By Ryan Berenz (Twitter: @ChannelGuideRAB)
ESPN has live coverage of The Masters golf tournament from Augusta National Golf Club beginning with the First Round on Thursday, April 7, at 3pm ET and continuing with the Second Round on Friday, April 8, at 3pm ET. ESPN’s properties have much more Masters programming and coverage throughout the week. Here’s the release and schedule from ESPN:
Added Hour for First Two Rounds; 5 Days Coverage on ESPN 3D; SportsCenter Reports Start Monday
In its fourth year of live coverage of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, ESPN will have an added hour of live Tournament play from the first two rounds, five days of action on the ESPN 3D Network and the traditional Par 3 Contest the day preceding the Tournament. Expansive news, information and analysis will appear on a variety of ESPN platforms in the U.S. and around the world, including television, radio, online and mobile devices.
ESPN and ESPN HD will air 4.5 hours of live first and second round action on Thursday, April 7, and Friday, April 8, from 3-7:30 p.m. ET, an additional hour each day from the previous three years. An edited encore presentation will air in prime time each night from 8-11 p.m. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language U.S. sports network, also will televise the first and second rounds live from 3-7:30 p.m. and the ESPN 3D Network will air two hours of live play from the first two rounds each day starting at 5:30 p.m.
Prior to the live television windows Thursday and Friday, SportsCenter will air updates every 30 minutes beginning at 9 a.m. daily.
Mike Tirico will serve as host of ESPN’s Thursday and Friday telecasts and will conduct player interviews from Augusta National’s iconic Butler Cabin. Curtis Strange will provide analysis. CBS will again produce the telecasts, with announcer contributions from Jim Nantz, Nick Faldo, Peter Oosterhuis, Verne Lundquist, David Feherty, Bill Macatee, Peter Kostis and Ian-Baker Finch. Paco Aleman and Silvia Bertolaccini will have the call on ESPN Deportes with John Sutcliffe serving as the on course reporter.
SportsCenter
Live reports on SportsCenter from Augusta National Golf Club begin Monday, April 4, in the afternoon and continue through Sunday. Media Day is Tuesday, April 5, and SportsCenter will air the news conferences of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Tirico and Scott Van Pelt will host SportsCenter reports from the Masters and will be joined by Strange, Rinaldi and lead SportsCenter analyst Andy North. Van Pelt also will host with North a special one-hour preview SportsCenter at the Masters Wednesday, April 8, at 5 p.m., with Rinaldi reporting, following the Par 3 Contest telecast. ESPN the Magazine’s Rick Reilly will provide essays for SportsCenter Wednesday through Sunday.
Masters Par 3 Contest
The Masters Par 3 Contest will air live Wednesday, April 6, from 3-5 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN 3D and ESPN3.com. The Par 3 Contest is the traditional event held each Wednesday prior to the Masters that includes Tournament participants, non-competing past champions and honorary invitees in a fun, family atmosphere. The event, which began in 1960, was first televised by ESPN in 2008. On ESPN, Tirico, North and Strange will be joined by Tom Rinaldi, who will conduct interviews on the putting green, and on-ground reporter Kostis. Host Terry Gannon and analyst Paul Azinger will have the call on ESPN 3D.
ESPN 3D Network
ESPN’s television coverage will include 10 hours of programming in 3D on the ESPN 3D network, including two hours from all four rounds of Tournament action. Thursday and Friday’s telecasts begin at 5:30 p.m. while the weekend telecasts begin at 5 p.m. Two hours of coverage of Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest airs at 3 p.m. Last April, the Masters became the first major sporting event produced and broadcast live in 3D internationally on television and the Internet. Gannon will host ESPN 3D’s telecasts with analyst Azinger Wednesday through Friday, while Tirico, Azinger and Strange will have the call Saturday and Sunday.
The Masters Online
In addition to television coverage, there will be extensive Masters Tournament offerings for fans online across ESPN.com and Masters.com
ESPN.com
- Daily diary from first-time Masters competitor Jhonny Vegas from Wednesday-Sunday (also on ESPNDeportes.com).
- Columns/articles by national columnist Gene Wojciechowskiand ESPN.com golf writer Bob Harig.
- “Digital Drive,” exclusive ESPN.com video with host Rick Reilly and nightly analysis from Wojciechowski and Harig.
- The Top 25 Masters Moments, a series of blogs leading up to the Masters. Extensive highlights during tournament week. Live leaderboard link from Masters.com. Features/columns on Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus.
