Timeline of golf on UK television

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This is a timeline of the history of golf on television in the UK.

1950s to 1970s[edit]

  • 1956 to 1971
    • No events.
  • 1972
    • ITV shows the 1972 and 1973 Scottish Open.[1][2] The tournament is cancelled when television coverage could not be arranged in 1974.[3]
  • 1973
    • 20–22 September – Coverage of the Ryder Cup moves from the BBC to ITV. ITV also shows the 1975 and 1977 events.
  • 1974
    • No events.
  • 1975
    • No events.
  • 1976
    • No events.
  • 1977
    • ITV televises the Ryder Cup for the final time.
  • 1978
    • No events.

1980s[edit]

  • 1980
    • No events.
  • 1982
    • No events.
  • 1983
    • 18-19 June – Channel 4 begins showing coverage of the American major golf tournaments when it shows live coverage of the conclusion of the final two rounds of the US Open Golf Championship. Later in the summer Channel 4 airs the final two rounds of the US PGA Championship. Channel 4 also covers the 1984 events.
  • 1984
    • 14-15 April – Channel 4 further increases its coverage of the American golfing majors when it broadcasts live coverage of the conclusion of the 3rd and 4th rounds of the Masters Tournament. Channel 4 also shows the 1985 event.
  • 1985
    • 16 June – Channel 4 ends its coverage of golf's American majors when it airs coverage of the 1985 PGA Championship.
  • 1986
    • 12–13 April – The BBC shows live coverage of the Masters for the first time. As channel 4 had done the coverage focusses only on the final two rounds.[4]
  • 1987
    • 9 April – Screensport broadcasts live coverage of the US Masters golf from Augusta.[5] This co-insides with the channel also broadcasting regular coverage of PGA Tour events.
    • 9–12 July – The BBC shows live coverage of the Scottish Open for the first time, and continues to show the event live until 1993.
  • 1988
    • No events.
  • 1989
    • No events.

1990s[edit]

  • 1990
    • No events.
  • 1991
    • No events.
  • 1992
    • No events.
  • 1994
    • 6–9 July – Sky Sports covers the Scottish Open for the first time. The event had previously been shown live on the BBC.
  • 1995
    • 22–24 September – Sky Sports becomes the exclusive broadcaster of the Ryder Cup and has shown the event exclusive live ever since. The event receives no coverage on terrestrial television.
  • 1997
    • 26–28 September – Coverage of the Ryder Cup returns to free-to-air television when the BBC picks up the rights to highlights of the event. The BBC has shown highlights of the Ruder Cup ever since.
  • 1998
    • No events.

2000s[edit]

  • 2000 to 2005
    • No events.
  • 2006
    • December – Sky's 13 years of covering golf's PGA Tour ends due to Setanta Sports winning the rights to coverage of the tour from the start of 2007.[7]
  • 2007
    • 11 January – Following Setanta Sports’ purchase of rights to the PGA Tour,[8] the company launches a dedicated golf channel Setanta Golf.
    • 31 December – The Golf Channel UK closes due to it not being able to attract a viable audience due to not broadcasting enough live tournaments.
  • 2008
    • No events.
  • 2009
    • 23 June – Setanta Sports ceases broadcasting in the UK after going into administration.[9] The closure means that Setanta Golf stops broadcasting.
    • 25 June – Eurosport picks up the television rights to golf's PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2009 season.[10] However the coverage only lasts for six months as the rights return to Sky Sports at the start of 2010.[11]

2010s[edit]

