Sky Golf

FixdePitchmark

I'm not sending Murdoch a Christmas card , but have enjoyed the sky coverage of the Race to Dubai.

Some of their pieces about the history , interviews with players are improving.

I watch it about an hour behind and fast forward the adds, just too many.

I love watching the open on BBC but.

What do people think ?

abouttobebanned

Hard to criticise them cause without SKY we'd never see live Golf. I hate how they take the break in the afternoon for the european golf, and Wayne Riley annoys me, but apart from that I'm eternally grateful to them.

Jul3s

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Hard to criticise them cause without SKY we'd never see live Golf. I hate how they take the break in the afternoon for the european golf, and Wayne Riley annoys me, but apart from that I'm eternally grateful to them.

Yes Sky are solely responsible for live TV golf!, if there was no Sky there would be no live golf ever endof.

Benicetomonty

If it wasn't for Rob Lee and the fact you have to pay for it (in that order), there'd be no problem at all with Sky! Ewan Murray is by far the most knowledgeable commentator going and Tim Barter is very underrated in his role as post-round interviewer. Jury is still out on Monty and Van De Velde as to their worth, but Di Doherty makes up or them! Money (just about!) well spent for a golf fan, imo.

FixdePitchmark

Benicetomonty wrote: »

If it wasn't for Rob Lee and the fact you have to pay for it (in that order), there'd be no problem at all with Sky! Ewan Murray is by far the most knowledgeable commentator going and Tim Barter is very underrated in his role as post-round interviewer. Jury is still out on Monty and Van De Velde as to their worth, but Di Doherty makes up or them! Money (just about!) well spent for a golf fan, imo.

You have to pay for it, I wonder does golf actually get less exposure in europe as a result. Thank BBC for the Open.

Sky has only a 1% share in audience, way too small. They pay crazy money for events then show loads of adds.

David Howell is way too good to be even near TV at his age, he should be out playing and getting back to where he was.

I'd say there will be more and more sky boxes going back with the economy. It is hard to justify the cost if you are cutting corners with your household budget.

PhilipMarlowe

Benicetomonty wrote: »

If it wasn't for Rob Lee and the fact you have to pay for it (in that order), there'd be no problem at all with Sky! Ewan Murray is by far the most knowledgeable commentator going and Tim Barter is very underrated in his role as post-round interviewer. Jury is still out on Monty and Van De Velde as to their worth, but Di Doherty makes up or them! Money (just about!) well spent for a golf fan, imo.

Di finished up on Sky this week I read...

Benicetomonty

Really? By choice? Maybe shes going to caddy for Nick! Too bad though, she wasnt the worst. I thought sarah stirk was quite good on setanta golf til it went belly up. Sky is expensive but ud only see golf twice a year if not for it. Not an option for me

nocal

Di finished up by choice - to take some time out apparently. And Sarah Stirk will be her replacement.

big_drive

I don't mind David Howell, find him ok to listen to. Being a current player he has a few interesting insights.

Poker Face

nocal wrote: »

Di finished up by choice - to take some time out apparently. And Sarah Stirk will be her replacement.

heard she didn't want to work weekends anymore so she is going caddying for Nick

cackhanded

Poker Face wrote: »

heard she didn't want to work weekends anymore so she is going caddying for Nick

He's tied 84th after the 1st round of the Tour School Final Qualifying - might not have been the best time for his missus to give up the day job!

FixdePitchmark

cackhanded wrote: »

He's tied 84th after the 1st round of the Tour School Final Qualifying - might not have been the best time for his missus to give up the day job!

Bit off topic, but what happened with that lad Nick Dougherty. In SEVE's book he straight out blames getting hitched as a cause of a drop in his form.

link_2007

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Bit off topic, but what happened with that lad Nick Dougherty. In SEVE's book he straight out blames getting hitched as a cause of a drop in his form.

If I had Di Dougherty waiting at home for me, I wouldn't be arsed about practicing either.

