Is the Open going to Sky Sports?

Slicemeister

Hope Monty has a few exemptions into the Open left. I actually like Coltart and Riley. Livingston is a pain in the hole. But those ads jesus h christ!

vienne86

Slicemeister wrote: »

Hope Monty has a few exemptions into the Open left. I actually like Coltart and Riley. Livingston is a pain in the hole. But those ads jesus h christ!

Colthart is very good. And Monty......yes, I hope he's playing.

I liked the BBC coverage though and am surprised the R and A weren't happy with it. That said, Ken Brown's folksy descriptions of the holes irritated me.

Speak Now

Jaysus I forgot about Westwoods brother in law it just keeps getting worse.

vienne86

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Jaysus I forgot about Westwoods brother in law it just keeps getting worse.

I think he's good on Sky.

vienne86

Irish Times take on this:

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/sale-of-british-open-rights-to-sky-hard-to-justify-as-player-numbers-decline-1.2087276

alxmorgan

vienne86 wrote: »

Irish Times take on this:

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/sale-of-british-open-rights-to-sky-hard-to-justify-as-player-numbers-decline-1.2087276

Would agree with that.
I'd imagine a large number of golfers in the UK especially took up the game after spending years watching the Open with their Dad. Short sighted

Mantis Toboggan

Is this gone to sky sports?

I like the coverage on Sky but the non interumpted coverage on BBC is great, can't be dealing with those ads on Sky.

slave1

All this gripe about ads, SS depend on local feeds for coverage, ye should experience the amount of ads in the states, way more than sky, at least they take a lot less than the US when they go back to the commentary team for a minute or so.
I'm sitting on the fence on this one and going to at least give them a chance of their first year's coverage.

Rikand

Ah ffs! The one week of the year where we normally dont have to listen to that insufferable clueless gob****e ewen murray and now that's gone as well.

Benicetomonty

Rikand wrote: »

Ah ffs! The one week of the year where we normally dont have to listen to that insufferable clueless gob****e ewen murray and now that's gone as well.

Ewen Murray knows more about the game than any other commentator I've ever heard. I would say he sometimes has too much good to say about everyone but he is a class commentator imho.

Having said that, I'm very disappointed to see the BBC lose the coverage. No ads and extensive hours was a real treat, and I really enjoyed the work of Dan Walker and a few of the newer additions to the commentary team. Peter Aliss will be no loss; he is long past his sell by date. He still comes out with the odd funny comment but that doesn't make up for otherwise intolerable ramblings. Last couple of years have been almost embarrassing at times; it's no longer a rebellion against the politically correct, it's just plain ignorance.

I think Sky will do a decent job but they have to get rid of Monty, he's just a disaster.

Panrich

I remember (going back to the 80s here) when BBC would have golf on nearly every weekend on Grandstand on both Saturday and Sunday. Alliss was in his prime and later, we had Dave Marr who I thought was great. Great memories for me.

vienne86

Panrich wrote: »

I remember (going back to the 80s here) when BBC would have golf on nearly every weekend on Grandstand on both Saturday and Sunday. Alliss was in his prime and later, we had Dave Marr who I thought was great. Great memories for me.

Yep, and that got me interested in following golf - I couldn't get on with playing because of an injury. Irish Times article is pretty spot on IMO.

diomed

When I was working I took annual leave for the Thursday and Friday of the Open. Now retired it is one of the things I watch all day for the four days.
The R & A have not acted for golf.

denishurley

In an election year, I suppose the British government could hardly be prevailed upon to make it a Category A event?

Wichita Lineman

Money. The root of all evil.

valoren

I hope at the very least it will be the same deal as the Masters Coverage.
i.e. that the weekend coverage is still getting shown on the BBC?

At least we would still have the option of watching the business end of the Open on the BBC that way.

Or am I completely wrong and Sky now have exclusive access with the BBC only showing an hours "highlights" package for Saturday/Sunday rounds?

Trampas

Official they have it.

Let the meltdown commence

Mantis Toboggan

Trampas wrote: »

Official they have it.

Let the meltdown commence

From 2017. Sell out.

sydneybound

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of The R&A, added: “We believe this is the best result for The Open and for golf. The way people consume live sport is changing significantly and this new agreement ensures fans have a range of options for enjoying the Championship on television and through digital channels.

“Sky Sports has an excellent track record in covering golf across its platforms and has become the home of live golf coverage over recent years. We are very much looking forward to working with them to develop and enhance the coverage of The Open.”

---

Disgraceful stuff.... with numbers on the decline then the R&A sell out for a few million more. Surely for the good of the game it needed this one tournament to say on the BBC to the wider audience.