  • 2010
    • January – Sky Sports regains the rights to golf's PGA Tour.[12]
  • 2011
    • 7–10 April – Sky Sports shows coverage of golf's Masters Tournament for the first time. It shows the first two rounds exclusively live and shares coverage of rounds 3 and 4 with the BBC.[13]
    • November – ESPN shows two golf tournaments from Australia.
  • 2013
    • No events.
  • 2014
    • 18 September-2 October – Sky rebranded Sky Sports 4 as Sky Sports Ryder Cup to show its live coverage of the 2014 Ryder Cup, from Gleneagles. It is repeated from 26 September to 5 October 2016 for the Ryder Cup for that year. In 2018, Sky Sports Golf is rebranded to Sky Sports Ryder Cup to bring coverage of the 2018 tournament.
  • 2015
    • 17–20 July – After 60 years, the BBC shows live coverage of The Open Championship for the final time as from next year, live coverage of the event transfers to Sky Sports although the BBC does continue to show two hours of highlights from all four days of the event.[14]
  • 2016
    • 11–18 July – During its first live broadcast of golf's Open Championship, Sky Sports 1 was rebranded as Sky Sports The Open. The following year sees Sky Sports 4 rebranded Sky Sports The Open and in subsequent years, Sky Sports The Open has appeared during the week in which the Open is held.
  • 2017
    • 18–14 May – Sky rebrands Sky Sports 4 as Sky Sports The Players. The channel is dedicated to the coverage of the 2017 Players Championship. This is repeated on Sky Sports Golf for the 2018, 2019 and 2021 competitions, and also the 2020 competition prior to it being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • 18 July – Sky Sports is revamped with the numbered channels being replaced by sports-specific channels. One of the new channels is devoted to golf and is called Sky Sports Golf.[15]
    • 3–6 August – Sky Sports replaces the BBC as live broadcaster of the Women's British Open.[16]
  • 2018
    • 11–19 June 2018 – Sky rebrands Sky Sports Golf as Sky Sports US Open, dedicated to the coverage of the 2018 US Open.
    • 9–12 August – Eleven Sports broadcasts the 2018 PGA Championship, meaning that or the first time, a major golf event in the UK is only available on a streaming platform. However, the event returns to Sky Sports the following year.[17]
  • 2019
    • 12–13 April – The BBC shows live coverage of the Masters for the final time, airing live coverage of the final two rounds. Coverage of the entire event moves to Sky Sports.[18] This brings to an end all live coverage of golf on the BBC.[19]
    • 16-19 May – The US PGA Championship returns to Sky Sports.[20]

2020s[edit]

  • No events.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Golf – Rich plum beyond reach of sponsors". The Times. 12 July 1972. p. I.
  2. ^ "Golf –Scottish Open moves to the Old course". The Times. 12 January 1973. p. 7.
  3. ^ "No TV—No Scots' open". Glasgow Herald. 23 November 1973. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  4. ^ BBC Genome Project – BBC2 listings 12 April 1986
  5. ^ "ABC (Madrid) - 09/04/1987, p. 135 - ABC.es Hemeroteca". Hemeroteca.ABC.es. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  6. ^ Sky Sports celebrates 25 years of women’s golf as new rights deal is announced
  7. ^ "Setanta wins rights to PGA golf". The Guardian. 27 June 2006. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Setanta wins rights to PGA golf". The Guardian. 27 June 2006. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Setanta goes into administration". BBC News. 23 June 2009. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  10. ^ "Eurosport to show remainder of 2009 Tour events in UK" (Press release). PGA Tour. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  11. ^ "Sky Sports, PGA Tour extend deal for U.K viewers". PGA Tour. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  12. ^ "Sky Sports, PGA Tour extend deal for U.K viewers". PGA Tour. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  13. ^ "BBC loses exclusive Masters golf rights". The Guardian. 21 September 2010. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022.
  14. ^ Rumsby, Ben (3 February 2015). "BBC loses live rights to broadcast The Open Championship to Sky Sports from 2017". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  15. ^ Sweney, Mark (27 June 2017). "Sky Sports to replace numbered channels and slash prices in revamp". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  16. ^ Women’s British Open moves to Sky Sports from 2017
  17. ^ Eleven Sports to show 2018 PGA Championship for free online
  18. ^ Streeter, Joe (20 November 2019). "Sky Sports lands exclusive live UK Masters rights from 2020". Insider Sport. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  19. ^ Dams, Tim. "Sky Sports shuts BBC out of live golf with Masters deal". Broadcast. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  20. ^ "Sky's reunion with US PGA Championship to stretch to 2023". March 2019.
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