RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. (Feb. 9, 2011) – The Kraft Nabisco Championship has signed an agreement with Golf Channel to broadcast all four rounds of championship play for the 2011 golf tournament. Golf Channel will broadcast 20 hours of live tournament action throughout Kraft Nabisco Championship Tournament Week, set for March 28 – April 3, including four hours on Saturday, April 2, and four hours on Sunday, April 3. All tournament coverage will be in high definition.
David Blake-Thomas, tournament chairman, said live coverage of the 40th Kraft Nabisco Championship will air Thursday, March 31, and Friday, April 1, from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Saturday and Sunday broadcasts will air live from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. All times are Eastern.
According to Blake-Thomas, the change was triggered by the opportunity to increase television coverage for the first LPGA “major” of the year.
“By moving to Golf Channel, the Kraft Nabisco Championship will be working with a television partner that’s committed to the game of golf and, in particular, women’s golf and the LPGA,” he said. “This year’s Kraft Nabisco will receive twice as much coverage during Tournament Week as it has in the past, not to mention more coverage throughout the year.
“Golf Channel will also be promoting the Kraft Nabisco Championship in the weeks leading up to the event– not only through its own programming, but through such sister channels as E! Entertainment and Versus,” Blake-Thomas added. “Golf Channel willalso have daily coverage of the Kraft Nabisco Championship during its ‘Golf Central’ and ‘Golf Central Updates’news segments before, during and after the tournament.”
Golf Channel reaches more than 83 million homes in the United States. The Kraft Nabisco Championship broadcast will reach more than 200 million homes worldwide through Golf Channel and other international distribution.
Golf Channel’s on-air talent for the Kraft Nabisco Championship was also announced. Led by host Rich Lerner, the lineup includes Terry Gannon, Judy Rankin, Tom Abbott, Jerry Foltz and Jane Crafter.
The Kraft Nabisco Championship will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Led by defending champion Yani Tseng, the 2011 tournament will feature the best players in women’s professional and amateur golf, a Celebrity Pro-Am supported by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, the Integrated Wealth Management TICKETS Fore CHARITY ticket sale program supporting nearly 150 non-profit organizations, the LPGA Front Row Experience and a junior golf clinic. Many of the tournament’s past champions are expected to attend the 40th anniversary festivities.
For more information on the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship, please visit www.KNCGolf.com or call 760/324-4546. To follow the Kraft Nabisco Championship, go to www.facebook.com/KNCGolf or www.twitter.com/KNCGolf .
