
CBS, ESPN Ink Rights Deal for PGA Championship; Turner Sports Out After 29 Years CBS Sports will serve as lead production entity for all the 72-hole coverage By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - 1:20 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The PGA of America, CBS, and ESPN have agreed to an 11-year rights agreement for the TV, digital, and OTT rights to the PGA Championship, beginning in 2020. The deal marks the end of the championship's 29-year relationship with Turner Sports, which has carried the golf major on TBS and TNT since '91. CBS Sports will retain rights to Rounds 3 and 4, ESPN will air the opening two rounds, and ESPN will live-stream Featured Hole and Featured Group coverage for all four rounds. CBS Sports will serve as the lead production entity for all the traditional 72-hole coverage for the entire tournament.
Brooks Koepka won the 2018 PGA Championship. (Photo: Montana Pritchard/PGA of America)
The PGA moves to May beginning in 2019, becoming the second major championship on the golf calendar.
CBS, ESPN, and ESPN will combine to deliver more than 175 cumulative hours of live coverage across broadcast, cable, and digital platforms. The PGA of America will retain the rights to PGA.com and produce the web and mobile app experiences.
The move to May is expected heighten the PGA's brand and its initiatives and further elevate the stature of the championship, because the PGA now falls when television viewership is higher and the vast majority of PGA Members are at the frontend of the golf season. The new schedule also enables CBS, ESPN, and the PGA of America to effectively promote important grow-the-game initiatives to a larger and more engaged audience, according to a joint announcement made by the three organizations.
For nearly a half century, CBS Sports has been a vital member of the PGA of America extended family while delivering our major championship to golf fans across the country, PGA CEO Seth Waugh said in the announcement. We are also thrilled to partner with ESPN and connect with sports fans through the reach of the ESPN networks. The PGA is a major that not only typically delivers the strongest field in golf but is synonymous with historic moments that resonate with golf fans everywhere. As we move this iconic championship to May, we are extremely excited that CBS and ESPN will present the highest-quality product with state-of-the-art technology through a broadcast team that shares our mission to grow the sport of golf.
CBS Retains Rounds 3 and 4, Adds One Hour Per Day
CBS Sports, which broadcast the event from 1958 to '64 and has been the home of the PGA Championship since '91, will continue to broadcast the third and final rounds on Saturday and Sunday, increasing coverage by one hour each day. Under the terms of the new deal, CBS also receives expanded highlight and digital rights, including distribution of its coverage across all CBS platforms, including CBSSports.com, CBS All Access, and all mobile applications. Additionally, CBS will offer onsite ancillary programming on CBS Sports Network as well as on its digital and social platforms during Championship Week.
Premium content such as the PGA represents the past, present, and future of CBS, said Joe Ianniello, president/acting CEO, CBS. There is nothing like live sports programming to attract a mass audience and drive our business. We are very pleased to extend our longstanding relationship with the PGA of America and this signature event.
The PGA Championship has been a marquee event on CBS since 1991, said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. Retaining these rights was a top priority for us this year, and we are excited to have it continue as a cornerstone of our schedule for 11 more years. Together with ESPN, we look forward to greatly expanding the coverage of this great championship. The move to May will greatly benefit CBS, our viewers, and the golf marketplace.
ESPN, ESPN To Offer Live Action All Four Days
The wide-ranging agreement includes live action on ESPN and ESPN across all four days of the tournament, as well as pre-tournament and other ancillary coverage. Exclusive live coverage of the first and second rounds will appear across ESPN and ESPN . For the third and final rounds, ESPN and ESPN will have multiple hours of live coverage throughout the morning, leading into the CBS telecast later in the day.
ESPN also will air Featured Hole and Featured Group coverage for all four days of the tournament, including during the weekend afternoon windows. Before the first round, ESPN will air coverage from practice rounds, player news conferences, driving-range interviews, and more. Also, an extensive collection of in-progress and post-round highlights will be available on ESPN , ESPN.com, the ESPN App, and other ESPN platforms, and ESPN signature SportsCenter will have a strong presence at the event all week. ESPN last televised the event in 1990.
ESPN is proud to work with the PGA of America and CBS to provide fans with unprecedented coverage of this prestigious event, said ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro. The addition of ESPN provides us the opportunity to go even deeper in showcasing the drama and excitement of the PGA for years to come.
Beyond the Live Window: Strategic Elements, Multiplatform Support
This new partnership between CBS Sports, ESPN, and the PGA of America also includes strategic elements and multiplatform support for key PGA initiatives to help showcase and celebrate the organization, its members, coaches, PGA Jr. League, and the golfers who compete in the championship each year, building a compelling future for this championship and growing the game of golf.