Speak Now

Love watching the golf on sky but the commentary wouldnt be a patch on the U.S covergae. Everytime i hear Ewan Murray commentating my heart sinks The guy is cliche after cliche...

Gophur

Sky's domination of Golf is not good for the game. Their coverage adds nothing to the game, as we know it, their fees go straight to the professionals.

I will not pay for Sky and I do resent the fact I cannot see three of the season's majors because of the monopoly of Sky. I resent the fact I cannot see the Ryder Cup because of Sky.

That said, the recent Walker Cup coverage by the BBC was a breath of fresh air. RTE's token coverage of Golf is nothing to be proud of. The seem to wheel our John McHenry and a few RTE heads who play golf as if this absolves them from their lack of coverage of the sport all the rest of the year.

Johnny_Fontane

Gophur wrote: »

I will not pay for Sky and I do resent the fact I cannot see three of the season's majors because of the monopoly of Sky. I resent the fact I cannot see the Ryder Cup because of Sky.

Why do you resent these facts? Who do you think funds the European tour? Who shows it week after week no matter what rubbish tournament is on.
Sky have committed to golf (unlike say setanta) and fair dues to them.

It costs an extra €23 per month. In my books, thats really not alot. 5 pints?

Benny Cake

Unfortunately golf needs sky and the megabucks they provide... I admit though the highlight of the golf season for me is The Open on BBC, 12 hours of golf each day with no commercial breaks... Heaven

Johnny_Fontane

I personally dont understand this.

I'm watching the golf, for the golf. I just want to see lots of golf. Sky show probably 20 times more golf than anyone else and people feel aggrieved?

I dont personally care about the breaks, the commentators and anything else. They always show all Tiger's shots and thats all that matters.

slave1

SkyGo is great as it means you can effectively watch golf anywhere once you have your laptop/ipad etc

thewobbler

Gophur wrote: »

I will not pay for Sky and I do resent the fact I cannot see three of the season's majors because of the monopoly of Sky. I resent the fact I cannot see the Ryder Cup because of Sky.

That said, the recent Walker Cup coverage by the BBC was a breath of fresh air. RTE's token coverage of Golf is nothing to be proud of. The seem to wheel our John McHenry and a few RTE heads who play golf as if this absolves them from their lack of coverage of the sport all the rest of the year.

It Sky weren't in existence you'd never get to see the US Open or US PGA anyway. RTE never did and never would cover these events.

Gophur

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

Why do you resent these facts? Who do you think funds the European tour? Who shows it week after week no matter what rubbish tournament is on.
Sky have committed to golf (unlike say setanta) and fair dues to them.

It costs an extra €23 per month. In my books, thats really not alot. 5 pints?

The European Tour is funded from many sources, Sky TV is only one of them. (They monopolise the Irish access, despite being a foreign TV company)

Sky Sports (TV) are a commercial organisation whose sole purpose is to make a profit by monopolising as many events as possible.

If you read my post, again, my "resentment" is about being unable to view non-European tour events.

(As for the cost? I'm a non-drinker, so the price of pints is irrelevant to me.)

FixdePitchmark

Gophur wrote: »

Sky's domination of Golf is not good for the game. Their coverage adds nothing to the game, as we know it, their fees go straight to the professionals.

I will not pay for Sky and I do resent the fact I cannot see three of the season's majors because of the monopoly of Sky. I resent the fact I cannot see the Ryder Cup because of Sky.

That said, the recent Walker Cup coverage by the BBC was a breath of fresh air. RTE's token coverage of Golf is nothing to be proud of. The seem to wheel our John McHenry and a few RTE heads who play golf as if this absolves them from their lack of coverage of the sport all the rest of the year.

RTE are doing well to support the Irish open , I'd suggest that they are doing this at a loss and as a public service, the audience for the Irish Open would be very small versus GAA, Rugby, Football.

