BETHPAGE, N.Y. — The Ryder Cup was under way at Bethpage Black, but according to many irate Canadians, it was nowhere to be found on television for many north of the border.
And now there are more problems with the afternoon session.
“Oh boy. Someone has messed up Ryder Cup coverage in Canada,” wrote TSN golf analyst Bob Weeks Friday morning on X. “If you’re on Bell, no problem — you can watch on Golf Channel. But Rogers and Telus are showing a Jack Nicklaus documentary. Understandable, folks aren’t happy,”
The veteran broadcaster then updated that the issue did not appear to be affecting Telus users, although some golf fans on Telus in British Columbia weighed into social media saying the event was nowhere to be found on their television as well.
It would appear to possibly have been a regional issue for the Golf Channel, and Rogers and Telus are perhaps picking up the incorrect feed for Canadian viewers, leading to a very frustrating morning for many Canadian golf fans trying to watch the most anticipated event on the year’s golf calendar.
The first tee shot on Friday at the Ryder Cup came at 7:10 a.m. Reports that the issue had been resolved for some began to come in at approximately 8:30 a.m., nearly an hour-and-a-half after the tournament started.
Unlike most golf tournaments where the most thrilling action comes late on Sunday afternoon, one of the great highlights of the Ryder Cup is the hysteria surrounding the opening tee shot on Friday morning. Something that many Canadians unfortunately missed.
During the afternoon session problems persisted, this time with Cogeco cable according to some Ontario users. After avoiding the morning issues, Cogeco customers were out of luck for the afternoon four ball sessions. Instead of a Jack Nicklaus documentary, these unfortunate customers were getting a Tiger Woods doc instead of the Ryder Cup.
Cogeco told one customer that the company was aware of the issue and trying to fix it. Reports of the problem being rectified were relayed to Postmedia by viewers just before 3 p.m.
It isn’t the first time for issues with sports broadcasting in Canada as feeds are picked up from different carriers in this day and age of fragmented regional rights holders.
The U.S. pair of Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas got things started by winning the first hole of the event with a birdie over the European team of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Unfortunately, many Canadians could not watch it.
Captained by Keegan Bradley, the U.S. team is trying to rebound at home in New York after a one-sided victory by Europe two years ago in Italy. Luke Donald’s Team Europe is looking to become just the first away team to win since 2012.
Viewers in the United States seem much better off although it doesn’t seem perfect south of the border either, with the Ryder Cup X acount posting a reminder for American viewers:
“Reminder that U.S. coverage is on USA Network and featured matches stream live on Peacock and the NBC Sports app.”
Some American viewers responded with complaints of broken audio on the U.S. broadcast.
The Canadian issue could stem from Canadian cable companies picking up U.S. feeds of the Golf Channel where in some areas NBC has opted to air the tournament on USA Network rather than Golf Channel. Canadian golf fans have seen similar issues before as broadcasts are blacked out in some areas but not others.
MORE TO COME…