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"But a certain percent of Tiger's audience is not the traditional golf audience and, in effect, is not what many advertisers are looking for," says Neal Pilson, president of Pilson Communications, a media consulting firm, and a former president of CBS Sports. "If Tiger's in an event, you expect a 50 percent increase in ratings. You don't necessarily negotiate a 50 percent increase in the advertising rate." Many of the advertisers are so-called "endemics" -- brands like Callaway, Titleist and Nike that target products and messages specifically toward golf devotees. "There's a strong, economically secure core audience for golf, and there is no indication that they have left," Pilson says. "The more casual audience that follows Tiger probably won't be back until he comes back again."
The Nielsen Co. has estimated that an average of 4.6 million viewers tuned in to tournaments played by Tiger in 2007-08. When Woods had knee surgery after winning the 2008 U.S. Open and missed the rest of the season, ratings sunk as much as 50 percent. But consider this. Network ratings for the first three tournaments in 2009, all of which Woods also missed because of his knee ailment, when compared to this year's first three tournaments
-- also without Woods -- show an audience growth of 29 percent. "We think that's pretty promising for golf," says Stephen Master, vice president of Nielsen Sports. "Golf had pretty strong support before Tiger. Maybe people are getting used to the fact that, for a while, at least, Tiger won't be around."
[Associated
Press;
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