Even though there are plenty of golfers in Ireland, how many watch golf ?

My view on SKY is that they are too powerful with very small viewership 1 %.

When I did not have SKY , I would just go the pub and have pints with the armchair golfers, great days. But with the general public, golf does not capture the Irish imagination. They will put up with the some majors or even end of majors. The Ryder Cup has more interest, but being on SKY , this has damaged the one area the public were warming to golf.

Tin_Cup

Have to say I do really like the coverage on Sky. Gives us hours of golf from tournaments we would never see if left to the national broadcasters. For the amount I watch it's well worth the fee.

the anser

If you like watching golf very week then Sky is for you. No point in arguing about whether their domination (of all golf coverage) is correct or not- there was a similar discussion last year around the Heineken Cup in rugby and it was the IRFU themselves who told the Govt. to back off, so you can bet the golfing masters think along the same lines. Personally I enjoy their coverage, although the US golf from ABC and NBC can be ruined by all the ads. and naff commentary

Gophur

the anser wrote: »

If you like watching golf very week then Sky is for you. No point in arguing about whether their domination (of all golf coverage) is correct or not- there was a similar discussion last year around the Heineken Cup in rugby and it was the IRFU themselves who told the Govt. to back off,........

The Rugby folk did tell the Govt to back off, because of the money they were getting from Sky and for no other reason. The lack of H-Cup rugby access to the general populace will only hinder the development of the game.

(The English RU sold their games to Sky some years back and rescinded the decision when it became clear there were thousands of kids turning to other games.)

It is sad that a foreign TV company can come into Ireland and buy up the rights to games.

In our Golf club, for example, we have no male members between 18 and 28 years old. Where would these, possible, players see the game to entice them taking it up? The lack of the sport on mainstream TV is a major cause of the poor participation of the game by so many young people.

Benny Cake

Gophur wrote: »

The Rugby folk did tell the Govt to back off, because of the money they were getting from Sky and for no other reason. The lack of H-Cup rugby access to the general populace will only hinder the development of the game.

(The English RU sold their games to Sky some years back and rescinded the decision when it became clear there were thousands of kids turning to other games.)

It is sad that a foreign TV company can come into Ireland and buy up the rights to games.

In our Golf club, for example, we have no male members between 18 and 28 years old. Where would these, possible, players see the game to entice them taking it up? The lack of the sport on mainstream TV is a major cause of the poor participation of the game by so many young people.

Out of interest, what's you're alternative to Sky covering the Euro & PGA tours? Who would show it instead & where would golf find the lost revenue?

dnjoyce

Gophur wrote: »

The Rugby folk did tell the Govt to back off, because of the money they were getting from Sky and for no other reason. The lack of H-Cup rugby access to the general populace will only hinder the development of the game.

(The English RU sold their games to Sky some years back and rescinded the decision when it became clear there were thousands of kids turning to other games.)

It is sad that a foreign TV company can come into Ireland and buy up the rights to games.

In our Golf club, for example, we have no male members between 18 and 28 years old. Where would these, possible, players see the game to entice them taking it up? The lack of the sport on mainstream TV is a major cause of the poor participation of the game by so many young people.

This is somehow Sky's fault? I don't see RTE showing much more golf on our screens if Sky disappeared overnight - they barely have money to cover their existing sporting programs. There has never been more golf on t.v and that' because of Sky. Everyone has differing opinions on the commentary team, adverts etc but I think if you are anything more than a casual golf watcher, then Sky represents good value for money.

Gophur

Benny Cake wrote: »

Out of interest, what's you're alternative to Sky covering the Euro & PGA tours? Who would show it instead & where would golf find the lost revenue?

Who would show it? It's hypothetical as it is sold to the SKY monopoly.

One can look at the US Golf coverage and how it is divided over a number of networks, without subscription being necessary. There is nothing preventing a similar arrangement being put in place for Europe.

Where would Golf find the lost revenue? Again, it's academic as it's a hypothetical question.

