The PGA Championship TV audience for Sunday's final round was the lowest overnight Nielsen since 2008, back when Tiger Woods wasn't around and Padraig Harrington took the Wanamaker from Sergio Garcia at Oakland Hills.
TV audiences are getting smaller across the board, and that's part of it. Part is that Tiger Woods isn't an attraction anymore. And part of it is that the PGA Championship telecast has way too many commercials on both CBS and TNT. The PGA of America has commercials for its partners and others, and they just get overwhelming. At times, CBS was showing one or two shots and heading to commercial for another 2 minutes. It was a big buzzkill.
Jim Nantz noticed it, too, from the 18th tower at Quail Hollow on Sunday. Nantz, presumably speaking with lead CBS golf producer Lance Barrow, was filmed during a commercial break talking about how he wasn't a big fan of the volume of commercials ruining the flow of the telecast.
I guess Jim Nantz isn't a fan of commercials either! #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/suc6lQomMT
— Ryan Rose (@ryan_rose4) August 13, 2017
"You guys were super. Just wish you didn't have so many commercials you had to juggle," Nantz said. "You guys did it masterfully."
It was frustrating to watch the PGA Championship, and not because the Omega watch ad was particularly heinous. (The Sergio Garcia ad wasn't bad, honestly.) Perhaps CBS and the PGA of America can look at mixing in the Playing Through feature NBC has been using for some of its golf coverage, including during the British Open Championship in July.
