There were many doubters. A 24-hour service devoted to one sport? Golf?

But Joe Gibbs (not the former Washington Redskins coach) and golfing great Arnold Palmer had vision, passion and perseverance that overcame naysayers, funding and carriage concerns.

“Twenty years ago I was working at Turner Sports and heard that Joe Gibbs and Arnold Palmer were working on the Golf Channel,” NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus recalled. “I scoffed at the idea, I thought it had no chance. I’m very happy to say I was proven wrong.

“Golf Channel is one of the key pillars of the NBC Sports portfolio, along with the Olympics, Sunday Night Football, the [English] Premier League, the National Hockey League, the Triple Crown and now NASCAR.”

Gibbs, whose career included executive stints at Crowley Cellular Telecommunications and at Birmingham, Ala-headquartered Masada Corp. (which he said built and operated cable systems in many states under a variety of names), began his friendship with Palmer in 1990 when “The King” stayed at Gibbs’s Shoal Creek home during the PGA Championship event.

The pair — Gibbs with his business and cable background and Palmer with his ties to the sports business community and golf industry — declared their intentions to tee off the Golf Channel at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in February of 1993.

POWER PLAYERS

They began raising capital through a cadre of investors, including six of the nation’s top cable operators.

“Investing in Golf Channel was a big step for Comcast. We were an original investor and my dad and I firmly believed in what Arnold Palmer and Joe Gibbs started,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said. “I’m thankful to my friend Tim Neher, who was vice chairman of Continental Cablevision at the time, for encouraging us to join him. It was our first entrance into sports programming and 20 years later, it has proved to be a great decision.”

With 180 employees in Orlando, Fla., Golf Channel, sporting the first full digital production facility in the United States, teed off as a pay service via four affiliate deals reaching 10,000 subscribers on Jan. 17, 1995.

During its first year, the network televised 23 domestic tournaments and 41 European and Australian events. The first televised tourney was the Dubai Desert Classic in 1995. GolfChannel.com launched on April Fool’s Day 1996, a year that saw the network’s initial international launch (in Japan) and the milestone of 10 million subscribers as a traditional cable network.

Today, the network, of which Comcast secured equity control in 2000 and outright ownership via a swap for its position in Speed Channel with Fox in 2003, still operates out from the same building. But the operation has grown to 160,000 square feet, the facility it is in delivers high-definition images and Golf employs 700 workers around the globe.

Mike McCarley, who became the network’s fourth president in February 2011, said programming is available in more than 120 million homes in 83 countries and in 12 languages through cable, satellite and wireless companies.

Golf Channel offers more tournament coverage than all other networks combined.

“The foundation is built on live events,” McCarley said. “But news and instructional programming are also key components. Golf Channel is committed to producing more high-quality original shows.”

McCarley said the network has augmented its audience ties with such lifestyle businesses as GolfAdvisor.com, a review website by golfers for golfers that launched earlier this year; Golf Now, a tee-time booking venture, and the instructional Golf Channel Academy, GolfLive Extra streaming and Golf Channel apps (see sidebar).

Still, live coverage remains the primary connectivity for fans and players alike.

All told, Golf Channel, through longterm deals with the PGA, LPGA, European, Asian, Web.com and Champions tours, and other properties, presents more than 4,200 hours of tournaments annually — more than all other networks combined.

Led by Golf Central and Morning Drive, the network offers 2,400 new hours, plus instructional fare. And originals. Big Break, a competition show in which participants strive to gain entry to PGA and LPGA tour events, is about to premiere its 23rd season, while links funnyman David Feherty delights audiences with his interview show, Feherty. Documentary fare like Arnie, the three-part special about the legendary Palmer on and off the course, debuted after the 2014 Masters, is also resonating with viewers.

Under a 15-year deal signed in 2007, Golf Channel is the exclusive cable partner of the PGA Tour, which in 2014, counting live telecasts, replays and ancillary programming, accounted for nearly one-third of Golf Channel’s overall schedule and more than half of the network’s total audience.

This current season, Golf Channel has full four-round coverage of a dozen PGA Tour tournaments and early-round coverage of 30 events, plus The Presidents Cup.

“Golf Channel has been an incredible asset to our sport and certainly, the PGA Tour, since its launch in 1995,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Fenchem said. “It has grown to be a key touchstone of the sporting landscape and we are proud to be an integral part of that success.”

CBS Sports president Sean McManus said the broadcaster is on course with Golf Channel throughout the season, as the cable channel airs the Thursday and Friday action and weekend lead-in to CBS’s network coverage.

“We share production and broadcast facilities and, in some cases, talent. We are truly one team of professionals and it really works in a very seamless operation,” McManus said. “As an independent, Golf Channel could never really reach its full potential. Working so closely and seamlessly with NBC has really helped lift ratings and awareness of the sport.”

