Date: January 10, 2018
Author: Mark Hayes

New Aussie TV combo for Masters

A new combination will bring the Masters to Australian television viewers in 2018.

Channel Nine has bought the free-to-air and streaming rights from Augusta National, replacing the rival Seven Network as host for the year's first major championship.

And in another innovation for Aussie golf fans, pay-TV host Fox Sports will deliver ad-break free to Australia for the first time.

"The Masters is one of those special sporting events that captures our imagination; an event that the nation stops and watches," Fox Sports boss Patrick Delany said.

"Since we began broadcasting the Masters Tournament live in 2014, we have constantly innovated our coverage. Our subscribers can now enjoy high definition, multi-camera coverage every day, all on a dedicated Masters channel.

"This year viewers will see our coverage improve even further, now having the ability to watch ad-break free during play for the first time."

Channel Nine will air all four days of the 5-8 April tournament, along with Wide World of Sports offering three live video streams on 9Now.

The network is yet to decide on which channel it will air the tournament.

"While the Masters is no longer on the anti-siphoning list, our partnership with Augusta National to make free-to-air coverage available to viewers illustrates our shared goal of bringing the Masters to all Australians," said Tom Malone, Nine's director of sport.