A long-running problem with airing sporting events on broadcast TV is that the network is at the mercy of local affiliates. Those stations are often owned by other corporations and can randomly decide they have a different programming priority than the national network.
That’s sometimes defensible, as with the never-ending debates about cutting into sports for weather alerts. Meteorologists like to argue that those circumstances can be life-or-death and that some people may only see that information from breaking into sports, while others find that excessive in an age of wide-ranging text alerts, digital media coverage, and more.
But something far less life-or-death than severe weather is a press conference update on escaped prisoners. That’s what New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL (owned by Tegna) decided to air instead of the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday. Here’s how WWL cut into the golf:
Crucial parts of the final round of the PGA Championship were missed in the New Orleans area thanks to local CBS affiliate WWL cutting to a press conference from Louisiana governor Jeff Landry and others on escaped prisoners.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing.bsky.social) May 18, 2025 at 7:37 PM
And here’s how they came back 30 minutes later, much closer to the end of the tournament:
Here’s how New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL returned to the final round of a golf major after spending half an hour airing a widely-carried press conference of Landry discussing the justice system overall as well as the current events:
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing.bsky.social) May 18, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Of course, the decision drew plenty of criticism from New Orleans-area golf fans who were trying to enjoy the PGA Championship.
Yes @WWLTV please cut into the PGA Championship with a press conference that doesn’t update anything new on this prison break. How about at least giving us a picture in picture?
— Paul Boron (@pboron88) May 18, 2025
@WWLTV PUT THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP BACK ON. Nobody wants to watch this.
— Stephen Millet (@thestevemillet) May 18, 2025
@WWLTV Can you please put the PGA Championship back on air? No one cares about these idiot politicians yammering on about nothing new!
— Jennifer Comeaux (@LadyWave4) May 18, 2025
@WWLTV WHAT ARE YOU DOING??
YOU CUT IN TO THE END OF THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP MAJOR to show these people flapping their gums???
— Freedom Rocks (@FreedomRocks9) May 18, 2025
Turn the golf tournament back on these idiots are never finding the escapees and it’s the back 9 of a major on Sunday @WWLTV
— Whodat (@whodatrebz420) May 18, 2025
To be clear, WWL wasn’t the only New Orleans local station that aired at least some of this press conference in place of sports. Indeed, ABC affiliate WGNO (owned by Nexstar) abruptly cut off their NBA postgame coverage to air it. But at least they waited for the actual sports event they were covering to wrap up before doing that. Meanwhile, this presser received wide carriage from other local broadcast stations, so those who desperately wanted to see it could find it. But for those in the local area looking to watch this crucial golf major’s final round, there was no TV alternative.
Broadcast TV has a critical role to play in sports at the moment. That’s especially true with leagues looking for reach in an age of increased cord-cutting, and is why so many media deals emphasize a broadcast component. Those decisions are valuable for viewers who don’t subscribe to pay TV packages.
But there’s a clear downside when broadcast affiliates repeatedly declare they’re willing to preempt sports in order to carry unoriginal news coverage duplicated in countless other forums, meaning that the actual original sports content often winds up unavailable on TV. WWL’s behavior Sunday was a clear example of that, leaving New Orleans golf fans without an easy way to watch the final round of a major for half an hour.
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