TNT & Sirius XM Ramp Up For Live PGA Championship Coverage

We have two press releases, one from our friends at Turner Sports and the other from Sirius XM Radio, both regarding the PGA Championship this week at Atlanta Athletic Club. TNT will have all four rounds, full first and second round airings and early third and final round coverage on weekends before yielding for CBS. For TNT on Thursday and Friday, they’ll have some marquee groups including the three major champions for this year, Charl Schwartzel (The Masters®), Rory McIlroy (U.S. Open) and Darren Clarke (Open Championship). And the PGA has pieced together a few other groups of interest as well. We have this press release from Turner Sports.

Marquee Groups Highlight 93rd PGA Championship Coverage on TNT and PGA.com, Aug. 11-14

TNT Tees Off 13th Consecutive Year of PGA Championship Coverage, Thurs.-Fri, 1-7 p.m. ET and Sat.-Sun, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET; PGA Championship LIVE Features Marquee Groups on PGA.com

Marquee groups highlight TNT and PGA.com’s coverage of the 93rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Beginning on Thursday, Aug 11, a featured group including professional golf’s 2011 major champions to date: Rory McIlroy (U.S. Open), Darren Clarke (British Open) and Charl Schwartzel (Masters) tee off at 1:45 p.m. ET.  Former PGA Champions Martin Kaymer (2010), Y.E. Yang (2009) and Shaun Michel (2007) also will be a featured group as they begin play at 1:15 p.m. ET. TNT’s coverage on Friday, Aug. 12 (1-7 p.m. ET) will have four-time PGA Champion Tiger Woods, 1997 PGA Champion and 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Davis Love III and 2008 PGA Champion Padraig Harrington teeing off at 1:45 p.m. ET on the second day of coverage. Friday also features a threesome of PGA Champions Phil Mickelson (2005), David Toms (2001) and Vijay Singh (1998) teeing off at 1:25 p.m. ET. Recent Bridgestone Invitational champion Adam Scott, along with Japanese phenom Ryo Ishikawa and Matteo Manassero also will tee off on Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET.

PGA Championship LIVE, PGA.com’s award-winning video player, will be following marquee groups with a combined 21 major championships. This year’s first PGA.com Marquee group, Woods, Love III and Harrington will be the featured troika teeing off on Thursday morning at 8:35 a.m. ET and Friday afternoon at 1:45 p.m. ET. McIlroy, Clarke and Schwartzel will be the other threesome highlighted during Rounds 1 & 2 as they tee off at 1:45 p.m. ET on Thursday and 8:45 a.m. ET on Friday. Marquee pairing for Rounds 3 & 4 will be determined following Friday’s action.

Turner Sports will provide extensive exclusive television, online and mobile coverage as it presents the 93rd PGA Championship, professional golf’s final major championship of the season, from the Atlanta Athletic Club on August 11-14. TNT will tee-up 18 hours of exclusive live coverage including six hours each day on Thursday and Friday, August 11-12 (1-7 p.m. ET), as well as early live coverage of the third and fourth rounds on Saturday and Sunday (11a.m. – 2 p.m. ET).  TNT’s announce team features two-time Emmy® award-winning host Ernie Johnson (play-by-play), Ian Baker-Finch (analyst), Billy Kratzert (analyst) and Jim Huber (interviewer/essayist) calling the Championship. This is the 21st consecutive year that Turner Sports will air the PGA Championship and 13th straight year on TNT.

PGA.com’s coverage will have Will Haskett (play by play), Michael Breed (analyst), Brian Katrek (reporting) and Craig Sager (reporting) providing commentary, analysis, as well as following all of the storylines throughout PGA.com’s live coverage.

PGA.com will offer live coverage through its broadband channels including multiple live video streams, marquee groups and par-3 coverage from PGA Championship LIVE, the debut of a new 360 degree camera, an enhanced video highlight hub and live action updates from PGA.com writers. In addition, PGA.com’s award-winning mobile coverage returns with a free PGA Championship App for iPhone and iPod Touch. PGA.com’s live player content also will be optimized for the iPad.

Other features slated on PGA Championship LIVE include:

  • 360 Degree Camera: For the first time during the PGA Championship, fans will be able to access a 360 degree camera that provides a panoramic look and natural sound of the course. Users can drag the camera right, left, or up and down in a 360 degree circle to see action from various vantage points including the practice range, putting green and other course locations.
  • Live Insider: Through live action updates, PGA.com writers will be able to update fans and answer questions about the exciting action on and around the course.
  • Video Highlight Hub: In the expanded and enhanced video highlight hub, fans can customize their video experience, search and browse by Player, Round, Hole or Memorable Moment to create an on-demand album from the 2011 PGA Championship.

And Sirius XM will have complete live coverage of the PGA Championship on PGA Tour Radio.

SiriusXM to Broadcast 2011 PGA Championship Nationwide 

Live hole-by-hole coverage airs Aug. 11-14 from Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia
Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Phil Mickelson, Darren Clarke and others headline major championship field

NEW YORK – August 8, 2011 – Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced today that it will broadcast the 93rd PGA Championship, the season’s final major golf championship, this Thursday, Aug. 11, through Sunday, Aug. 14, on channel 93 on XM and channel 208 on Sirius Premier (formerly known as the “Best of XM”).

SiriusXM’s live coverage, from the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga., will be hosted by Earl Forcey alongside analyst John Maginnes, with hole-by-hole updates from roving reporters Matt Adams, Fred Albers, Mark Carnevale, Michael Collins and Dennis Paulson.

On-course coverage will start Thursday and Friday at 11:00 am ET and Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 pm ET and will continue until the conclusion of each day’s play.  Each evening, immediately following the play-by-play, Maginnes will host his nightly show, Maginnes on Tap, offering listeners a wrap-up of the day’s action with highlights and analysis.

The PGA Championship perennially showcases the strongest field in golf and is returning to the Atlanta Athletic Club for the third time.  This year’s event will feature four-time PGA Champion Tiger Woods, who will be playing in his second tournament following a long layoff due to injury; reigning U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy; world # 1 Luke Donald; 2005 PGA Champion Phil Mickelson; Darren Clarke, who won the 2011 British Open last month; and Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters Champion.  Martin Kaymer is the defending PGA Champion, having won at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin last year.

In the days leading up to the Championship, SiriusXM’s hosts will provide golf fans with daily talk and analysis of this year’s field.  Currently, 100 of the top 102 world-ranked players are in the field for the 2011 PGA Championship.

Fairways of Life with Matt Adams will air live Monday through Wednesday (7:00-9:00 am ET), followed by Teed Off with Brian Katrek (9:00 am – 11:00 am ET), then Making the Turn with Peter Kessler (11:00 am- Noon ET).

Matt Adams will host The PGA Championship Preview Show, featuring tournament analysis and player interviews, with Fred Albers on Tuesday and Wednesday (4:00 – 6:00 pm ET) and alongside Peter Kessler on Saturday and Sunday (11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET).

All shows air on channel 93 on XM and channel 208 on Sirius Premier.

For more information on SiriusXM’s extensive professional golf programming, visit www.siriusxm.com/pgatournetwork.

That will do it.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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