The Masters goes to ESPN

I can't stand the brass at Augusta National, but I'll give them credit for one thing.

THEY tell the broadcasters how THEY want their telecasts. If they don't like it, they can go fuck swivel.

It would be nice if baseball, etc., would tell their broadcast partners they'd like 7 p.m. start times or else. It always amazes me how most major sports bend over and take it up the ass from broadcasters.

 

Who pays rights fees?

 

I read an SI article on this about 15 years ago, so my memory is iffy at best.

The Master's, I think, asks for next to nothing to televise the event. They do have two conditions though:

1. 57 minutes of golf per hour
2. THEY choose who advertises

So you will not see a commercial for the Borat movie or Miller Lite. It was always Am Ex, Cadillac and The Travelers. I think they dropped Cadillac (probably getting a little too ethnic, ha) and added Lincoln.

I thought there used to be a rule that said the first nine holes were never filmed. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

 

It was technology that kept the 1st 9 from being shown.

 

And no Hootie Fairweather Johnson either.

 

I've heard that before, Mark. Can you explain this?

 

I believe CBS and Cadillac got Augusta to bump the commercials from 3 minutes to 4 minutes every hour.  Therefore, Caddy gets 2-two minute commercials.  

That's enough time for me to sprint to the john and be back on the couch when the cameras return to the course.

 

Basically, the cameras couldn't be powered if the cable runs were too long. Obviously, they would have to do holes 14-18, so the truck would sit as close to the 18th as possible.
Also, another limitation was the trucks itself. Whereas now, you can do 50-70 with no problem, it was stretching the limit to put 6 in the older ones.

 

Bobby Jones and Frank Chirkinian plotted where the camera positions for the front nine would be in the early 60s, on the theory that someday, The Masters would be covered start to finish.
CBS then pre-wired the entire course after the first color telecast from Augusta in 1966 (which Augusta National also insisted upon, forcing CBS to buy color trucks).
CBS for years rolled tape on the front nine for rehearsal, highlights, or in case of a storm so there would be something on tape. But Augusta National wanted limited hours of coverage to protect the TV ratings (and the advertisers it told CBS to use), and got what it wanted. Until the 18-hole ban was lifted a few years ago, the earliest live coverage began on a day without a weather delay was the fifth hole. Hey, it wasn't until the mid-1970s that the coverage came on early enough to show Amen Corner, by CBS making sure the NBA game scheduled before the final round started early, then switching to Augusta for "bonus coverage" before the scheduled telecast began.

 

I believe the advertisers this year are

Lincoln

IBM

and one other I can't think of.

57 minutes of golf every hour.

Also......I think CBS uses different on course microphones for this event as well.......Sound is much, much more crisper than at any other event.

 

That makes sense. Thanks for the insight. Having a TV guy around here is nice at times.

 

I plan on splurging on an HD set after I get next year's tax refund. I can't wait to see Augusta in HD.