Tournament Coverage

PGA Championship Interactive Coverage

By Sean ⋅ August 6, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

If you remember back to the Masters and US Open, I posted about the interactive coverage DirecTV had put together for those events. Not to completely come across as a salesman, the coverage is pretty neat. There is a special PGA Championship channel that displays several feeds from the course. You can quickly switch from one area of action to another. You also have access to a live leader board on your TV as well. Unfortunately I moved recently, and I do not yet have a dish capable of receiving the HD channels, so I’ll be back to the old standard definition coverage of the PGA Championship. For those of you lucky enough to have a big old HDTV and HD access, enjoy!

Here is the complete press release, with a bunch of detailed information:

DIRECTV, atop the leaderboard in HD and interactive sports coverage among pay TV providers, continues its run of offering golf fans unique, in-depth tournament viewing with its PGA Championship Interactive service, debuting Aug. 7. Supplementing broadcast feeds from TNT and CBS, as well as the online offerings of PGA.com, DIRECTV will provide enhanced and expanded coverage of the 90th PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, during all four days of the tournament.

The service, free to DIRECTV customers, will deliver four channels – all in HD – of Tournament coverage, including three unique channels that will focus on a featured group each day, featured holes and a new offering called “Players In Depth.” These channels will be available, along with live network coverage, throughout each network’s broadcast hours, Thursday and Friday from TNT (1-7 p.m. ET) and on Saturday and Sunday from TNT (11 a.m. - 2 p.m. ET ) and CBS (2-7 p.m. ET). Complimentary online coverage will also be available all four days from PGA.com. The PGA Championship Interactive Mix Channel will display all four channels on a single screen, allowing viewers to select and tune to each as a full-screen channel, each of them available in HD. Each individual channel will also provide access to scores and stats at the push of a button.

“DIRECTV Interactive is to viewers what a great caddie is to the touring pro. We’re their eyes and ears and we make sure they have all the information and the tools they need to get the most out of the game,” said Eric Shanks, executive vice president, DIRECTV Entertainment. “Major championships like the PGA and US OPEN golf and US OPEN tennis provide an incredible stage to showcase our HD and interactive technology and the new, exciting dimension they bring to the televised sports viewing experience. This is what content leadership is all about and what our customers have come to expect as we continue to explore innovative ways to engage the viewer.”

The PGA Championship Mix Channel (Channel 701) will feature a leaderboard on the left side of the screen and display the following four views:

• Live CBS/TNT network coverage of the tournament itself.
• Featured Group will follow a single group’s progress around the course, with announcers providing insight on the live play.
• Featured Holes will focus solely on two of the challenging par 3 holes on the Oakland Hills South Course. Viewers receive complete live coverage as players try different clubs, swings and strategies to meet the challenge.
• Players In Depth, a new featured channel, is a fully produced show with interviews, highlights, press conferences, graphics and up-to-the-minute stats. For example, a camera crew and host will visit the driving range or the 18th green and conduct interviews, while another host will provide voice-over highlights and lead-ins to additional content.

On each full-screen HD channel, a menu of features will be displayed on-screen for immediate access via remote. Features include:

• Top 5 Leaders: Displays the top 5 current scores against par.
• Leaderboard: Provides information on all golfers in the field.
• Scorecard: Hole-by-hole stats for each player in the field. The current round and any previous rounds are included. At the top of the page, the player’s current year’s stats are displayed.
• PGA Championship Trivia: A new 10-question quiz on the history of the PGA Championship appears each day.
• Past Champions: A list of the winners and runners-up from previous PGA Championships.

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