• Multichannel News, Thursday, October 11, 2007 10:48 AM

After almost 25 years on USA, early coverage of the Masters Tournament will move to ESPN next year. The sports net will only get three hours a day of live coverage, with limited commercial time, but it is still a big win for the Disney-owned unit to land that much of the tournament.

So far, ESPN has only announced the rights to the Masters next year, and a spokesman won't say if the deal goes beyond that. Typically, tournament organizers go with one-year TV rights deals. ESPN says it will run live coverage of the first and second rounds from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and repeat it from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. It gets the first two rounds of golf on April 10-11, while CBS takes over the April 12-13 finals. ESPN will also do a Spanish-language telecast on ESPN Deportes. The tournament's organizers have limited the number of commercials that ESPN will be allowed to run during the programs, but the net will not disclose just how few they are.

"For sports fans, the Masters represents a hallowed rite of spring with its rich tradition and indelible imagery," says ESPN president George Bodenheimer. "We are honored by the opportunity to work with the Tournament to help it achieve its goal of growing the game of golf around the world."

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