New year, new NBC … or something like that.
On Tuesday afternoon, the network officially announced its PGA Tour broadcast lineup for 2023, confirming a slew of staffing changes that had been reported in recent weeks. The network’s announcement comes ahead of this weekend’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, the first broadcast coverage of the new calendar year for NBC.
Smylie Kaufman and Brad Faxon lead the charge among NBC’s new hires, joining the network in on-course analyst and “hole announcer” roles, respectively. Despite joining the network anew in 2023, Faxon and Kaufman bring a wealth of experience to NBC, rejoining the network after stints in recent years. Kaufman worked most recently with NBC this past season, serving as an on-course analyst for the network’s USGA championship coverage, among other events in 2022. Faxon was with the network in the early 2010s but left for FOX’s USGA Championship coverage in 2015. He has worked in various media roles, including as a host for SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, since NBC purchased back the USGA rights from FOX in 2020.
In addition to Kaufman and Faxon’s hirings, the network announced the promotions of longtime analyst Curt Byrum and interviewers Damon Hack and Cara Banks. Byrum, who will be one of the network’s “hole announcers” in 2023, enters his coverage of the men’s game after years in the same role for the network’s LPGA coverage; while Hack and Banks elevate into the role vacated by Kathryn Tappen.
The changes come after the network did not renew the contracts of longtime analysts Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie, among other staffers, amid a reported $1 billion in NBCUniversal budget cuts. Koch and Maltbie finished their NBC careers with a warm on-air serenade during December’s PNC Championship.
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The top of the ticket for NBC remains largely unchanged, per the network’s release. Longtime play-by-play man Dan Hicks will continue to serve alongside lead analyst Paul Azinger, and both men will be joined by on-course analysts John Wood, Notah Begay and Arron Oberholser. (Wood, in particular, has been a revelation, helping to offset the loss of fellow caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay as he returned to Justin Thomas’ bag in early 2022.)
Coverage for the 2023 season will begin for NBC on Thursday evening.