The Masters adds two hours of weekend coverage on Paramount

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The Masters adds two hours of weekend coverage on Paramount

2024-09-17 22:28 Last Updated At：22:31

The Masters and CBS are expanding television coverage next year by five hours, which includes two hours on Saturday and Sunday through the Paramount+ streaming service of CBS.

Augusta National also announced Tuesday another high-level corporate partner in Bank of America, bringing to four the number of “champion partners” for the major that attracts the largest viewing audience in golf.

The addition of Bank of America does not affect the commercial load. The Masters said the broadcast will continue with only four minutes of commercials each hour.

“The Masters Tournament has had the great fortune of enjoying an extraordinary relationship with CBS Sports for nearly 70 years,” said Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National and the Masters. ”Alongside our friends at the network, we are pleased to extend the tournament’s weekend coverage and ultimately deliver more live golf for Masters fans.”

CBS will add an hour to Saturday's broadcast. It will go from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT next year, instead of starting at 3 p.m. The third and fourth rounds will be shown exclusively on Paramount+ from noon until 2 p.m., and will remain available on the streaming service through the 7 p.m. conclusion.

That brings the total coverage to 23 hours, which includes 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday broadcast by ESPN.

CBS also produces the expansive digital coverage through The Masters app that includes such features as Amen Corner, holes 4-6, holes 15-16 and featured pairings.

CBS has made its live coverage of sporting events available on Paramount+. The additional two hours on the weekend will be part of its exclusive content, the first time it has offered such content from golf.

The partnership between the Masters and CBS, a year-by-year contract, dates to 1956 when the network used six cameras to televise the last four holes. It was only 25 years ago when the Masters offered just 10 1/2 hours of live coverage on CBS, including three hours on Sunday.

Bank of America joins a small list of primary corporate sponsors at the Masters that includes AT&T, IBM and Mercedes-Benz, which each have extended their partnerships. The club does not disclose details of those contracts.

Bank of America has had a relationship with Augusta National for the last several years, serving as a presenting sponsor for the Augusta National Women's Amateur since its inception in 2019, as well as the Asia-Pacific Amateur and the Latin America Amateur since 2022.

“Through Bank of America’s support of our community initiatives and amateur events, they have become an impactful and committed partner in our organization’s mission in Augusta and around the globe,” Ridley said.

He said adding Bank of America as a top-level sponsor expands that relationship and strengthens the Masters “for many years to come.”

The Masters is April 10-13 next year, sticking with its tradition of being held the first full week of April. Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion.

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North Korea vows to block border with South Korea and boost front-line defense postures

2024-10-09 14:02 Last Updated At：14:10

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday it will permanently block its border with South Korea and boost its front-line defense posture to cope with “confrontational hysteria" by South Korean and U.S. forces, while not announcing an expected constitutional revision to formally designate South Korea its principal enemy and codify new national borders.

While the moves were likely a pressure tactic, it's unclear how they will affect ties with South Korea since cross-border travel and exchanges have been halted for years.

North Korea's military said it will “completely cut off roads and railways ” linked to South Korea and “fortify the relevant areas of our side with strong defense structures,” according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The North's military called its steps a “self-defensive measure for inhibiting war and defending the security” of North Korea. It said that “the hostile forces are getting ever more reckless in their confrontational hysteria.” It cited what it called various war exercises in South Korea, the deployment of U.S. strategic assets and its rivals' harsh rhetoric.

North Korea said it sent a message to the U.S. military to explain its fortification activity to prevent any misjudgment and potential accidental clashes.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it confirmed the North Korean message with the American-led U.N. Command. It said South Korea is closely communicating and coordinating with the U.N. Command but didn't elaborate.

South Korean officials earlier said North Korea had already been adding anti-tank barriers and reinforcing roads on its side of the border since April in a likely attempt to boost its front-line security posture and prevent its soldiers and citizens from defecting to South Korea. In a report to parliament on Tuesday, South Korea's Unification Ministry said that North Korea has been removing ties on the northern side of cross-border railways and nearby lamps and planting mines along the border.

KCNA earlier Wednesday said the Supreme People’s Assembly met for two days this week to amend the legal ages of North Koreans for working and participating in elections. But it didn't say whether the meeting dealt with leader Kim Jong Un's order in January to rewrite the constitution to remove the goal of a peaceful Korean unification, formally designate South Korea as the country’s “invariable principal enemy” and define the North’s sovereign, territorial sphere.

At the center of outside attention was whether North Korea makes new legal claims on the waters currently controlled by South Korea off their west coast. The poorly marked western sea boundary is where three bloody naval skirmishes and two deadly attacks blamed on North Korea happened in the past 25 years.

Some experts say North Korea might have delayed the constitutional revision but others speculated it amended the constitution without announcing it because of its sensitivity.

Kim's order stunned many North Korea watchers because it was seen as breaking away with his predecessors' long-cherished dreams of achieving a unified Korea on the North's terms. Experts say Kim likely aims to diminish South Korea’s voice in the regional nuclear standoff and seek direct dealings with the U.S. They say Kim also likely hopes to diminish South Korean cultural influence and bolster his rule at home.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years, with North Korea continuing a run of provocative weapons tests and South Korea and the U.S. expanding their military drills. KCNA said North Korea on Tuesday tested a long-range artillery system that observers say pose a direct threat to Seoul, the South Korean capital, which is only an hour’s drive from the border.

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