Golf Channel, despite the 16-hour time differential from Down Under to the East Coast in the U.S., will tee off 27.5 hours of live coverage -- much of it in primetime -- of all four rounds of the biennial event.
Beginning tonight at 9 p.m. (ET), Golf Channel's coverage marks the first time that all four rounds of a Presidents Cup competition -- the U.S. squares off the world's best non-European golfers in team play-- played outside of North America will be presented live.
Golf Channel will also encore the action from the Thursday and Friday rounds, while NBC will do the same on Saturday and Sunday. All told, the networks, united under the NBC Sports Group since Comcast finalized its controlling interest transaction with NBCUniversal in January, will combine on 50.5 hours of coverage from the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne.
Since their pairing, Golf Channel and NBC have collaborated on coverage, promotion and the securing of rights. Following the merger, NBC has rebranded its PGA Tour telecasts as "Golf Channel on NBC."
Golf enters the biennial Presidents Cup event with Nielsen momentum on its side, following its acquisition of rights for a number of events this fall, including last weekend's Emirates Australian Open. That tourney, which featured Tiger Woods in contention as he warmed up for the international competition, averaged a 0.6 rating and 667,000 viewers over four rounds, according to Nielsen data. That was up 273% and 74%, respectively, over the 2010 and 2009 JB Were Masters that had aired in the corresponding Australian Open timeslot. The world's former No. 1 also played in those events.
The Australian Open ranks as the second-most-watched non-PGA TOUR event in 2011 after Omega Dubai Desert Classic , which averaged a 0.7 rating and 742,000 watchers.
The Presidents Cup coverage will also mark the final integration of GolfChannel.com. The leading destination for golf content on the Internet, now will serve as the complete golf news and editorial site for NBCSports.com, as well as MSNBC.com. Effective today, the recently redesigned GolfChannel.com replaces the golf section on NBCSports.com on the web, as well as across NBC Sports' mobile and tablet platforms.
NBC Sports Group's The President's Cup 2011 Programming Schedule:
Live
Wednesday, Nov 16
Foursome Golf Channel 9 pm - 2 am
Thursday, Nov. 17
Four Ball Golf Channel 7:30 pm - 2 am
Friday, Nov. 18
Foursome Golf Channel 4 pm - 2 am
Saturday, Nov. 19
Singles Golf Channel 6:30 pm - 12:30 am
Encore
Thursday, Nov. 17
Foursome Golf Channel 9 am - 1:30 pm
Friday, Nov. 18
Four Ball Golf Channel 9 am - 1:30 pm
Saturday, Nov. 19
Foursome NBC 8 am - 4 pm
Sunday, Nov. 20
Singles NBC Noon - 6 pm
Golf Channel's Live From The Presidents Cup
Thursday, Nov. 17
2-4 am
6-7:30 pm
Friday, Nov. 18
2-4 am
Saturday, Nov. 19
2-4 am
4-6:30pm
Sunday, Nov. 20
12:30-2:30 am
6-8 pm