That was especially evident during the days leading up to Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz., for which NBC scored a U.S. record 114.4 million viewers. NBCUniversal fare, including Today, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Meet the Press, Access Hollywood, Morning Joe, NHL Live, Premier League Live, Pro Football Talk and NBC Sports Digital all set up shop in the Phoenix area ahead of the NFL title game.

With the PGA Tour in town Jan. 29-Feb. 1, Golf Channel aired 11 live hours of the Waste Management Phoenix Open from the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale. Golf Central for the first time originated from the famous par-3 16th hole — “The Coliseum” — which was surrounded by 25,000 rowdy fans.

Feherty filmed a pair of installments of his show from Phoenix’s Orpheum Theater.

“The rebrand of ‘Golf Channel on NBC’ has become universally accepted,” McCarley noted.

During 2014, NBC Sports Group reached an unmatched 79 million viewers via “Golf Channel on NBC” broadcasts and Golf Channel.

Since becoming part of the NBC Sports Group via the Comcast merger in 2011, Golf Channel has recorded its best four years with the Nielsens, upping its ratings 57% and total-day audience 40% over that span.

Measured against a baseline level from 2010, Golf Channel saw its tournament coverage ratings grow 22% and its audience expand 16% through 2014. News program Golf Central scored 83% and 76% growth, while Morning Drive, which expanded to a seven-day schedule last year, leaped 229% and 227%, respectively. Instructional fare jumped 50% in the ratings and 37% in audience over the four-year span, as other original programming increased 17% and 9%.

RATINGS ON THE RISE

“We matched 2013 on a ratings basis, even though the sport’s biggest star, Tiger Woods, was sidelined for the bulk of the year,” McCarley pointed out. He said the ratings gains on the network and with the combined reach on NBC have enabled “us to develop new relationships with clients.”

Golf Channel’s advertising lineup includes equipment and endemic advertisers, as well as luxury goods and autos such as Rolex and Mercedes- Benz, plus financial companies and telecommunications firms, reflecting its active and upscale audience.

Last year, Golf Channel stood as the most-affluent ad-supported network for median household income and percentage of $100,000-plus household income audience delivery, as 38% earned $75,000 or more, ranking ahead of Fox Business Network. In primetime, Golf was first for median household income and percentage of $100,000 household income delivery — with 44% earning $81,600 or more — topping sister service NBC Sports Network.

The network received the most Emmy nominations in its history in 2014. McCarley said Golf will invest in more high-quality originals that will keep its well-to-do viewers returning.

McCarley also said golf’s return to the Olympics at the 2016 Rio de Janiero Games figured to open up new programming opportunities, while enhancing the sport’s popularity.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but leading up to the Olympics in Rio, there is going to be continued growth for golf globally,” he said.

Roberts is also keeping his eyes on the game, which he plays quite well, and the Games: “We are so proud of how the Channel has grown and evolved. With golf returning to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, I think the best is yet to come for the sport and the channel.”

Golf Channel Links With Audience on Screens, Greens

While networks aspire to have programming that connects with viewers’ genre affinities, Golf Channel’s ties extend beyond TV, tablet, phone and computer screens to courses around the world.

“It’s not like the traditional relationship a network has with viewers,” Golf Channel president Mike McCarley said. “We have so many more touch points. Golf Channel has a very strong, entwined relationship with the most loyal viewers in television.”

GolfNow Solutions is assisting some 8,100 golf courses in running their business through a custom software suite guiding online booking engines, tee-sheet management, point-of-sale accounting and comprehensive golf course marketing and operations applications.

Bowing last year, GolfAdvisor.com is now home to more than 325,000 reviews by golfers, providing real player insights about 9,000 courses in 29 countries around the globe.

GolfNow, the world’s leading online tee time platform, aided golfers in booking more than 13.4 million rounds in 2014 at some 6,000 courses worldwide.

The premium version of the GolfNow mobile app, which launched last October, features on-course GPS range-finding, in-round scoring and performance tracking.

This spring, Golf Channel Academy will hang its shingle at more than 30 premier golf locations across North America, enlisting top teachers to offer hands-on instruction.

Continuing to expand beyond the linear network, the Golf Channel brand will play through instructional outlets at public courses, clubs and resorts, starting in spring 2015.

Unlike many of its other extensions that digitally enable golfers to set up their tee times, score their rounds and track their balls in the fairway or rough along the course, the 80-million subscriber channel’s latest initiative is a brick-and-mortar gambit in which it will hang its shingle alongside the instructional skills of some of the nation’s top club pros.