- CoverItLive on Thursday/Friday with comments and insights from ESPN’s golf team covering the Masters from Augusta and beyond.
- CoverItLive with ESPN.com golf blogger Jason Sobel on Saturday/Sunday.
- Live audio updates and interviews on ESPNRadio.com.
- Masters Best Ball Challenge (fantasy game)
- Alternate feed coverage links to “Amen Corner,” “Two Featured Groups,” and “Hole Nos. 15 and 16” on Masters.com.
Additional coverage of the Masters on ESPN platforms:
ESPNNetworks.com
All Masters programming on ESPN will also be available online through ESPNnetworks.com, which is accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider.
ESPN International
This year 88 countries will see the Masters on ESPN platforms. Fans in these countries can follow the Masters on ESPN television, online, mobile and broadband platforms. The Masters is available in:
- Asia (17.5 hours to 16 countries and 174 million households via ESS)
- Latin America and the Caribbean (all four rounds and the Par 3 Contest coverage to 51 Countries and over 32 million households)
- In Canada, TSN will air the first two rounds of the Masters live with same day re-airs in primetime of the final rounds. RDS is airing all four rounds of the Masters live in French. TSN reaches 13.6 million households.
- North Africa and the Middle East (all four rounds to 21 countries and 600,000 households)
- The Par 3 Contest, all four rounds of the Masters and exclusive “Amen Corner,” “Featured Group,” and “Hole Nos. 15 and 16,” will be live on ESPN Play in Latin America.
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio SportsCenter reporter Dan Davis will present updates from Augusta National Golf Club throughout the Masters Tournament Wednesday-Sunday, April 6-10. Davis will provide live hourly updates (4:40.-9:40 p.m.) during the first two rounds, and twice-an-hour reports at 20 and 40 minutes past the hour (1:20-8:40 p.m.) throughout the weekend’s SportsCenter Saturday and SportsCenter Sunday programs as well as during ESPN Radio’s NBA and MLB studio shows. Davis’ reports will also run on weekday’s SportsCenter AM (5-6 a.m.) and in SportsCenter Tonight (10 p.m.-1 a.m.) throughout the week.
ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS will offer all the latest Masters news beginning Monday, April 5, with interviews, pre- and post-round news conferences and analysis from Scott Van Pelt, Andy North and Mike Tirico.
ESPN FILMS
The ESPN Films original production Yes Sir: Jack Nicklaus and the ’86 Masters will premiere Wednesday, April 6, at 6 p.m. on ESPN, following SportsCenter at the Masters. The one-hour documentary looks back at Nicklaus’ thrilling victory at Augusta in 1986 at the age of 46, the last of his 18 major wins. Included are new interviews with Nicklaus, his son and caddy Jackie, and others including Tiger Woods, Tom Watson and Greg Norman.
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic will televise a 43-hour Masters Tribute featuring Official Masters Films beginning Tuesday, April 5, at 8 p.m. The tribute will include highlights from every year of the Masters from 1960 through 2010, with programming continuing all day Wednesday and through 3 p.m. on Thursday when first round coverage begins.
ABC SUPERSIGN
Parts of the first and second rounds and the Par 3 Contest will be simulcast live on the ABC SuperSign in New York City’s Times Square on Wednesday, April 6, from 3-5 p.m. and Thursday and Friday, April 7-8, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
The Masters – Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, GA
Tuesday, April 5 — 8pm ET, 43-Hour Masters Tribute, ESPN Classic
Wednesday, April 6 — 3pm ET, Par 3 Contest, ESPN, ESPN 3D, ESPN3.com
Wednesday, April 6 — 5pm ET, SportsCenter at the Masters, ESPN
Wednesday, April 6 — 6pm, Yes Sir – Jack Nicklaus and the ’86 Masters, ESPN
Thursday, April 7 — 3pm ET, First Round, ESPN, ESPN Deportes
Thursday, April 7 — 5:30pm ET, First Round, ESPN 3D
Thursday, April 7 — 8pm ET, First Round (Encore), ESPN
Friday, April 8 — 3pm ET, Second Round, ESPN, ESPN Deportes
Friday, April 8 — 5:30pm ET, Second Round, ESPN 3D
Friday, April 8 — 8pm ET, First Round (Encore), ESPN
Saturday, April 9 — 5pm ET, Third Round, ESPN 3D
Sunday, April 10 — 5pm ET, Final Round, ESPN 3D