Even without Tiger Woods, golf is good for TV networks

Television viewership will fall without Tiger Woods, but the networks that air the sport and the PGA Tour itself can handle the setback. That's the word from several media analysts and the president of CBS Sports, which now is facing the possibility of covering the Masters Tournament just weeks from now with golf's biggest star conspicuously absent. The first of four major tournaments on the PGA Tour, the Masters, which has long aired on CBS for the concluding rounds, ends April 11 this year. The U.S. Open follows in June on NBC. The British Open will be seen on ABC in July, and the PGA on CBS in August. Broadcast network coverage will be supplemented by coverage on cable networks. Tournaments in which Woods isn't playing generally suffer a drop in viewership and a loss of advertising revenue, notes Larry Novenstern, executive vice-president of Optimedia. For the 15 or so tournaments where Woods might have been expected to play this year, Novenstern estimated the resulting advertising loss to networks would total between $10 million and $20 million. But in comparison to other economic hardships challenging broadcasters right now, he says, "This is just a speed bump."