ESPN will present live 1st and 2nd round coverage golf’s second major tournament of the year, the U.S. Open from Pebble Beach. Thanks to the West Coast and extended daylight hours, coverage extends into primetime to 10 p.m. this Thursday and Friday. And NBC’s coverage should go until 9 on both Saturday and Sunday. Hardcore golf fans won’t like the fact that Chris Berman is back for another year. Scott Van Pelt will host with Mike Tirico in South Africa for the World Cup.
Here are the details of ESPN’s coverage.
ESPN’s Coverage of the 2010 U.S. Open Championship Returns to Prime TimeFirst and Second Rounds Live on TV, Over 65 Unique Hours Across Multimedia PlatformsIn its 29th consecutive year, ESPN will present comprehensive multiplatform coverage of the 2010 U.S. Open Championship from Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif., including live telecasts of the first two rounds on ESPN on Thursday and Friday, June 17-18. Additionally, there will be coverage of the National Championship across 14 platforms: ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN2, ESPN2 HD, ESPNEWS, ESPNEWS HD, ESPN Classic, ESPN International, ESPN.com, ESPN3.com, ESPN Audio, ESPN On Demand, Interactive Television and ESPN Mobile TV.ESPN will deliver 14 hours of live first- and second-round action (1 – 3 p.m. ET and 5 – 10 p.m. ET both days). In addition, ESPN and ESPN2 will air SportsCenter at the U.S. Open preview and highlight shows, plus The Best of the U.S. Open Friday and Saturday in the overnight hours and re-airs of the third and final rounds over the weekend. All telecasts will be in high definition.Chris Berman, who has covered the U.S. Open on ESPN since 1986, and Scott Van Pelt will host ESPN’s live telecasts Thursday and Friday. ESPN’s golf team also includes two-time U.S. Open Champions Curtis Strange (analyst) and Andy North (on-course reporter) as well as Roger Maltbie, Terry Gannon, Gary Koch and Sean McDonough (hole announcers) and on-course reporters Bill Kratzert and Judy Rankin. Van Pelt and John Anderson will anchor SportsCenter reports from Pebble Beach. Tom Rinaldi will contribute interviews and reports and ESPN The Magazine columnist Rick Reilly will provide essays and commentary.Among the features planned for ESPN’s television coverage:
- Was Tiger Woods’ performance at Pebble Beach in 2000 the most dominant ever?
- Pebble Beach’s 7th hole, one of the shortest and toughest holes in golf
- 50 years ago, Arnold Palmer’s big moment at the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills
- A look at what players are really thinking about in their backswing
- What does a “Swing Doctor” really do?
- An essay on Tiger Woods by Rick Reilly
2010 U.S. Open & ESPN
| Date | Time (ET) | Telecast | Network |
| Tues, June 15 | 2-3 p.m. | SportsCenter at the U.S. Open | ESPN2 |
| Wed, June 16 | 2-3 p.m. | SportsCenter at the U.S. Open | ESPN2 |
| Thurs, June 17 | 1-3 p.m. | First Round | ESPN, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV |
| 1-7 p.m. | First Round | ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com | |
| 5-10 p.m. | First Round | ESPN, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV | |
| Fri, June 18 | 12-1 a.m, | SportsCenter at the U.S. Open | ESPN2 |
| 1-4:30 a.m, | Best of the U.S. Open (First Round) | ESPN2 | |
| 1-3 p.m. | Second Round | ESPN, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV | |
| 1-7 p.m. | Second Round | ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com | |
| 5- 10 p.m. | Second Round | ESPN, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV | |
| Sat, June 19 | 12-1 a.m. | SportsCenter at the U.S. Open | ESPN2 |
| 3-6 a.m. | Best of the U.S. Open (Second Round) | ESPN | |
| 1-2 p.m. | SportsCenter at the U.S. Open | ESPN, ESPN Mobile TV | |
| 5-11 p.m. | Third Round | ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com | |
| Sun, June 20 | 12-1 a.m. | SportsCenter at the U.S. Open | ESPN2 |
| 3-6 a.m. | Best of the U.S. Open (Third Round) | ESPN | |
| 1-2 p.m. | SportsCenter at the U.S. Open | ESPN, ESPN Mobile TV | |
| 3-9 p.m. | Final Round | ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com | |
| Mon, June 21 | 12-1 a.m. | SportsCenter at the U.S. Open |
ESPN2 |
| 1:30-5 a.m. | Best of the U.S. Open (Final Round) | ESPN2 |
ESPN3.comESPN3.com will offer four unique channels of U.S. Open early round coverage Thursday and Friday, including:
- ESPN’s live TV coverage (1-3 p.m. & 5-10 p.m.)
