History and Programming
The network was launched on January 17, 1995. The idea of a 24-hour-a-day golf network came from media entrepreneur Joseph E. Gibbs of Birmingham, Alabama, who first thought of such a concept in 1991. Gibbs felt there was enough interest in golf among the public to support such a network, and commissioned a Gallup Poll to see if his instincts were correct. With the support of the polling behind him, Gibbs and legendary golfer Arnold Palmer then secured $80 million in financing to launch the network, which was among the first cable networks developed to cover one singular sport. The first live tournament the channel televised was the Dubai Desert Classic, held from January 19-22, 1995.
Golf Channel features a range of golf programming, including PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour now called the Web.com tour events. The channel devotes considerable time to news coverage of golf, including a nightly program, Golf Central. There are highlight shows of past tournaments, and a reality television competition show, The Big Break, whose premise is to help aspiring professionals gain exemptions into PGA Tour and LPGA events. In 2005, Golf Channel helped set up a special match play event called Big Stakes Golf, in which teams of two paid a $100,000 entry fee to play in a special tournament where the winning team split a $3,000,000 first-place prize, the largest in golf history. In the end, mini-tour professionals Garth Mulroy and David Ping won the grand prize.
In 2007, Golf Channel embarked on its 15-year agreement as the exclusive cable television home for the PGA Tour. The network’s annual coverage will feature early-round coverage of the entire FedEx Cup season, including the World Golf Championships, The Tour Championship and The Players Championship, the PGA Tour’s crown jewel. In total, early-round coverage of 30 events will air on Golf Channel. Also included in the package will be 13 full, four-round events beginning with the season’s first three tournaments – SBS Championship, Sony Open in Hawaii, and the Bob Hope Classic – and the five official money events following The Tour Championship. The network also will provide full coverage of three tournaments played opposite golf’s majors and World Golf Championships. Every PGA Tour event will be aired live and then rebroadcast in prime time, a first for the PGA Tour.
In January 2011, Comcast, owners of Golf Channel, acquired GE's majority stake in NBC Universal. As part of the acquisition, Comcast's sports networks began to be restructured and merged with the existing NBC Sports division. As a part of these changes, NBC's golf telecasts would take on Golf Channel's production and branding as Golf Channel on NBC beginning in February 2011, NBC Sports personalities would now appear more frequently on Golf Channel, and former NBC Sports senior vice president Mike McCarley took over as the network's new head.
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