Golf is a sport rich with iconic numbers — 82 wins for Sam Snead and Tiger Woods; 18 majors for Jack Nicklaus; 15 sub-60 rounds shot in PGA Tour history. So here’s a golf broadcasting number that is really impressive:
This will be the 70th consecutive year CBS broadcasts the Masters, the longest-running sports event on any one network.
“This relationship is super deep,” CBS Sports president David Berson said of the partnership with Augusta National Golf Club. “While we broadcast this event over the course of a four-day stretch, we are constantly in touch with the folks at Augusta National, our partners, our friends, around the entire year to plan for this. None of us take for granted one bit of this relationship. We’re lucky to be the stewards during this moment in time. This is not something you just kind of roll out each and every year, but every year we’re looking at every little angle, seeing how we can do it better.”
With all of its properties — the NFL, March Madness, Big Ten football, Champions League soccer, etc. — the Masters might be the one event viewers most associate with CBS, given the length of the partnership. It is also one of the wildest sports media deals that exists today. As Sportico points out, the Masters collects $0 from its domestic media deals.
Viewership has fallen in recent years. Last year’s final round of the Masters averaged 9.59 million viewers on CBS, down 20 percent from 2023 (a big caveat is that the 2023 final round aired on Easter Sunday and benefited from large out-of-home viewership). But it was also down from the 10.17 million viewers for the final round on Sunday in 2022. These numbers are also significantly down from 10 years ago, when 14 million viewers watched Jordan Spieth capture the title. There has been a lot of pre-tournament content on stars Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler being the favorites for the event, so we’ll see if that helps draw more eyeballs.
Below, we offer a Masters FAQ for viewers.
Basics to watch
Good news for fans: CBS is debuting five additional hours of live third- and final-round coverage across CBS and Paramount+. The CBS Television Network and Paramount+ will air the Masters live from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday, along with an additional two hours of live coverage Saturday and Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. ET on Paramount+.
Masters Live coverage features full-day streaming with live action available on Paramount+, CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports mobile app.
ESPN has held rights to televise the first and second rounds of the Masters since 2008. Its live linear coverage commences Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Through ESPN+, viewers can watch four featured groups per day and featured-holes coverage of Holes 4, 5 and 6, Amen Corner and Holes 15 and 16. ESPN will air prime-time replays of the first and second rounds Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Who are the announcers?
Jim Nantz will host the Masters for the 37th time. The 2008 Masters champion, Trevor Immelman, is the lead analyst for CBS for the third consecutive year. The most notable change is Frank Nobilo replacing Verne Lundquist on No. 16. Here’s the rest of the group:
Scott Van Pelt hosts ESPN’s telecasts with ESPN golf analyst Curtis Strange. Michael Eaves joins for player interviews. Van Pelt and Strange will also call the action on the 18th hole from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday.
Hernán Rey and Matias Anselmo will call the action for ESPN Deportes, with John Sutcliffe reporting from the course. ESPN Deportes also airs live third- and final-round coverage in Spanish.
Can you listen via audio?
You can, indeed. SiriusXM is the exclusive audio broadcaster of the Masters and has live coverage of all four days of tournament play and daily Masters talk programming and specials. Masters Radio on SiriusXM is available to subscribers in SiriusXM-enabled vehicles (channel 92) and on the SiriusXM app. Coverage starts at 2 p.m. ET daily and runs through the completion of play.
Something you might not know: Mike Tirico will be SiriusXM’s lead play-by-play voice for all four tournament rounds. He’ll be joined in the booth by Johnson Wagner as lead analyst, and the course reporters are John Maginnes, Brian Katrek, Emilia Doran and Carl Paulson. Thursday, SiriusXM will have live coverage of the starters ceremony and the opening tee shots of Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson.
Shoulder programming?
CBS says it will have five Masters specials, including its studio show “We Need to Talk” on Saturday. Sunday, Nantz will front a piece on Bernhard Langer, along with a reflection of Spieth’s 2015 Masters victory hosted by Immelman.
Will LIV players get same treatment?
CBS staffers say yes.
“Listen, they were invited by the Masters tournament, and we’re covering every player that’s within those ropes, within the boundaries, especially if they are part of the leaderboard like Bryson DeChambeau was last year and others,” CBS lead producer Sellers Shy said. “It’s not even a thought of what we do and how we do it. We’re here to cover a major. We’re here to cover the Masters properly, period.”
“I would say the same,” on-course reporter Dottie Pepper said. “Having the position and the ability to be on the ground, walking through the practice rounds, talking to players, talking to caddies, and some of them we don’t see as much as maybe we would like to, so there’s more to find out.”
Who to keep an eye on
“I’m looking forward to the Rory-Scottie show,” Strange said. “OK, that’s the end of the conversation. Let’s leave now. (Laughs) It’s the same thing every year. We always look forward to going back. As we always said, it never disappointed. This year, we have Scottie and Rory playing well. Rory seems to be hitting on all cylinders, which is a good thing for the Slam. Scottie going for three in a row, then Xander (Schauffele) and (Collin) Morikawa, a few others playing well. It’s hard to get past the first two or three, honestly. But we’ll have to see how it plays out.”
Is Nantz really into it?
Yeah, it’s not an act. Here is what Nantz said when he was asked about what the Green Jacket represents in sports:
“It’s just emblematic of excellence in golf,” Nantz told reporters at his CBS press availability. “You’ve reached the highest level that’s achievable in the game just to be able to don a green jacket. Isn’t it refreshing, in a time in sport where all we ever hear about is money and guaranteed contracts and outrageous numbers that most people can’t relate to that at all? In fact, they’re numb to it. The numbers, it’s fantasy to them. When you have the Masters tournament, there’s never a discussion about purse money, how much you win. It’s about a jacket. It’s about a coat that you win. Tell me something else that compares to that. You won’t come up with anything that means more than just a green jacket. Yes, there’s money involved. It’s never discussed. I couldn’t even come close to telling you what first place pays at Augusta, and I don’t care. Nor do the players. You know what it is? It’s immortality in golf. You achieve it, you have found a place in history. It’s permanence. It’s forever.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
