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.
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