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The Golf Channel

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The Golf Channel

<tr><th colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">Image:Golf Channel.jpg</th></tr> <tr><th>Launched</th><td>January 17, 1995</td></tr><tr><th>Owned by</th><td>Comcast</td></tr><tr><th>Website</th><td>thegolfchannel.com</td></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #BFDFFF; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2">Availability </th></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #d0e5f5;" align="center" colspan="2">Satellite</th></tr><tr><th>DirecTV</th><td>Channel 605</td></tr><tr><th>Dish Network</th><td>Channel 401</td></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #d0e5f5;" align="center" colspan="2">Cable</th></tr><tr><th>Verizon FiOS</th><td>Channel 305</td></tr><tr><th>Comcast</th><td>Channels Vary</td></tr><tr><th>Time Warner Cable</th><td>Channels Vary</td></tr><tr><th>Charter</th><td>Channels Vary</td></tr><tr><th>Cox</th><td>Channels Vary</td></tr><tr><th>IO Digital Cable (Cablevision)</th><td>Channel 410</td></tr><tr><th>Bright House Networks</th><td>Channels Vary</td></tr>

The Golf Channel, sometimes abbreviated as TGC, is an American cable television network with coverage focused on the game of golf. It was launched on January 17, 1995. The idea of a 24-hour-a-day golf network came from media entrepreneur Joseph E. Gibbs of Birmingham, Alabama, who first got the idea for the channel in 1991. Gibbs felt there was enough interest in golf among the public to support such a network, and commissioned a Gallup Poll to see if his instincts were right. They were, and Gibbs and legendary golfer Arnold Palmer then secured $80 million, which helped them found The Golf Channel. The first live tournament the channel televised was the Dubai Desert Classic, held from January 19 to 22, 1995.

The Golf Channel features a range of golf programming, including PGA TOUR, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour, Canadian Tour, and PGA Tour of Australasia events. It also covers USGA and PGA of America tournaments. The channel devotes considerable time to news coverage of golf, including a nightly program, Golf Central, a post-tournament program, the Sprint Post Game and College Central, devoted to college golf. There are highlight shows of past tournaments, and a reality television competition show, The Big Break, whose premise is to help aspiring professionals gain exemptions into PGA Tour and LPGA events. In 2005, The Golf Channel helped set up a special matchplay event called Big Stakes Golf, in which teams of two paid a $100,000 entry fee to play in a special tournament where the winning team split a $3,000,000 first-place prize, the largest in golf history. In the end, mini-tour professionals Garth Mulroy and David Ping won the grand prize.

The Golf Channel is available in the United States, Canada and a few nations in Asia through cable, satellite, and wireless transmissions. There is also a version of the network for Great Britain, which shows most of the same programming as the American version.

The American headquarters and studio is located in Orlando, Florida.

On January 11, 2006, it was announced that The Golf Channel would become the exclusive cable home of the PGA Tour in 2007, excluding the majors. This means that The Golf Channel will be the exclusive broadcaster of the Mercedes Championships, the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, as well as all of the tournaments following THE TOUR Championship. TGC will also broadcast the first and second rounds of the other tournaments, which will air on either CBS or NBC. [1]

Contents

[edit] The Golf Channel programs

There are two weekly blocks of programming: "Your Game Night," on Mondays, and "Top Shelf Wednesday." Shows in these blocks are noted in parentheses.

[edit] The Golf Channel on-air talent

Programs talent appear on are in parentheses.

[edit] See Also

[edit] External links

sv:The Golf Channel

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