PGA Championship Seeks Younger Voice in Social-Media Sphere Live drone flyover of the course and one of the champion's first interviews highlight the effort By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Monday, August 14, 2017 - 1:39 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The weather didn't always cooperate at this weekend's PGA Championship, but, by the time, young American Justin Thomas captured his first major championship, it had been a successful weekend for all involved at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC, including the team behind the social-media efforts for Turner Sports and PGA.com.
Among the content highlights: a live drone flyover of the course aired on Facebook Live on Friday morning, a daily 360-degree pin placement revealed where users could immerse themselves in all 18 greens, a Sunday Snapchat story brought golf fans even closer to the action and the big moments of the tournament's final day, and - in one of the greatest signs of increased respect for social media - one of the very first interviews with Thomas was granted to PGA.com and aired live on Turner's Facebook page.
PGA.com's Facebook page offered a live interview with PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas mere moments after the American won his first major.
It's not often that social is held to this high a standard, where other rightsholders are going get interviews and the social brand of the PGA will get its own as well, says Matt Wickline, senior director, social media, Turner Sports. It feels like a big win to be able to get access to this person right after they've won and be able to ask the questions we want to ask without any interference. It feels like a big step in the right direction. This is another activation that tries to take this event and get it outside of its typical television audience. We'll be able to reach a much wider, broader, younger crew with an interview like this than we would otherwise.
Turner Sports' social-media efforts were comprehensive, with a staff of 14 deployed all over the course throughout the week's festivities, creating unique content for Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat and pushing the envelope technologically to help cover the event in a totally new way. The team had its own B unit in the compound to support those efforts and also had dedicated space in the media center.
Friday's Facebook Live broadcast of the drone flyover was made possible through a partnership with CNN Air, a group that possesses both the talent and the FCC authorizations to fly drones for commercial purposes. Using a LiveU device strapped to a golf cart, a driver and drone pilot were able to drive the length of the 18-hole course and give viewers a peek at what was to come throughout the weekend in a completely new way.
Wickline acknowledges that it's a unique challenge to cover a multiday sports event like a golf or tennis tournament in the social-media space. It wouldn't be possible, he points out, without the robust resources made available by the linear-television end of the production. The wide variety of types of content in Turner's coverage across multiple platforms this weekend reflects the broadcaster's goal to diversify content and keep it intriguing and engaging for the duration of the tournament.
Every other sport exists within an arena where everything is self-contained; rarely do you have more than one event happening at the same time, says Wickline. Here, you have a hundred and some golfers all doing their own thing on 18 different holes and a driving range and a putting green. It's this vast landscape that you're trying to boil down into what the most critical pieces of content are for that event.
What we really have to do is leverage the cameras that already exist on the course, he continues. That's why our live-coverage plan is so integral to what we're doing: it enables us to see everything that's going on everywhere, and we don't have to send 19,000 people out to do that job. We can kind of have a centralized hub there.
Over the weekend, Snapchat became increasingly important to the coverage. Turner Sports has loads of experience with the platform, having covered the PGA Championship on Snapchat for three years. The presence of Snapchat reflects the younger voice that the PGA.com and Turner Sports social-media team are hoping to bring to a sport that has long been considered a game for an older crowd.
Our voice has to be younger, says Wickline, comparing social-media and traditional coverage. I mean, we're going after a demo that is mobile first, so our content, whether it be live or on demand, has got to speak to that audience and deliver content to them in the way that they're going to consume it.
That voice was a main driver for bringing in a celebrity personality to help host some of the social-media coverage: Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala. The two-time NBA champ - and avid golfer - popped up all over Turner's coverage of the tournament but was a major contributor on content for platforms like Snapchat.
By doing things like this, we're broadening our fan base, and we're tapping into different groups to try to make it more than your traditional television-median-age crowd, says Wickline. He adds that the median age for the social-media golf fan is much closer to the mid 30s. We're aware that, if we want to succeed in the social space and if we want to grow golf and grow a golf audience, we have to do more than just mimic what's happening on TV.
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
23/05/2024
Alone Australia continues to build as it movies towards finale
23 May, 2024
Media releases
The program continues to deliver for SBS with significant uplift...
23/05/2024
As the 2023 HPA Awards were taking shape last year, in the aftermath of the pand...
23/05/2024
By HPA Staff
The call for submissions for the HPA Engineering Excellence Awards is already open, and closes soon on June 14; but the submission period for crea...
23/05/2024
PHILADELPHIA Comcast is reporting that it has reduced the electricity it takes to deliver each byte of data across its network by 40% since 2019....
23/05/2024
CARY, N.C. The UKs largest commercial broadcaster ITV has released new details on how it is using an API-driven first-party ad server developed by SAS, to deliv...
23/05/2024
LEAWOOD, Kan. While technology is central to making ATSC 3.0 a success as a means to deliver wireless data, it's only a part of the story....
23/05/2024
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron today unlocked a unveiled sweeping improvements to its newsroom portfolio that enable broadcasters to deploy a complete newsroom workflow ...
23/05/2024
Philippe Guillotel, senior director of metavideo group, InterDigital, explains how haptic technology could be the next big thing in watching everything from spo...
23/05/2024
How to color match broadcast cameras
Brie Clayton May 23, 2024
0 Comments
Ever wondered how to color match on two different high end broadcast cameras...
