Terrestrial viewers to miss out on first two days

GOLF:GOLF'S FIRST Major championship of the year, the US Masters, has a reputation for harbouring tradition unlike any other. Yet, next week's tournament from Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia will represent a seismic shift in how television audiences on this side of the Atlantic watch the event as satellite stations Sky Sports and Setanta have usurped terrestrial channels in obtaining coverage for all four days.

Those TV golf fans reaching for the remote control to watch the Masters on the BBC – its traditional home since 1986 – will be disappointed not to find live coverage of the tournament for the first two days, Thursday and Friday.

Here in Ireland, RTÉ gave up its rights to the tournament in 2007, at which point Setanta Ireland assumed the privileges, but next week’s tournament – when Phil Mickelson defends his title – will mark a real shifting of the guard in the UK where Sky will have exclusive rights to all four rounds.

The BBC, who had held exclusive rights for the past 24 years, lost out to the satellite giant after the corporation’s most recent three-year deal finished last April.

The BBC will still be screening the final two rounds over the weekend. However, it means terrestrial viewers – in Ireland and the UK – won’t, for the first time, be able to watch all four rounds of the tournament which is seen as the traditional start to the golfing year for many golf fans.

At least Irish television viewers attached to the UPC network will be able to watch the Masters on Setanta Ireland, where the channel is included free as part of a customer’s basic pack.

Meanwhile, viewers with satellite dishes need to be subscribers to Sky Sports or Setanta Sports packages to see the tournament in its entirety – with Setanta (currently available in 1.1 million cable and satellite homes) introducing a special deal of €8.95 a month for those with satellite dishes wishing to subscribe.

So, armchair viewers who have become accustomed to switching on to the Beeb will find no live golf on the channel for the first two days.

“The BBC does not have the rights to show live coverage of the first two rounds,” confirmed a spokesperson, “but the climax of this event remains on the BBC and available to the widest possible audience. The BBC will also be showing highlights from the first two days.”

In outlining the decision to give exclusive UK rights to Sky Sports, Billy Payne, the chairman of Augusta National, last September commented on the ability of Sky and the BBC to “reach both new and established audiences” while adding that the new agreement preserved a “long-term partnership and adding a new dimension”.

That new dimension included Sky Sports’ ability to deliver in 3D. In 2010, the Masters became the first major sporting event in the US to be produced and delivered in a 3D medium.

In the changing world of television coverage, Sky’s coverage of the Masters includes additional features such as access to four extra red buttons: two for featured groups, another for Amen Corner (the holes from the 11th to the 13th) and one to take in holes 15 and 16.

In addition to the actual tournament, both Sky and Setanta are covering the pre-tournament Par 3 competition on Wednesday: that’s the one event no golfer wants to win, as there is a perceived jinx on the winner. Nobody has ever won the Par 3 and gone on to win the Masters.

And the BBC’s loss of all four days has had its casualties. One upshot of the station’s failure to retain live coverage in its entirety is that former European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance has been dropped from the station’s team of commentators and analysts for financial reasons.