Golf On the Internet

Filed in archive Golf News on March 30, 2007

Simon Dyson: Courtesy, European Tour

I received an email the other day from a company in the U.K. called Brandlive.tv.

They're based in London and operate an internet TV channel called Golfbug.tv.

Golfbug.tv streams golf 24 hours a day! And it's available right at your computer.

The content is varied. At the moment, the "channel" is running highlights from the European Tour events just concluded, archived footage from older tournaments in Europe, golf instruction and interviews with players and caddies.

Because Golfbug.tv is based in London, much of their content revolves around the European golf scene.

But of course, for those of us here in North America, that's one of the channel's strengths.

Since I have fairly extensive background in television production and program creation, I was naturally intrigued.

So I got in touch with the managing director, Andrew Cooke, to learn more.

Andrew told me that Golfbug.tv has been operational since last August. In that time, they have struck rights deals with the European Tour, the Asian Tour and the R&A to offer golf content to viewers. Right now, their programming "wheel" is 8 hours long. Andrew says that will increase with the goal being a 24 hour wheel.

I commend Brandlive for striking these deals. Rights issues relating to television programming can be an absolute nightmare, particularly when the content is owned by a third party.

So, good for Brandlive for hacking through this legal jungle so effectively.

Re-purposed television content on the internet is not new, by any means. But, it is growing rapidly, propelled forward by amazing advances in technology.

Golfbug.tv streams its content. This means that download times are minimal since the entire content of a Golfbug.tv program doesn't have to be downloaded to a temporary file on your hard drive before it begins to play.

I have watched this internet TV channel several times and have not noticed any bothersome hesitation in the video streaming or annoying jerkiness.

Please note, this is not HD quality TV! But it doesn't need to be. At least not for me. I have a 15 inch monitor, so high definition content would be wasted on my computer!

Andrew Cooke tells me that viewership is growing rapidly and I believe him.

The future of television around the world lies with the internet. That's why ALL the major networks in North America and Europe are moving much of their broadcast content to internet platforms.

But there are definite issues that need to be resolved with television programming that is transferred to the web, particularly where live sports events are concerned.

The PGA website offers live video at various tournaments. At the recent ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am, they had a live shot at the par 3, 7th hole right on the ocean.

The problem was I couldn't access it because that live shot was only available to viewers in the United States.

That's what I mean when I referred earlier to the legal jungle of rights issues. The internet is also termed the World Wide Web and yet the rest of the world couldn't take advantage of the PGA's offering.

There are no such problems with Golfbug.tv.

I recommend you give it a long look.