- Holes 7 & 17 (live 1-10 p.m.)
- 18th Hole (live 1-10 p.m.)
- Historical U.S. Open Championships at Pebble Beach (1972 – Jack Nicklaus, 1982 – Tom Watson, 1992 – Tom Kite and 2000 – Tiger Woods)
ESPN AudioThe 2010 U.S. Open marks ESPN Audio’s initial foray into golf play-by-play. ESPN Radio will present live play-by-play coverage of all four rounds of the U.S. Open (1-7 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, 5-11 p.m. on Saturday and 3-9 p.m. Sunday). Additionally, ESPN Radio will produce preview specials on Tuesday and Wednesday (7-8 p.m.), post-championship shows and live updates within SportsCenter reports airing three times per hour. ESPNRadio.com, ESPN Deportes Radio and ESPNDeportes.com will include the U.S. Open leaderboard, Championship updates and player interviews. Sean McDonough and Bob Wischusen will host live broadcasts with other ESPN analysts contributing. Chuck Wilson and Freddie Coleman will host preview shows with Doug Brown, Marc Kestecher and Dan Davis providing post-round coverage. ESPN Radio’s coverage of the U.S. Open will also be available on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio (Sirius channel 120 and XM channel 140).Interactive TelevisionESPN will produce the U.S. Open Mix interactive TV offering, available through DirecTV (channels 701-705), which will include four channels of live TV coverage, Marquee Group, Holes 7 & 17 and the 18th hole. U.S. Open Mix will be available all four days of the Championship.ESPN.comCovering the 2010 U.S. Open from all angles, ESPN.com will provide:
- Jason Sobel’s popular daily Cover It Live analysis throughout the Championship;
- Expert opinions from featured writers that include Gene Wojciechowski, Bob Harig and Sobel;
- Interactive leaderboard and live scores;
- A golf-themed fantasy game, Best Ball Majors, U.S. Edition, the second installment of the ESPN Best Ball Challenge;
- Extensive video content, including highlights, analysis, clips from SportsCenter and press conferences;
- Also, photo galleries, podcasts, live chats, SportsNation polling and more.
ESPN Mobile
- Live mobile video simulcasts of ESPN’s first- and second-round telecasts and SportsCenter presented by IBM at the U.S. Open preview shows of the third and final rounds;
- News and highlights on the ESPN mobile Web site with a U.S. Open leaderboard;
- U.S. Open Insider content, news, and columns;
- Scoring alerts for top players;
- Video shot packs of select golfers.
ESPN On DemandAvailable to approximately 27 million households nationwide, ESPN On Demand will offer unique U.S. Open programming to fans, including Tiger Woods’ victories in 2000, 2002 and 2008; Jack Nicklaus’ last U.S. Open win in 1980; and a Sport Science piece focused on the spin produced by golf wedges.ESPN ClassicESPN Classic will pay tribute to the U.S. Open beginning Tuesday, June 15, with 35 hours of official U.S. Open highlight videos leading up to the first round Thursday, June 17.ESPN InternationalESPN International will televise over 26 hours of live U.S. Open action to more than 218 million homes and 133 countries outside the U.S., including viewers in Asia (ESPN Star Sports), Canada (TSN), the Caribbean, Israel, Latin America, the Middle East and Northern Africa. ESPN’s telecast in Latin America will feature the commentator team of Silvia Bertolaccini and Francisco Aleman, and in Brazil, Marco Rodrigues and Ricardo Melo. Fans in Latin America will also be able to follow ESPN’s live simulcast television coverage and a continuous feed of Pebble Beach’s signature holes, including the 7th, 17th and 18th via ESPN Play – ESPN’s signature broadband platform in the region–along with full editorial coverage on ESPNDeportes.com.
When NBC’s press release comes in, I’ll be sure to post it.
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