Golf Channel Employees Go On Strike

Outside of all of the Majors, most golf events are broadcast on the Golf Channel. If you were watching recently, however, the Golf Channel may have seemed a little different.

On Sunday during the Sony Open, it was revealed that the network had unionized video and audio workers walk out on their jobs to join a strike. The strike was prompted after a stall in contract negotiations on a new labor agreement. Since the strike started on Sunday there has been no word on when workers will return to their jobs or when the strike will end.

The Golf Channel quickly put out a statement in response, stating, “Golf Channel has been working on negotiating an agreement for nine months with a union that represents our live tournament technicians. Those efforts have not yet yielded a resolution, and we looking forward to reaching a mutually agreeable contract. However, some technicians have chosen to walk off the job today. We have contingency plans in place and will continue to deliver coverage. Thank you to our viewers for the patience.“

Today's Sony Open telecast could look a lot different due to a labor dispute: https://t.co/XiW1TKOUA6 pic.twitter.com/16ZsRCLMez

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 14, 2018

Since the strike took place on a Sunday during two major tournament broadcastings, the network had to quickly find a solution to get coverage working efficiently. So what the channel decided to do for the Sony Open was to address the issue and scale down coverage, often covering the event from the Golf Channel studios.

Outside of the commentary that had to be made from the Orlando studios, another problem that arose was getting enough camera shots to cover the full event. Because of this, there were only a few groups that were followed for the final round along with just a few tower angles and blimp coverage. Jerry Foltz even had to take over control of a camera in one of their towers to keep visual coverage.

Hopefully, this strike is resolved soon so we can all go back to enjoying the game on TV like normal. But in the meantime, Golf Channel will have to find a permanent solution to cover their events with the new season upon us.

Cover Image via Twitter