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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SiouxPal who wrote (161266)	2/20/2009 3:14:27 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362827

Tiger Woods’s Return to PGA Tour Is ‘Thrill’ for TV Partners By Erik Matuszewski Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods’s return to golf may be a boon for NBC Sports, which will make its season debut covering the U.S. PGA Tour the same week. Woods, who has spent the past eight months rehabilitating from knee surgery, said yesterday that he will defend his title at the $8.5 million Accenture Match Play Championship, held Feb. 25 to March 1 in Tucson, Arizona. With Woods out, the PGA Tour’s television ratings have slumped. When Nick Watney won the Buick Invitational two weeks ago, final-round ratings on CBS dropped by 60 percent from 2008, when Woods won the event for a fourth straight time, according to Nielsen Media Research. “Tiger transcends sports by a large degree,” Neal Pilson, a former head of CBS Sports and now a New York-based broadcasting consultant, said in a telephone interview. “You’re going to see worldwide interest in Tiger’s progress and his success over the next several months.” Woods’s participation in a tournament usually results in a 30 to 40 percent ratings increase, Pilson said. That figure may rise next week as the world’s No. 1 golfer competes for the first time since his playoff victory at the U.S. Open in June. The Golf Channel will cover the Match Play Championship’s first three days, while General Electric Co.’s NBC will televise the quarterfinals, semifinals and final on Saturday and Sunday. ‘Thrilled’ “He certainly adds great luster to the event,” NBC spokesman Brian Walker said in a telephone interview. “Everybody from TV partners to the tour and to his peers are thrilled that he’s back.” The Golf Channel said it may include an on-screen icon during programming next week that counts down to Woods’s return. The first three PGA Tour events of the season were aired only on the Golf Channel, while CBS offered weekend coverage of the next four, including this week’s Northern Trust Open outside Los Angeles. NBC starts its six-tournament run at the Match Play Championship, though there’s no guarantee that Woods will be around for the weekend. He has to win three matches on the Golf Channel to reach the quarterfinals of the 64-man field. “We are very excited about showcasing Tiger’s return,” Golf Channel President Page Thompson said in an e-mail. “In addition to three days of tournament coverage, we will be offering unmatched news coverage and special programming to mark the occasion.” Three Titles Woods has a 31-6 record at the World Golf Championships event with three titles, though last year he had to rally from three holes down with five to play to avoid a first-round exit against J.B. Holmes. His 8 and 7 victory over Stewart Cink in the 36-hole final was the most lopsided championship match in the tournament’s nine-year history. Woods won four of his six starts last season before undergoing knee surgery and now ranks third all-time behind Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus with 65 PGA Tour wins. Of those, 15 have come in WGC events. After rehabbing his knee and celebrating the birth of his second child, Charlie Axel, on Feb. 8, Woods said yesterday that he’s “ready to play again.” He’s yet to commit to any other events. The past two years, Woods has taken part in the Match Play Championship, the WGC-CA Championship in Miami and Arnold Palmer’s invitational in Orlando ahead of the Masters Tournament, the first of the year’s four majors. Woods would head to Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia with 14 major titles, four shy of Nicklaus’s record of 18. NBC may get several more tournaments with Woods before handing coverage back to CBS for the Masters, which is scheduled for April 9-12. The tour’s latest broadcast deals with CBS and NBC, negotiated in 2006, run through 2012. “There’s a lot of anticipation,” Pilson said. Not only “in terms of how well will he play, but what kind of ratings is he going to generate when he’s back?” To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net Last Updated: February 20, 2009 00:04 EST