How can the TV networks make golf coverage more engaging?

"Hello friends...this question comes in via Twitter from Jeff..."

I recently read an article by Frazier Moore (AP Television writer) about how golf television coverage can survive in Tiger's absence. He cited CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus saying "We’re all looking forward to him coming back, but until then we’re doing perfectly fine". I know everyone is putting on a brave face during this time while Tiger is away, but it was also stated in the article that they see rating drops of between 20-50% when Tiger is not in the field. I don't know about you, but the higher end of that range seems like a huge number, no? On the flip-side though the article went on to state that for the first three tournaments of the year Networks saw a 29% increase over last year. I found that number to be both surprising and uplifting. 

I made the statement in a post earlier this week that the PGA Tour needs to figure something out in Tiger's absence, both in the short and long-term. But now according to those numbers, maybe they don't! A comment was made to me via Twitter in response to that statement that the responsibility also falls on the players to draw interest. No doubt, I completely agree with that. Does the likes of Steve Stricker draw in the casual golf fan? Certainly not as much as possibly Rickie Fowler and Camilo Villegas. However, I do think that the PGA Tour as a business, in conjunction with the television networks and advertisers need to think of ways to draw in fans and keep them interested. Make television viewing more of an interactive experience.  

Why not have viewers tweet questions to a special tournament Twitter account that will be sifted through producers on the back-end and then answered on air by announcers like Nick Faldo, David Feherty, etc. There are numerous ways that the networks and the Tour can make it a more interactive and engaging experience for viewers, which will in the end draw fans. Maybe even select fans to ask questions on air via Skype? They would have to be done in such a way that it does not infringe on actually viewing the golf. But there are countless times when you can tell the announcer is talking just to talk, which we know can get them in to trouble at times (hello Frank Nobilo). Having these at the ready could help fill some of that time.   

Also, web capabilities and technologies through the TV are getting better and better. Hopefully it's not long before you can customize a leaderboard on your TV screen to follow the players you want. I find it so frustrating not knowing where some of my favorite players stand, if they don't fall within the first two pages of the leaderboard. You have to wait until they do the full leaderboard scroll which seems to only happen once an hour or so. Better yet, how about being able to overlay on a portion of your TV your favorite player's Shot Tracker (who as you know is my mistress)? I'm just tossing these out there as they come to me, so feel free to tear them apart at will. But I also challenge you to throw out some of your own ideas below in the comments.