The PGA Jr. League celebrates young athletes, who are the future of this game, while they compete in the PGA Jr. League Championship every Octobe
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
16/04/2026
For decades, understanding the physical world from space has required a trade-of...
16/04/2026
The integration accelerates demographic audience delivery across local markets a...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Telestream Cloud Services, including Vantage Cloud, UP, and SENTRY monitoring tools, are now optimized for OCI, powering flexible multi-cloud media orchestratio...
16/04/2026
Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX; FOX or the Company ) today announced a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), naming AWS as its preferre...
16/04/2026
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, today announced an ISDB-Tb capabilit...
16/04/2026
Synamedia and SoFast announce strategic go-to-market partnership to accelerate FAST, pay-TV, and VOD
At the NAB Show 2026, Synamedia and SoFast are announcing ...
16/04/2026
Showcases New, Open-Standard IP Solutions Across Its Portfolio, From Production to Playout
Imagine Communications is marking a decade of leadership in ST 2110 ...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Sportway Media Group, a world leading AI-automated sports production company and Broadcast Solutions, a leading system integrator and provider of innovative sol...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/04/2026
AJA Enters into Agreement to Acquire Video Encoding Software Company Comprimato
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Deal will expand AJA's video ...
16/04/2026
Deity Announces PR-4 Compact Field Recorder with Pre-Orders Launching April 14
Brie Clayton April 15, 2026
0 Comments
Deity Microphones today announce...
16/04/2026
Berklee's First Homecoming Brings Global Alumni to Boston for a Block Party ...
16/04/2026
Fox Corporation Names Amazon Web Services its Preferred AI Cloud Provider New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA - April 16, 2026 - Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, F...
16/04/2026
The search for Ireland's newest country music star takes place live on Frida...
16/04/2026
Head straight for orbit with GeForce NOW - no space helmet required.
PRAGMATA,...
15/04/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BBC World Service has selected its IP ...
15/04/2026
LiveU has announced an expansion of its collaboration with Sony Corporation, add...
15/04/2026
Ateme has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to support live Apple Immersive ...
15/04/2026
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced a multi-year partnership renewal with DAZN DACH, covering Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and...
15/04/2026
Canon U.S.A. (NAB Booth C3825) today took the lid off of the CINE-SERVO 40-1200m...
15/04/2026
Panasonic Video and Audio Systems North America and NEP Group will demonstrate a...
15/04/2026
For the fourth year running, independent analysts found businesses across all industries and verticals pay roughly the same amount in fees as they spend on stor...
15/04/2026
The Soccer Tournament (TST) has announced a media rights deal with NBC Sports to...
15/04/2026
JB&A will host the Pre-NAB 2026 Technology Event on April 17-18 at Flamingo Las Vegas, ahead of NAB Show. The event features hands-on demonstrations and technic...
15/04/2026
The Sennheiser Group will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth 4931, Central Hall), with demonstrations from Sennheiser, Neumann, and Merging across three areas: Rel...
15/04/2026
NAB Show 2026 will take place April 18-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, wi...
15/04/2026
AI-Media has announced the LEXI Text Encoder and LEXI Voice Encoder at NAB Show 2026, the company's first new encoder hardware release in more than a decade...
15/04/2026
Italian camera support manufacturer Cartoni will introduce several new products at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C6540, Central Hall), including the Master 30 OB fluid h...
15/04/2026
Lawo and swXtch.io have announced a memorandum of understanding at NAB Show 2026, under which Lawo will explore incorporating swXtch.io's groundSwXtch softw...
15/04/2026
CacheFly will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W3129, April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center), showcasing three new additions to its content delivery platform:...
15/04/2026
Synamedia has announced GO Shorts, a new module within its Synamedia Go OTT platform that uses AI to convert an operator's existing content library into a s...
15/04/2026
The NAB Show kicks off on Saturday, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams a...
15/04/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced an agreement to acquire Comprimato, a live video encoding and processing software company. The deal will unite the two companies...
15/04/2026
Prime Video Sports' NBA Playoffs coverage, which includes the entire SoFi NB...
15/04/2026
Just announced, the SDE standard provides a unified method and file format to ensure consistent and reliably comparable noise predictions
Sports and entertainm...
15/04/2026
From immersive storytelling to laugh-out-loud comedies, podcasts are booming in ...
15/04/2026
Books have always moved with us, whether tucked in our bags or humming in our he...
15/04/2026
For many artists, independent venues are where music careers begin and fan communities take shape. Independent venue operators work hard every day to keep local...