Toshiba coverage shines spotlight on Newport

Paul Clinton

Golf may be the centerpiece of the Toshiba Senior Classic, but

Newport Beach also shines, civic leaders say, with the extensive

media coverage.

With more than six hours of TV coverage of the event and more than

two dozen media outlets in town to cover it, the spotlight is

squarely on Newport Beach.

“Anytime you can get television exposure on the area, that’s a

good thing,” Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce President Richard

Luehrs said. “What’s that worth to have the community highlighted on

television? It’s worth a whole bunch.”

Two cable TV networks, CNBC and the Golf Channel, have scheduled 6

1/2 hours of live coverage of the event today, Saturday and Sunday.

In all, 25 organizations are delivering content from the event.

Those include extensive coverage by local newspapers, including the

Daily Pilot, and exposure in national magazines such as Sports

Illustrated and Golf World.

The Associated Press is also covering the event, delivering

stories to newspapers across the nation that subscribe to their wire

service.

Past events have produced instant drama, due to the usually tight

leader board heading toward the end of the event on Sunday. The short

par-3 17th hole tends to cluster the leaders for the long-playing

par-5 18th hole, CNBC broadcaster Brandt Packer said.

“There’s always an element of surprise,” Packer said. “You just

know that something’s going to happen.”

Broadcasters this year are also providing live interviews with

players from the tee-box of various holes along the course, thus

giving viewers more interactivity with the broadcast, Packer said.

Two-and-a-half hours of the event will be shown on the Golf

Channel on Friday. CNBC will offer two hours of coverage on both

Saturday and Sunday.

In addition to all the national attention the event receives,

international outlets also pick it up.

A number of stations in Mexico, Japan, Australia and other

countries pick up the video feed of the event and supply their own

announcers in their native languages.

The event is also packaged and sold in half-hour and longer

segments and sold across the globe on tape delay.