When Tiger Woods returns to competitive golf at The Masters, ratings on ESPN and CBS Sports should spike to record levels.It's a fairly safe place for Woods to return, because officials at Augusta National can limit who gets credentials from the media to the exclusive event, thereby limiting questions about the personal problems of the world's best golfer. It's also a ratings bonanza for the tournament's TV partners -- ESPN, which provides coverage of the first two rounds and CBS, which carries the final rounds the season's first major, scheduled April 8-11, as it has since 1956.
Still, another media player has emerged this year: Comcast. According to Variety, the media giant, which built its strength as a cable operator and might soon acquire NBC, plans to provide 3D coverage of all four rounds of The Masters.
That coverage will be available only on a special Comcast channel or online (masters.com). Of course, people who want to see the coverage must have computer screens or TV capable of showing 3D programming.
While that's a minority of screens at this time, industry and TV experts expect 3D-compatible hardware as the next major area of growth for media in the coming years. Also, the move makes Comcast a player on its own terms for a major sports event -- something else that might become a growth area in future years.