23/05/2024
Chyron Unlocks a Complete Newsroom in the Cloud With News Portfolio Updates
Brie Clayton May 23, 2024
0 Comments
Based on a long-term, coordinated dev...
23/05/2024
NBA legends Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony are helping to promote Inside Out 2, the new film from Disney and Pixar, in commercials that are appearing during th...
23/05/2024
The CW drama Walker will not see a fifth season on the network. Inspired by the 90s crime drama Walker, Texas Ranger, the show premiered in 2021. Jared Padalec...
23/05/2024
The E.W. Scripps Co. named Robin Davis senior VP, chief distribution officer, effective immediately....
23/05/2024
Season two of Mulligan, an animated comedy about people struggling to rebuild the planet after an alien attack, with a star-studded cast and producer group, deb...
23/05/2024
NewsNation expands to a 24/7 programming schedule starting June 1. The network, part of Nexstar Media Group, will launch the final portion of its live news line...
23/05/2024
BrightLine, which provides interactive and shoppable advertising formats, said it launched StreamLine, a self-service system for creating dynamic commercials th...
23/05/2024
Nick Cannon will host a talk show on Prime Video and Amazon Freevee. Called Counsel Culture and based on his podcast of the same name, it premieres June 6. Ther...
23/05/2024
YOKOHAMA, Japan Leader Electronics has expanded the capabilities of its LVB440 IP Analyzer with extended support for the latest standards relating to object-bas...
23/05/2024
Zeenal Thakare, senior vice president, enterprise solutions architecture at Ateliere Creative Technologies, explains why shes enjoying a front row seat to the o...
23/05/2024
The Bill is currently at its third reading stage in the House of Lords
By Jenny Priestley
Published: May 23, 2024
The Bill is currently at its third re...
23/05/2024
SOUTHPORT, Conn. Diamond Sports Group has reached a multi-year renewal of its distribution agreement with FuboTV Inc. for the continued carriage of Diamond'...
23/05/2024
AUSTIN, Texas Brainstorm, a provider of real-time 3D graphics and virtual studio solutions, has opened a new office and Demo Studio in Austin, Texas in a move t...
23/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. As concerns grow about the potential impact of fake AI-generated photos and videos being used to influence elections, Federal Communications Co...
23/05/2024
NEW YORK BrightLine has announced the launch of StreamLine, the self-service, automated tool for clients to design, build, and publish interactive and dynamic a...
23/05/2024
With NCAA college football moving to a new, greatly expanded playoff format for the National Championship this year, ESPN and TNT Sports have reached a five-yea...
23/05/2024
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, launched its AI and Advanced Analytics practice,...
23/05/2024
Glensound, industry leader in high quality audio systems, is exhibiting for the first time at InfoComm 2024. The company is demonstrating why it has such an env...
23/05/2024
Shotoku Broadcast Systems, international manufacturer of high-quality, easy-to-use, robust and reliable camera support systems, has announced plans to exhibit b...
23/05/2024
Based in Scalby Village, Scarborough, Beckview Studios is one of North Yorkshire's largest, one-stop recording studios in the area. Since its opening in May...
23/05/2024
Pixellot, the global leader in AI-automated video and data solutions for sports, is proud to announce a partnership with Tximist Foundation to broadcast all Txi...
23/05/2024
Global video solutions provider, Accedo, has worked with ITV, the UK's largest commercial broadcaster, to bring its streaming service, ITVX to PlayStation 4...
23/05/2024
The Global Media and Entertainment Talent Manifesto, an organisation working to address the skills shortage across the media technology sector, today announces ...
23/05/2024
A trio from WRAL-TV has been honored with a 2024 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for the WRAL documentary Ghosts in the Stadium. The Radio Television Digital Ne...
23/05/2024
May 23rd, 2024 Press Materials Available Here
TRIBECA FESTIVAL 2024 ANNOUNCES ...
23/05/2024
7 minute read
Share
alt=Telenor Group's Board of Directors has appointed Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer as new President & CEO class=lazyload main main-l...
23/05/2024
Game Pres Glitz: How Allegiant Stadium and the Las Vegas Raiders Shine in the En...
23/05/2024
TNT Sports to Present College Football Playoff Games Through Sublicense with ESP...
23/05/2024
PGA TOUR's Anthony Renda on the Role of Cloud-Based Workflows in Every Shot...
23/05/2024
NCAA Women's Lacrosse National Championship: ESPN To Integrate Goal Cams Int...
23/05/2024
SVG College Sports Media Awards 2024: Winners in Outstanding Social Media Video,...
23/05/2024
Back to All News
Trailer for Joko Anwars Nightmares and Daydreams' Explore...
23/05/2024
Back to All News
What We Watched the Second Half of 2023
Entertainment
23 May 2024
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Today we published our second edition o...
23/05/2024
IBM Security's Martin Borrett shares his thoughts on how cybersecurity will be impacted in the age of generative AI. Please see the full article here in AI ...
23/05/2024
By Christine Purse
One of the most compelling discussions at the 2024 HPA Tech Retreat happened off stage with no audience present. After hours, while the room...
23/05/2024
Photo credit: GETTY IMAGES
Press release - 23 May 2024 10:07
Eutelsat Ku-ba...
23/05/2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
The Mauritius Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has c...
23/05/2024
All candidates invited to debate live on the night
As part of RT 's extensi...
PGA Championship Seeks Younger Voice in Social-Media Sphere Live drone flyover of the course and one of the champion's first interviews highlight the effort By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
