NBC cuts Open Championship commercials after viewer backlash

Welcome back to another extended edition of the Hot Mic Newsletter, GOLF’s weekly send covering all things golf media from me, James Colgan. The topic of this week’s newsletter was NBC’s Open Championship pressure. As always, if you’d like to be the first to receive exclusive insights like these directly from me, click the link here to subscribe to our free newsletter send. But first, we go back to Troon, where something is … brewing.

TROON, Scotland — How do you take your coffee during Open Championship week, golf fans? Cream? Sugar?

How about with reduced commercial interruptions?

NBC will cut some 70 minutes of interruptions from its telecast throughout the week at Royal Troon, sources told the Hot Mic, responding to near-universal viewer criticism in the aftermath of last year’s two international telecasts, the Open and Ryder Cup.

If averaged evenly over the NBC telecast window this week, NBC’s reductions would equate to close to 90 seconds of additional golf per-hour from golf’s final major championship. The network would not specify when the bulk of the interruptions would be removed, though it stands to reason that the oft-criticized early-morning onslaught could be trimmed down, rewarding diehards who choose to tune into NBC’s coverage during the early-morning hours.

The news marks the latest decision from NBC to trim interruptions from its golf coverage, a topic that has been a sore spot for the network for close to a decade now. Ads are an inherent part of any TV rights agreement, particularly NBC’s golf business, a place the network invests close to half a billion annually in rights fees. But NBC’s approach to interruptions has stretched beyond what many fans are willing to accept as a necessary evil, creeping into all coverage at levels that have made it hard for some to enjoy the golf.

These critiques have grown particularly loud at golf’s biggest international events in the last 12 months, where NBC’s strategy of “stacking” interruptions during the earliest windows has seemed like an unusual punishment on those committed enough to rise in the middle of the night to watch golf. Only adding salt to the wound is the fact that the network saves millions in production expenses by outsourcing camera and technician work to the “World Feed,” but, prior to this year, had not reduced its interruptions meaningfully.

In previous years, NBC’s “stacking” strategy was executed with the suggestion that it allowed more golf during the hours the audience was largest, but many golf fans found that suggestion hypocritical. If the ads were merely performative and not meant to be seen by a large audience, fans argued, then why bother showing them at all? What purpose was served by delivering large doses of ads to the diehards willing to rise in the middle of the night to tune in?

At last month’s U.S. Open, the network and USGA agreed to remove “house ads” — or self-promotional advertisements — from Pinehurst’s coverage in an effort to lighten the telecast’s interruptions, a decision that fans felt was a meaningful step, but perhaps not far enough.

The decision to add some 70 minutes of golf to Troon compared to last year rings as much of the same.

Ultimately, as we’ve written before, golf ads are a problem without an easy solution. It’s fair to be angry with the outcome, and it’s very fair to be critical of the network executives who have set up the golf TV business in such a way to necessitate selling this volume of advertising to turn a profit — but the fix will have to come slowly. The Open Championship is another step in the right direction; whether it’s far enough for your tastes on this Open Thursday is for you to decide.

Hopefully, after you’ve already had your coffee.

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James Colgan

Golf.com Editor

James Colgan is a news and features editor at GOLF, writing stories for the website and magazine. He manages the Hot Mic, GOLF’s media vertical, and utilizes his on-camera experience across the brand’s platforms. Prior to joining GOLF, James graduated from Syracuse University, during which time he was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Long Island, where he is from. He can be reached at james.colgan@golf.com.