The thing we're always conscious of is how we make the viewing experience better. [It's] not just by throwing more things at viewers, explains Gary Treater, GM, PGA.com, Turner Sports. When people are done watching, we want them to say, Wow! That was really great. Not only did I get great golf, but I was entertained, I was educated, and I really understand what those players went through the last 4 hours.'
The four-day PGA Championship begins today (a few weeks earlier than usual so as not to conflict with the Olympics) at the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, NJ. But, no matter where fans are watching from - in front of a TV, on a smartphone, or right on the fairway - Turner Sports, which holds both broadcast and streaming rights for the event, has something prepared to enhance the experience.
The PGA Championship app is designed to enhance the TV, mobile, and onsite experience.
Turner Sports' online coverage focuses on a marquis group of key players, an approach the company started using several years ago. Now common practice for online golf video, following a marquis group has become so popular that Turner will follow four groups each day this year: two in the morning and two in the afternoon.
The idea was to provide fans something different than what they would see on TV, an alternative second-screen experience. It's actually turned into a terrific first-screen experience if people don't have access to the linear broadcast, Treater says. One of the big changes this year is doubling the featured-group coverage from one stream each day to two. There will be two groups to choose from in the morning and two groups to choose from in the afternoon: lots of content.
Online viewers will get more out of those streams, thanks to the use of on-screen data. For Treater, it's essential that data be more than eye candy: it needs to serve the event and help viewers get more out of what they're watching.
Turner Sports will use TrackMan devices to track the flight of each ball, providing such metrics as club-head speed, the apex of each shot, and the carry distance. It will also use Golf Trak, powered by Virtual Eye, to create animated course flyovers, indicating player locations and shot arcs. Data from ShotLink will reveal how players played each hole, using overlays to mark the line of each shot.
New to this year's coverage is a split-screen view that displays live video on the left and constantly updated shot data on the right. Viewers can even see combined images that show how different players approached the same hole.
We believe that our storytelling can be enhanced if we can use data and information, Treater explains. We don't use data for data's sake and just put stuff on the screen.
Even spectators on the course will benefit from the approach. The PGA Championship app will use Bluetooth smart-beacon technology to show which players are nearby. (Phones and tablets are allowed on the course as long as they're in golf mode, which means that both sound and camera flash are turned off.)
Last year, the PGA Championship was the first to use Periscope for live video streaming. Now that Facebook Live is dominating, the event will offer plenty of Facebook video.
We'll be using Facebook Live [for short hits] - maybe three, four, five minutes - [to] show something behind the scenes and provide a professionally produced piece and leverage that audience that may not be watching the broadcast on digital, Treater says.
Last year's event was the first to use Snapchat, something Treater confesses he was skeptical about. He didn't think golf's more mature (that is, older) fans would get into it, but he was shocked by the number of people who shared their experiences on Snapchat. Turner is expected to create more Snapchat stories this year. The team will use Twitter to share real-time video highlights, and, in a first, will offer 360-degree video and photos on Facebook.
Capturing all this video takes an army of people and equipment. For its online video, Turner Sports will rely on NEP TS2 truck and Sony HDC-2500 cameras, two EVS replay servers to create highlights, and two ChyronHego character generators for score displays and on-screen graphics. It is partnering with iStreamPlanet for the online-video encoding, and Akamai will handle distribution.
For Turner Sports, dazzling with tech isn't nearly as important as educating with it. As the PGA Championship demonstrates, the broadcaster is doing all it can to bring viewers into the game.
That's really our goal: to bring fans that up-close-and-personal and immersive experience, Treater says. It resonates with fans; we continue to see tremendous increases in viewership.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
The thing we're always conscious of is how we make the viewing experience better. [It's] not just by throwing more things at viewers, explains Gary Treater, GM, PGA.com, Turner Sports. When people are done watching, we want them to say, Wow! That was really great. Not only did I get great golf, but I was entertained, I was educated, and I really understand what those players went through the last 4 hours.' 
