The NBC Sports Group will present presidential treatment of The Presidents Cup 2011 in November.
Continuing the team approach they've exhibited since Comcast gained a controlling interest in NBCUniversal from General Electric in January, Golf Channel and NBC will tally a combined 50.5 hours of Presidents Cup action from the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia from Nov. 16-20.
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. Coverage of the Presidents Cup, pitting the U.S., captained by Fred Couples, versus a team of the best non-European golfers, helmed by Greg Norman, begins at 9 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday Nov. 16 (see complete schedule below). This will mark the first time that all four rounds of a Presidents Cup competition played outside of North America will be presented live. (Check out a promo here.)
In what also may be construed as a window into how NBC Sports Group may cover the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics from London, the two networks will also provide re-packaged coverage of the Presidents Cup, with Golf Channel encoring the action from the Thursday and Friday rounds and NBC doing the same on Saturday and Sunday.
Golf Channel will also televise 23 live hours of news coverage surrounding live play in the form of Live From The Presidents Cup, originating both from Melbourne and the network's Orlando studios.
"The Presidents Cup is one of golf's preeminent events and I'm pleased that we're able to service the golf fan by utilizing multiple assets in our portfolio -- Golf Channel for live coverage and NBC for comprehensive coverage on the weekend," said NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus.
Since their union under Comcast in late January, 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."
When CBS and NBC extended their broadcast deals with the PGA Tour earlier this month, Golf, which already held four-day rights to 15 tourneys, plus the Thursday-Friday rounds before 33 events, was able to gain a better foothold on the weekend rounds. Golf will supplement the Peacock's broadcast presentation by focusing on certain pairings or training its cameras on all of the players battling signature holes, say the 17th at the Players, or the "Bear Trap" closing trio at the National Champions Course.
The new deal also affirmed Golf's rights to continue showing some weekend coverage before the tour's broadcasters come on the air. In addition to providing coverage preceding NBC's tournament telecasts, Golf has been showing on-course action before 10-12 of CBS's tourneys over the last several years. Scheduling -- Golf has commitments to the European, Nationwide, LPGA and Champions Tours -- will determine whether the network increases its early weekend PGA ante.
Coupled with its own rights and NBC's tournament streams being redirected to the cable network's site, GolfChannel.com expects to simulcast 1,000 PGA hours when the new contract takes hold in 2013.
Golf and NBC are also playing together on the "Lucky Break Sweepstakes." With the Emerald Isle serving as the location for the 16th season of Golf's Big Break reality series, and NBC's college football teammate Notre Dame scheduled to play Navy abroad next season, the two divisions of the NBC Sports Group are promoting the "Lucky Break Sweepstakes" that will award a VIP football experience surrounding the aforementioned contest and golf outings at some of Ireland's most famous courses in 2012. Viewers improve their chances to win by watching the reality show and the Peacock's coverage of ND football.
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
Tuesday, Nov. 15
1-3 pm News Conferences
6-8 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 16
1-3 pm (News Conferences)
6-9 pm
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
