PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – From humble beginnings in 2013 as a television show that debuted on a number of cooperating websites, the award-winning Traveling Golfer television show has followed an amazing path of step-by-step expansion.
The first big step was the 2015 affiliation with NBC Sports in four major markets along the East Coast – Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington, North Jersey and Pittsburgh. That carried the show to a new level of recognition in the golf industry.
In April of 2019, another major step was taken as affiliation was reached with the new Fun Roads TV Network – a 24/7 platform of programming that highlighted road trips for a wide variety of activities. The first market to open was San Francisco, then the aggressive effort of expansion quickly spread to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Wichita and Detroit over the following 14 months.
Now, Fun Roads has announced its largest expansion yet, in the fourth quarter of 2020 – bringing the Traveling Golfer television show across the country and around the world. The first step in the new expansion was announced this week with Chicago 22 LLC, which makes Fun Roads, and the Traveling Golfer, available to more than 3.2 million households and 9.5 million people via WRJK-TV in the Chicago metropolitan area.
This major step is expected to be followed in the next few months with continued expansion to cable and digital markets such as Houston, Philadelphia, Washington State, North Dakota, Raleigh, Orlando, San Jose and Boise. Additionally, national and international expansion is planned via connected TV on Roku, Amazon Fire, SelectTV and GlewedTV.
“Fun Roads celebrates the spirit of the open road by tapping into those serene escapes — in an RV, a boat, riding a motorcycle, driving a classic car, or in the family SUV as you head to a beach, or a national park or to a round of golf.” said Ashley Gracile President of Fun Roads. “Turns out that these moments become the foundation for a lifetime of memories.”
In 2020, more and more, people are discovering that those family memories can be made on the golf course.
“On some levels, the golf industry has been contracting during recent years,” observed Tony Leodora, host of the Traveling Golfer television show. “It seems as if we, at the Traveling Golfer, have been swimming upstream with our continued expansion. That is a credit to our cooperating networks, websites and the fantastic team that puts together our shows. Obviously, there is a demand for programming that highlights road trips – for golf or any other activity – and we are very happy to benefit from it.”
Now in its seventh year, in addition to Fun Roads and NBC Sports, the Traveling Golfer television show also airs a number of times each month on “Rivertalk” on HTC-4 in Myrtle Beach. In addition, the show airs on the Traveling Golfer network of websites … including The Golf Director Network and The Myrtle Beach Golf Channel (see full list of sites on travelinggolfervideo.com).
As part of every Traveling Golfer show there is the additional feature, “Tech Talk”, hosted by Tour Edge Golf experts, such as President Dave Glod. With years of experience as a club maker, Glod presents an inside look at the research and development of high-quality golf equipment.
Responding to golfers’ never-ending demands to learn more about interesting golf courses and golf resorts across the country and around the world, well-traveled host Tony Leodora created the Traveling Golfer so he could take viewers on video trips to some of the most exciting golf locations. For the fourth time in five years, the show was honored as the No. 1 Golf Television Show in America in the prestigious International Network of Golf awards, presented at the PGA Merchandise Show in January of 2020.
The Traveling Golfer is a series of monthly shows hosted by Leodora, who has 19 years of experience in televised golf. The featured destination stays on the website for one month, before being replaced by a new show. Alternate shows also air in a two-month rotation. All old shows are archived for continued viewing on the YouTube Network and on the home website, www.travelinggolfervideo.com.
For more information about the Traveling Golfer, or to find out how a property can be featured on the show, call TL Golf Services at (610) 721-8186.
