Brandel Chamblee will be on the call for next month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
Chamblee, one of the most polarizing voices in the game, will join a four-man booth for NBC, Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal reports. He will be joined by play-by-play man Dan Hicks, Brad Faxon and Mike Tirico.
The lead analyst position has been a revolving door for NBC, a network that has come under fire for coverage struggles and mismanagement of a heavy commercial load.
Paul Azinger was not renewed after a four-year run as lead analyst, leading NBC to try out a rotation of analysts throughout 2024. Chamblee, Faxon, Kevin Kisner, Notah Begay III and Luke Donald have all been involved during the audition process.
Kisner appeared to have a leg up on the competition after getting strong reviews early in the season. However, he opted out of covering the U.S. Open, citing a previous commitment.
“He wants to be a golfer and wants to focus on his golf game,” said Sam Flood, NBC Sports Executive Producer and President of Production. “When he’s ready to stop playing golf, we’ll have a conversation.”
Chamblee, known for his extensive work on Golf Channel, will take that role for the time being. Love it or hate it, Chamblee is an educated voice who isn’t afraid to let it fly. He will force some to reach for the mute button but Chamblee is an upgrade over Azinger, in the opinion of many.
That news was far from the only update NBC had when it comes to its golf coverage.
Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch—longtime NBC commentators who recently returned for the 50th edition of The Players Championship—are back in the loop for the U.S. Open. Maltbie and Koch were so warmly received during The Players that NBC decided to bring them back for all four days.
It does feel a little out of place to hold onto Maltbie and Koch while also talking about the broadcast getting younger. With the exception of adding Smylie Kaufman to the mix—a solid addition—NBC has struggled to inject youth or different voices into its talent lineup. Meanwhile, CBS has enjoyed breakout performances from Trevor Immelman, Colt Knost, Amanda Balionis and others.
Maltbie and Koch are wonderful but NBC seems lost between two ideas here. I would still like to see an overhaul of their crew, getting younger talent such as Kisner involved.
It will be Donald in the lead chair for the Open Championship. The European Ryder Cup captain was on air for two PGA Tour events this year.
NBC also has the Olympics and Presidents Cup but has yet to announce plans for those events.
Golf fans will also be interested to know that NBC is promising a commercial cut. On Thursday and Friday afternoons during the prime viewing window for top players, the network will reduce its hourly commercial breaks from six to four. It will do the same on Saturday and Sunday in addition to the commercial-free final hour of Sunday’s coverage sponsored by Rolex.
Interestingly, NBC is also promising five additional shots per hour due to having more promotional content baked into the broadcast. Are they MGS readers? Because this has been on my wish list for quite some time.
“We can be promoting ‘The Voice’ right as Scottie Scheffler’s about to hit a shot from the fairway, that way we don’t leave the moment,” Flood said.
Amid reports of cost-cutting at Comcast/NBC—and golf TV ratings having a horrid 2024—it will be fascinating to watch whether this is lip service or an earnest effort to push the product forward.
Golf on TV has a long way to go but we will take any positive momentum we can get.
Keep complaining, everyone!
Tim Crable
3 hours ago
I will watch the US Open only from the DVR. If I have to hear one minute of Brandel’s uninformed crap I’ll tune to a soccer match. It couldn’t be worse!