Trevor Immelman marks the most important change for CBS Golf main as much as 2023, as he takes over the lead announcer’s chair following the departure of Nick Faldo.
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It is a chilly Sunday in early December, and the CBS Sports activities NFL sales space is abuzz.
Jim Nantz and Tony Romo — CBS’ “A-Crew” — put together to name the season’s recreation at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium. Nantz and Romo have referred to as loads of massive video games collectively, however they will ultimately be taught that this afternoon’s Chiefs-Bengals recreation is healthier than even their wildest regular-season desires: the halftime sequel to the twenty second AFC Championship, and half of the AFC Championship Sport. prefix. As the 2 males put together to air, there’s a quiet urgency. It is a huge second for CBS in a recreation that guarantees to be a rankings monster.
Quickly after, the producer counts the 2 males within the sales space. It is time to go. Romo and Nantz alternate a number of final phrases and return to the digital camera.
A couple of toes away, a well-recognized face places a headset to his ears. it is a Trevor Immelman.
Immelman, who was promoted simply months earlier by CBS’s golf workforce, is technically not supposed till you’re right here. The kiosk is a cramped and crowded house. The very last thing a stage supervisor wants is one other physique on his means. However after a number of months of harassing Nantz, the previous Masters champion and present golf announcer acquired an invitation.
James Colgan
His position this week is straightforward: to fly on the wall. To absorb as a lot of what is going on on as potential and make it acquainted, in order that when the identical expertise comes his means, it looks like second nature.
This final half is of nice significance to Immelmann, largely due to the identical expertise he Coming his means in just some months. From the nook of the published sales space, he watched intently because the opening kickoff kicked off.
Clearly, one of the simplest ways to organize for all times subsequent to Jim Nantz is to simply arise little bit keep away from him
Immelman is the massive change of 2023 at Golf TV, and his tenure will start on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open this week which can run from Wednesday via Saturday for the second yr in a row. On immediately’s Sizzling Mic, we kicked off the 2023 CBS Golf season by sharing a few of the different modifications, together with Immelman’s, that you would be able to anticipate from The Eye within the new yr.
6 fascinating modifications coming to CBS Golf in 2023
1. Trevor Immelman enters the driving seat
“That is Trevor’s mannequin,” Nantz informed me, telling the story of Immelman’s go to to the Bengals-Chiefs. “Each fall he needed to return over and hang around with the NFL workforce. So in Cincinnati he was with us within the sales space, standing subsequent to us and sporting a headset. Simply watching and listening to how Tony and I talk on air. That is simply typical Trevor. He is an exceptionally well-groomed man.” And exceptionally considerate. He by no means misses a factor, and I am keen to take care of him.”
And roll with it, Nantes will. After years working as an analyst in a wide range of roles throughout golf tv, Immelman will ascend to the chief analyst chair at CBS Golf, changing into—as CBS Sports activities president Sean McManus admits—solely the fifth man to earn that distinction because the Fifties. The 2008 Masters champion will substitute Nick Faldo, who retired from the grid on the conclusion of the 2022 season.
Golf is a proud custom at CBS. uncommon rotation. It is the type of place individuals retire from. These jobs open now and again as Haley’s Comet does the rounds. All of that is doubtless why Immelman discovered himself in Cincinnati in early December.
“In no way. I am nervous,” says Immelmann. “I do not wish to let my teammates down, particularly the man sitting subsequent to me.”
“I am nervous as hell, fairly frankly,” McManus rebukes agrees with a chuckle. “As a result of I am the person who made the choice.”
“nothing – nothing – To be nervous about it, Nantes opponents mentioned extra earnestly. “That is probably the most advantageous.”
Nantz represents the extra critical opinions of these round CBS in expressing his help for Immelman, whose professionalism and preparation have earned excessive marks already with golf’s longest-running broadcast workforce.
Nevertheless, there is just one likelihood to make a primary impression as a lead analyst at CBS Golf, and if Immelman performs his playing cards proper, it might be the final First impression ever.
2. New dynamics on the high
“There isn’t any substitute for Sir Nick,” McManus admits, talking of the CBS Crew of the Yr. However he leaves a key level: no substitute could also be essential.
Faldo’s departure offers CBS the chance to depend on its analysts in a means it could not in years previous, when Faldo’s magic carried a lot of the heavy lifting. Certain, the dynamic between Immelman and Nantz will make a noticeable distinction to golf followers, however the return of the remainder of the workforce on air (notably Frank Nobilo, Ian Baker Finch, Dotty Pepper, Colt Nost, Amanda Renner, and producer Sellers Shee) ought to assist clean out any bumps that come up when he charts the CBS sales space. a brand new path.
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James Colgan
3. A bigger desk
beigeEST From a programming perspective.
In 2023, CBS will broadcast the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the primary time, protecting the ultimate three occasions of the PGA Tour season. The community may also deal with “customized occasion” protection of the WM Phoenix Open, Genesis, Memorial, RBC Heritage, and extra.
Along with the tour schedule, CBS will proceed to cowl the Masters tournaments, the PGA Championship and the Scottish Open. In whole, the community will cowl 23 occasions, together with two majors and 4 international locations, within the new yr.
“Now we have 23 occasions in ’23, and that is an enormous deal for us,” mentioned Shy, the CBS producer.
4. Technical enhancements
Drones and “Mounted Leaderboard” have been two of the CBS Sellers Producer She Essentially the most well-received change among the many golf viewing public. We anticipate to see enhancements to each properties, in addition to a rise within the frequency of ultra-high-resolution Fly Cam, Boat Cam and Atlas digital camera footage used all through the published.
5. Lowering the “commerce burden”
nobody Likes Commercials throughout golf broadcasts, the least of that are these answerable for executing them. Shy and McManus each pointed to the scoreboard and section enhancements as a part of the pair’s effort to streamline the viewing expertise on CBS. This might imply fewer pre-produced packages, or one thing like that Sports activities Enterprise Journal I reported, sprinting to interview the CEO of the event sponsor — for a lot of our protection from Sunday afternoon — via Saturday.
6. Amplify your greatest moments
Final yr, CBS experimented with the primary moveable of its variety on WM, bringing host Amanda Renner and on-course analyst Colt Knost to the well-known sixteenth tee field. On the time, the aim was to have Renner assist seize energy in one of many sport’s finest environments.
Then got here Sam Ryder’s well-known ace and the wild celebration that adopted, which Renner and Nost expertly pulled off.
In ’23, Shi mentioned CBS expects to implement an identical technique at a handful of the most important golf “venues” in hopes of capitalizing on the vitality it discovered at No. 16.