The  strategy calls for Golf Channel Academy (rendering, pictured) to tee off with a minimum of 20 charter locations in 15 states and one in Ontario, Canada, next spring, as the new season gets into full swing. In the meantime, Golf Channel Academy is looking to further build its base of elite instructors from the ranks of PGA of America and LPGA teaching professionals.

The credentials of its current crop include 11 of Golf Magazine top 100 teachers, a dozen of Golf Digest’s “Best Teachers in State” for 2013-14, seven books, and the current LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals National president. Among the notables: Martin Hall, Ibis Golf & CC, West Palm Beach, Fla., who also hosts School of Golf on the network and the 2008 PGA of America teacher of the year;  Dana Rader, Dana Rader Golf School, Charlotte, who is the national president of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional management; and Jeff Ritter, Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pebble Beach, Calif.

“Golf Channel Academy is another way we’re looking to enhance our position beyond the traditional network experience,” said Golf Channel president Mike McCarley.  “We want to continue to build deeper, richer relationships with our viewers and get more people playing the game.”

McCarley said that the network has augmented its audience ties with such lifestyle businesses as Golf Advisor.com, a review website by golfers for golfers that launched earlier this year, and Golf Now, a tee time booking venture, as well as its instructional Golf Channel Academy, GolfLive Extra streaming and Golf Channel apps.

“Five million viewers have downloaded our apps,” he said, adding that Golf Channel Amateur Tour, now encompassing 800 events nationally since its launch in 2006, also puts the network on the ground with players and watchers.

Golf Channel Academy coaches will benefit from business consulting services and products addressing marketing, sales, technology and back-office solutions needs, as well as shared best-practices across the network.

Coaches also will have the opportunity to appear on instructional programming across Golf Channel's television and digital platforms. Additionally, golfers enrolled at Golf Channel Academy locations will be able to track progress alongside their coach using advanced software to measure specific goals.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Although the support won’t begin until the new season draws nigh, McCarley said the Golf Channel Academy outlets will benefit from on-air and digital promotion.

Live tournaments and news fare notwithstanding, instructional programming, including Golf Channel Academy,  remains a key and highly rated component of the network’s lineup with a presence in early prime on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, totaling some 400 hours annually.

Moreover, McCarley said instructional programming is among the most popular of its on-demand offerings and Golf Channel is in conversations to provide additional genre VOD fare to affiliates.

Golf Channel, which has worked with NBCU parent Comcast in hosting some golf events, is also looking to broaden its ties to distributors with more tourneys, outings and now instructional opportunities. “We want to start working with affiliates,” he said.

McCarley said Golf Channel has been talking about opening instructional units for years, but “this format iteration came to fruition over the past 18 months.”  It stems from a collaborative idea between Golf Academy CEO Todd Wilson, who developed a "brand-within-a-brand" strategy during his tenure as NASCAR CEO, and Golf Academy president Scott Novell. 

Golf Channel Academy also will tap the acumen of executive vice president Lorin Anderson, founder and president of Proponent Group, a golf instructor membership-based organization that is now part of the foundation of Golf Channel Academy.

Inaugural group of Golf Channel Academy Coaches

• Henry Brunton, Henry Brunton Golf, Maple, Ontario, Canada
• Dom DiJulia, Dom DiJulia School of Golf, New Hope, PA
• Chuck Evans, Chuck Evans Golf, Kansas City, MO
• Jeff Fisher, Fisher Bryan Golf Academy, Mesa, AZ
• Martin Hall, Ibis Golf & CC, West Palm Beach, FL
• Virgil Herring, Westhaven GC, Franklin, TN
• Dave Kendall, Kendall Academy of Golf, Ypsilanti, MI
• Charlie King, Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, GA
• Rick Krebs, Waverly Woods GC, Marriottsville, MD
• Rod Lidenberg, Halla Greens GolfCourse and Training Center, Chanhassen, MN
• Anders Mattson, Saratoga National GC, Saratoga Springs, NY
• Kenny Nairn, Celebration GC, Celebration, FL
• Rob Noel, Rob Noel Golf Academy, Abita Springs, LA
• Chris O’Connell, The Plane Truth, The Courses at Watters Creek, Plano, TX
• Chad Phillips, Blue Giraffe Golf Institute, Tucker, GA
• Kip Puterbaugh, Aviara Golf Academy, Carlsbad, CA
• Dana Rader, Dana Rader Golf School, Charlotte, NC
• Jeff Ritter, Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pebble Beach, CA
• Jon Sinclair, Sinclair’s Golf Training Center, Euless, TX
• Kellie Stenzel, Palm Beach Par 3, Palm Beach, FL
• Trent Wearner, Trent Wearner Golf Academy, Englewood, CO