as Discovery proudly partners with the PGA Tour to create something that has never been done before,” Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “The long-term partnership between the PGA Tour and Discovery will create the new global Home of Golf, including delivering over 2000 hours of live content year-round and this prestigious sport’s greatest moments, stories and athletes.”

Discovery struck a similar deal with the International Olympic Committee in 2015, and aired its first Olympics in 2018, the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, with great success.

RELATED: Discovery Scores First Olympics 

Discovery established more than 40 free-to-air broadcast partnerships for the PyeongChang Games, as well as social media partnerships to reach younger audiences, including Snapchat’s first Olympics collaboration in Europe.

The programmer is hoping lightning strikes twice with the PGA Tour.

Related: Discovery Secures European Olympics TV Rights 

“This is an exciting next step for the PGA Tour, which presents a tremendous opportunity to accelerate and expand our media business outside the United States, better service our international broadcast partners, and drive fan growth with a deeply experienced strategic global partner. This partnership aligns very well with the opening of PGA TOUR offices in London, Tokyo and Beijing in recent years and will support our long-term objectives of growing the game of golf. It also will deliver more value to our sponsors as it presents a tremendous opportunity to engage new and diverse audiences around the world.”

Former Eurosport Digital EVP, Commercial Alex Kaplan will head up the new venture as president and general manager. Prior to joining Discovery, Kaplan was SVP, Global media distribution, for the NBA, responsible for global direct-to-consumer strategy and business operations. Prior to the NBA, Kaplan spent 10 years at DirecTV/AT&T, where he led the organization responsible for DirecTV Sports and oversaw Revenue and Entertainment products and services. Joining Kaplan in the new venture will be PGA Tour SVP international media Thierry Pascal as SVP and head of distribution. The rest of the management team will be announced at a later date.

“I am incredibly excited to work with David Zaslav and JB Perrette to take international coverage of PGA Tour golf to the next level,” Kaplan said in a statement. “…By joining forces with the outstanding PGA TOUR team, led by Jay Monahan and Rick Anderson, we have a unique opportunity to build an amazing product that will serve the fans with the golf content they love on every screen.”

Golf lifestyle service Back9Network has holed its first linear carriage agreement, with the Hartford, Conn.-headquartered company set to launch on DirecTV come Sept. 29.

Under the multiyear deal, the service, which has been operating digitally for more than 18 months as Back9Network.com, will be located on channel 262, part of the top DBS provider’s digital select package, amidst such networks as A&E, AMC, Discovery Health & Fitness and FXX.

“This is the sweet spot for us. It’s better for us to be in with other lifestyle networks,” said Back9Network president Carlos Silva, who declined to discuss financial deal terms. “When we were showing the sizzle reel, DirecTV officials, said ‘This is not a sports network,’ That rings the bell for us a lifestyle network.”

Silva, the former president and COO of Universal Sports, said the company’s landing on national platform like DirecTV is “a big advantage,” serving as “a forum to show others in the TV business” what the network is all about.  He said Back9Network is in “active discussions” with other potential carriers, and expects the DirecTV deal to be the “first one of others” to come.

Unlike NBCUniversal’s Golf Channel, which has been on a ratings roll with its myriad presentations of the PGA and other tours around the globe, Back9Network trades on the lifestyle that surrounds the action taking place off the courses. Silva said the service is taking aim at the nation’s 25 million active golfers and the tens of millions more who live the lifestyle and enjoy what the sport has to offer outside the ropes and in the clubhouse.

Using the recent U.S. Open as an example, Silva said Back9Network provides viewers/users with a feel for the area around the famed Pinehurst No. 2 course. “We show the restaurants, where the golfers stay,” he said. “Most people will never get to visit Pinehurst, so this is a way for them to get a sense for what it’s all about.”

All told, the network -- which last month completed the acquisition of Swing by Swing that provides GPS mapping of 35,000 golf courses in 130 nations via a free golf app on both iOS and Android mobile platforms that has engaged over 2 million users -- plans to offer nearly 1,100 hour of original fare during its rookie season. Its programming game plan calls for 10 original primetime series, plus live morning, midday, and evening shows, as well as an array of golf lifestyle programming covering travel, real estate, food, fashion, courses and equipment.

Leading the way:  a trio of series, for which Back9Network has ordered eight episodes apiece.

The Ahmad Rashad Show will feature the former NFLer and interviewer taking viewers behind the scenes and away from the glare of the spotlight as he hangs out with the biggest names in sports and entertainment.

With Ball Hogs, the network is working with a Carolina company that will provide underwater vistas of men and women who risk their lives diving for “white gold” in ponds and lakes.

As for Golf Treasures, the spotlight shines on prominent collectors Ryan Carey and Bob Zafian, owners of Green Jacket Auctions. They travel the globe with eyes toward finding and acquiring some of the world’s rarest and most sought after golf memorabilia. 

“We may be looking at the first ever ticket to The Masters, or they may uncover a green jacket that was found in someone’s closet,” explained Silva, who had been serving as an adviser to Back9Network CEO and founder James Bosworth and COO and founder Reid Gorman, before joining the company in March 2013.

Back9Networks, with a financial assist from the State of Connecticut, is also in the midst of constructing a state-of-the-art studio configuration in downtown Hartford. People will be able to watch studio fare from the street level at Constitution Plaza, where Silva says there will also be “a Today show-like area.”

Studio work will be completed over the next few weeks, with rehearsals tentatively set for 30 days ahead of launch.

With the media company transitioning from digital to linear, Back9Network is expanding its work force from 50 by another 30-40. Silva said it is looking to hire a mix of staff and permalancers to help with production and editing disciplines.