U.S. Open return to NBC a welcome sight for fans
Golf fans returned to their comfort zone Thursday at the U.S. Open.
After five years of the Fox golf-experiment-gone-bad, when TV viewers were exposed to unfamiliar voices whose credibility and experience were in question, NBC is back producing the national championship, along with its Golf Channel cable partner.
“I speak on behalf of all of us at Golf Channel and NBC (to say) how thrilled we are to be back broadcasting these championships,” Dan Hicks, NBC’S lead golf broadcaster, said earlier this week. “In the words of our esteemed leader, (producer) Tommy Roy, it’s incredible to broadcast events that really mean something.”
Fox, whose original U.S. Open contract went through 2026, got better as the years went on. The network was handicapped, though, because it produced no meaningful telecasts outside of U.S. Golf Association properties.
NBC, which had the USGA rights from 1995 to 2014, got involved in the spring when the U.S. Open dates were moved from mid-june to this week because of COVID-19 concerns.
Fox did not want to risk diluting its NFL telecast schedule, and the USGA didn’t want to see its prized championship relegated to cable.
In the course of negotiations, NBC expressed interest in taking the entire package off Fox’s hands. It seems to be a win for both networks. NBC, which also owns British Open rights, now has two major championships, matching the CBS total. Fox, which never seemed comfortable at golf, could focus on its other properties and give Joe Buck’s voice a rest.
“They were very open about it,” NBC president of programing Jon Miller told Golf Week. “Golf was not the right fit for them. None of the people who are there now at Fox were involved in the deal when it was done in August of 2013. Interestingly, there are still a lot of people at NBC who were involved with the USGA because we had it for 20 years.”
So as the first round played out at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, voices such as Paul Azinger, David Feherty, Gary Koch,
Roger Maltbie and Mike Tirico were heard once again.
Most can be heard on PGA
Tour events, a vital aspect to a network gaining the experience needed to televise a major.
The only one missing is Johnny Miller, who retired after 2018.
For Hicks, who has called golf for NBC since 2000, the ability to be at this year’s U.S. Open carries extra meaning. He has been a member of Winged Foot for the past 11 years.
“To know intimately the staff, the members, the people that make this place go, 36 holes of nirvana every time you come here, is incredibly special,” Hicks said. “To be able to try to now portray the spirit of the membership here, being a member here is a dream come true.”
Part of the NBC package is the ability to show two hours of coverage per day on Peacock, its streaming service. That why Golf Channel coverage Friday won’t begin until 9:30 a.m.
Still, there’s 15 hours of live play on Golf Channel and another 201/2 on NBC. The biggest difference, besides the absences of Miller and that unsightly “FOX USGA” logo, is that there are no fans, if you don’t count the dozen or so watching from outside the fence by the fourth green.
“What we have been seeing throughout the summer of golf coming back in the middle of June,” Hicks said, “we’re picking up more audio than we used to, even with our furry mics right there to pick up whoever we happen to pick up, caddie, player conversation. It’s the job of the announcers to lay out so we can hear that kind of thing.”