2012 PGA Tour season kicks off with most-watched round one on Golf Channel and best since 2005; round one also up 27% over 2011; final round of Hyundai Tournament of Champions begins today at 4 p.m. ET
ORLANDO, Fla. (Jan. 9, 2012) – Coming off the most-watched year in its 17-year history, Golf Channel kicked off the 2012 PGA TOUR season by recording the highest-rated and most-watched opening round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions since the network began covering the event in 2007, according to preliminary data released by Nielsen Research.
Golf Channel’s first-round coverage on Friday from Hawaii garnered a 0.7 household rating/705,000 average viewers, which was up 27 percent over last year’s previous best and more than 50 percent better than any previous opening round of this event on Golf Channel. Golf Channel began exclusive coverage of the PGA TOUR’s season-opening event in 2007.
Golf Channel has televised more than four hours of live coverage each day of the first three rounds – much of it in primetime – which has featured great golf from the picturesque Plantation Course in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. Additionally, Johnny Miller and Sir Nick Faldo, two of the preeminent names in golf television today, have been sharing the 18th tower for the first time ever as co-analysts.
Coverage of the final round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions – the first scheduled Monday finish for this tournament – begins today at 3 p.m. ET, with an hour-long version of Golf Central Pre Game, followed by live tournament coverage from 4-8 p.m. ET.
Coming Up on Tour: Golf Channel has exclusive coverage of the first three tournaments of the 2012 PGA TOUR season. Live coverage of the Sony Open in Hawaii begins Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, with all four rounds airing in primetime. The Humana Challenge, in partnership with the Clinton Foundation, begins Thursday, Jan. 19.
Contact:
Dan Higgins
Golf Channel
t: 407-355-4018
e: dhiggins@golfchannel.com
Jeremy Friedman
Golf Channel
t: 407-355-4058
e: jfriedman@golfchannel.com
