Nothing screams corporate passion like returning to your old stomping grounds the way Golf Channel has this week. Apparently the return of studio shows to Orlando is due to the bleak Winter Olympics in already awful Beijing necessitating NBC use of the lavender-tinged broom closet in Stamford, Connecticut.
While some might see a post-Chernobyl vibe to the former newsroom emptied of people, it’s also a fitting way of saying, “yes, we know a lot of people are paying attention to golf with no NFL and with the Saudi and Pebble events this week, but guess what? We just don’t care, plus we’d have to pay camera people and electric bills to go in the old studio just over their shoulders. And our partners, sponsors and viewers don’t deserve quality!”
Or, maybe it’s a way of signaling to a buyer? You know, one who’d like to return to where Arnold Palmer started the channel and it remained until his passing? And they tried to put out a good product? If only we the sport of golf could be so lucky.