Look at F1 and how SKY have now hijacked what was a free-to-air sport. Yet again, millions of viewers alienated for the benefit of very few. (Sky have also sold on sponsorship rights to their transmissions thereby reducing their spend on the coverage)

What is really vexing is how, in Ireland, our access to a very popular game is limited by a foreign TV station.

To sum up, Golf, as a game, is suffering because of the limited accessibility of the game on terrestrial, or free-to-air, TV. The benefactors are a limited number of professional players and in our case, Sky TV.

Tin_Cup

Gophur how much time do you think Rte or tv3 would give to showing golf if sky didn't have it?

Not sure but in the US I think the Golf Channel has rights to show the thur/ fri rounds exclusively then partners with different channels for weekend play? Could be wrong on this one.

F1 is still being shown on Bbc aswell as sky. There is no ad breaks during the races etc on sky plus they will also show every session on track for the week something bbc or itv couldn't do. Full coverage like the golf

Gophur

Tin_Cup wrote: »

Gophur how much time do you think Rte or tv3 would give to showing golf if sky didn't have it?

..............

We'll never know. (There are also stations like ITV1,2,3 and 4 and BBC 1,2,3, and 4, and several other Free-to-air stations who could show the sport)

SKY is not good for Golf.

Benny Cake

Where would cash strapped broadcasters like RTE, BBC, ITV find the money to fund the broadcasts? You haven't thought this through at all and are just having a rant at Sky.. End-of.

dnjoyce

Gophur wrote: »

We'll never know. (There are also stations like ITV1,2,3 and 4 and BBC 1,2,3, and 4, and several other Free-to-air stations who could show the sport)

SKY is not good for Golf.

I'm no expert, but I think you're blurring the lines between free-to-air stations and free golf - even if Sky didn't exist, these free-to-air stations would still need to pay money to get the rights - PGA or European tour are not going to give away the rights for nothing, so if these free-to-air stations don't have the resources, then it means no sky, no golf.

FixdePitchmark

Gophur wrote: »

Who would show it? It's hypothetical as it is sold to the SKY monopoly.

One can look at the US Golf coverage and how it is divided over a number of networks, without subscription being necessary. There is nothing preventing a similar arrangement being put in place for Europe.

Where would Golf find the lost revenue? Again, it's academic as it's a hypothetical question.

Look at F1 and how SKY have now hijacked what was a free-to-air sport. Yet again, millions of viewers alienated for the benefit of very few. (Sky have also sold on sponsorship rights to their transmissions thereby reducing their spend on the coverage)

What is really vexing is how, in Ireland, our access to a very popular game is limited by a foreign TV station.

To sum up, Golf, as a game, is suffering because of the limited accessibility of the game on terrestrial, or free-to-air, TV. The benefactors are a limited number of professional players and in our case, Sky TV.

Gophur,

I'd agree with your ideas here.

But anything to the left will not go down well here.

Golf is not a sport of the left. Well, I do tend to go left with my 3 wood.

Less people watching golf can't be good in the end.

abouttobebanned

To say that Sky is no good for Golf is absolutely ridiculous.

People look upon BBC like they look on ex-girlfriends. You only think that it was better than what you have now. When you watch golf on BBC you think..oh Peter Aliss is a breath of fresh air...and yeah...he's okay for a while until he meanders off and starts talking nonsense about something or other. And then we have to watch that gimp on the course...and then it's time to look at gary lineker. And then some bushes for about 5 minutes. Oh and now it's red button time. And now we must switch over to BBC 2 and no we must watch the 4 hours of golf that was on this morning, completely disregarding the golf that's on LIVE. RIGHT NOW.

BBC is not all it's cracked up to be, and more importantly they show fcuk all golf. And even if they didn't have to outbid SKY for it, do you really think they'd show american tournaments? Or the Portuguese Open?

If you love watching Golf the you really need to be thankful for SKY.