All the blame here should be with the R&A and not Sky.

MisterAnarchy

valoren wrote: »

I hope at the very least it will be the same deal as the Masters Coverage.
i.e. that the weekend coverage is still getting shown on the BBC?

Or am I completely wrong and Sky now have exclusive access with the BBC only showing an hours "highlights" package for Saturday/Sunday rounds?

The BBC will have no rights at all.
The R&A wanted a similar arrangement to the Masters with the BBC getting weekend coverage but Sky wanted exclusive rights and the BBC didnt even bid it seems as they had earmarked some of the money for Match of the Day rights.

Ewen Murray knows more about the game than any other commentator I've ever heard.

I have always found his knowledge of the mechanics of the swing to be poor ,he spoofs alot

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of The R&A, added: “We believe this is the best result for The Open and for golf. The way people consume live sport is changing significantly and this new agreement ensures fans have a range of options for enjoying the Championship on television and through digital channels.

Its an idiotic statement and an idiotic decision to sell out for buttons .
I'm sure alot of the sponsors wont be happy about this .

This will be Dawsons legacy ,he is retiring in September after 16 years in the job .
I cant but feel his retirement fund may have been feathered by this decision.

Harry Palmr

A ****ing disgrace.

quagmire47

It's unfortunate that we'll lose the free High Definition coverage provided by the BBC.

vienne86

sydneybound wrote: »

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of The R&A, added: “We believe this is the best result for The Open and for golf. The way people consume live sport is changing significantly and this new agreement ensures fans have a range of options for enjoying the Championship on television and through digital channels.

“Sky Sports has an excellent track record in covering golf across its platforms and has become the home of live golf coverage over recent years. We are very much looking forward to working with them to develop and enhance the coverage of The Open.”

This is outragious. Feel like boycotting the coverage......which of course, I won't.

Harry Palmr

When England won the Ashes in such dramatic fashion in 2005 the ECB cashed in - consequently that wave of public interest broke quickly as SKY shut out a huge number of "casuals". Sure the ECB were paid an absolute fortune but I bet they quietly regretted spurning that moments potential.

Likewise with the Ryder Cup and the Open now gone from FTA telly beyond highlights the game will just become barely heard background noise for most people.

coylemj

Just posted on BBC Sport ....

The BBC, which has previously broadcast the tournament live, will now show a two-hour daily highlights package between 20:00 and 22:00.

The BBC will show this year's Open at St Andrews and the 2016 tournament at Royal Troon live on television.

From 2017, the BBC will continue to provide live radio coverage of the tournament on BBC Radio 5 live, and to cover the tournament online

Followed by crocodile tears and meaningless platitudes from their director of sport.....

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/golf/31114083

MisterAnarchy

Well there wont be many ads on Sky which is some small consolation

Under the new agreement, the number of commercial breaks during the television coverage of The Open will be kept to a maximum of four minutes per hour, with each break running for just 60 seconds.

sydneybound

vienne86 wrote: »

This is outragious. Feel like boycotting the coverage......which of course, I won't.

Exactly I feel the same but have Sky Sports so will obviously watch as I have done all my life. It's just the causal fan in I'm worried about.

Sports like golf, cricket and rugby need need to be on free to air TV otherwise they'll suffer in participation rates.

The interesting thing is the BBC didn't even try to bid for the rights..... they have lumped all their money on Match of the Day TV rights.

BigChap1759

coylemj wrote: »

Just posted on BBC Sport ....

The BBC, which has previously broadcast the tournament live, will now show a two-hour daily highlights package between 20:00 and 22:00.

The BBC will show this year's Open at St Andrews and the 2016 tournament at Royal Troon live on television.

From 2017, the BBC will continue to provide live radio coverage of the tournament on BBC Radio 5 live, and to cover the tournament online

Followed by crocodile tears and meaningless platitudes from their director of sport.....

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/golf/31114083

This is it in a nutshell - the BBC made a derisory offer as they wanted to prioritise Match of The Day and the powers that be in the Beeb do not value sporting events any more.

I honestly don't think they were bothered to lose it.

I will miss the continuous BBC coverage though from first thing through to late - quite a unique viewing experience that is not likely to be seen again

What are the R&A supposed to do??

charlieIRL

sydneybound wrote: »

..... they have lumped all their money on Match of the Day TV rights.

where did you read that?

sydneybound

charlieIRL wrote: »

where did you read that?

They spent £204 on match of the day rights for three years.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/03/sky-sports-buys-open-championship-golf-bbc

Watch the Six Nations will be next to go....