CBS management ‘loves’ Justin Thomas’ explosive golf card for TV

On Tuesday morning, Justin Thomas sent an unusual message to his PGA Tour counterparts, pleading with players to give them more “access and insight” into PGA Tour telecasts in a two-page letter distributed to the members.

And on Tuesday afternoon, CBS Sports delivered an unusual message in return.

“We liked what we read” CBS Sports President David Berson said GOLF.com. “We are his fans. We have been pushing for it for a long time. We love that JT is willing to stick his neck out there and take a leadership position.”

Berson, who followed the legendary CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus in April, was unequivocal in its praise for Thomas’ letter, offering the kind of unequivocal endorsement from a network executive usually reserved for just a handful of golf titles each year. Perhaps the environment helped: Berson’s words came as CBS entered final preparations for the start of its 2025 season at the Farmers Insurance Open on Wednesday.

“He sees how other sports have innovated. “He sees how golf has innovated, and by the way, we’ve done more than most,” Berson said. “As Jim (Nantz) just said, innovation is really, really hard to do in golf, and JT sees an opportunity here.”

Thomas’ letter was the latest sign of change in golf television, sparking a story that has clouded the start of the 2025 golf season. The issue is an audience exodus fueled by Saudi interference, and the numbers are grim. The PGA Tour lost nearly a fifth of its average audience size on CBS and NBC in 2024 (a drop of more than 15 percent compared to the previous year), a drop that far exceeds other sports, even if the tournament numbers are 10 times greater than its LIV opponents.

Executives for both the tour and the networks have insisted they are not concerned about audience developments, but their actions suggest otherwise. In the final months of 2024, the Tour launched a pilot program to experiment with new real-time streaming changes and live audience feedback.

BULLETIN

Sign up for GOLF’s Hot Mic newsletter!

Want exclusive golf media news in your inbox? Sign up for the Hot Mic with James Colgan newsletter!

Sign up

Thomas referenced the results of the pilot program in his letter to membership, noting that “personality on the course” was the top driver of interest among golf fans in the coveted 18-34 demographic, and suggesting that counterparts his tour to look from the inside. to devise solutions to improve the television product that can work with them.

“I’m not asking anyone to be someone they’re not,” Thomas wrote. “Instead, just be open to possibility and change.”

Much of the audience fatigue has been fueled by the dilution of golf in an era of two tournaments and only five star-studded weeks a year, but they are not only problems with the Tour product. Rather, they are like the lighter fluid poured over the domestic issues addressed in Thomas’ letter: a prevailing attitude of media apathy and self-interest among golfers that has undermined golf’s overall entertainment value.

The advantage of increased access is obvious – more interest leads to more viewers, which leads to more money – but Thomas is a powerful voice in this context because of his experience with the opposite. In 2019, NBC’s hot mics caught Thomas uttering a homophobic slur after a missed shot, a scandal that resulted in the two-time major champion losing a handful of his biggest sponsors. The symbolism in his plea for the players to lean on IN not lost in the golf tournament membership.

“The more I think about it, the more I feel that giving more access and knowledge can make a WORLD of difference,” Thomas wrote. “While we (at least I know I do) think it’s not that important or interesting, our fans do.”

It will not be difficult for Thomas to combine his incentives with networks. As Berson, the CBS chief, pointed out, Thomas is one of several professionals who recently became part owners of the Tour. Like Berson, the better Thomas’ product performs, the better his investment is.

“They are now equity owners,” Berson said. “It’s interesting how when you suddenly have a piece of it, you have a slightly different perspective on the sport. Instead of using (the innovation) as a disadvantage because people complain about the pacing, it’s an advantage in that we can put more of it into actual broadcast television.”

Thomas’ involvement in the televised affair comes as golf’s latest televised experiment enters a crucial stretch on the calendar. After a strong opening two weeks, TGL entered the meat of its first season with Thomas and Atlanta Drive playing in action on Tuesday night. Talk of the simulator golf league has been mixed, but it has proved a strong training ground for several golf television innovations, such as mid-round interviews and a shot clock.

CBS executive producer Golf Sellers Shy has watched the reaction carefully. Shy is an innovator in his own right, bringing about a series of changes that have quickly become full-time TV golf matches in his three years on the job. As the third person to hold the executive producer role at CBS in the past 60 years, Shy is a keen golf historian. Thomas’ message, he says, is rare.

“It’s twofold,” Shy said. “First, we have JT, who has a big voice on the Tour, to take a stand. And then for all the stars of the future to say ‘we’ll hear it, we’ll read it and we’ll accept it.’ With the weight that JT’s voice carries, I think you’ll see more players get on board.”