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.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Why is Congo struggling to contain mpox?

2024-09-19 14:12 Last Updated At：14:20

KAVUMU, Congo (AP) — Health authorities have struggled to contain outbreaks of mpox in Congo, a huge central African country where a myriad of existing problems makes stemming the spread particularly hard.

Last month, the World Health Organization declared the outbreaks in Congo and about a dozen other African countries a global health emergency. And in Congo, scientists have identified a new strain of mpox that may spread more easily. It has reached areas where conflict and the displacement of a large number of people have already put health services under pressure.

Overall, Congo has more than 21,000 of the 25,093 confirmed and suspected mpox cases in Africa this year, according to WHO's most recent count.

Yes, Congo is one of the African countries where mpox has been endemic for decades.

Mpox, once known as monkeypox, comes from the same family of viruses as smallpox but causes milder symptoms such as fever. People with more serious cases can develop skin lesions. More than 720 people in Africa have died in the latest outbreaks, mostly in Congo.

Mpox is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can spread to humans from infected animals. In the global mpox outbreak of 2022, the virus spread between people primarily through sex and close physical contact.

In September 2023, mpox spread to Congo's eastern province of South Kivu; it had previously been seen in the center and far west. Scientists then identified a new form of mpox in South Kivu that may be more infectious.

The WHO said that from the outbreak in South Kivu, the virus spread among people elsewhere in the country, arriving in neighboring province North Kivu. Those two provinces — some 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from the capital, Kinshasa — face escalating violence, a humanitarian crisis and other issues.

More than 120 armed groups have been fighting each other and the Congolese army for years in the eastern part of the country over the control of minerals. That has forced millions of people fleeing violence into refugee camps or nearby towns.

That means mpox is hitting already-stretched health facilities. Dr. Musole Mulambamunva Robert, medical director of the Kavumu hospital in eastern Congo, said it is “truly a challenge” — sometimes treating as many as four times the facility's capacity for patients.

With more than 6 million displaced people in the east, authorities and aid agencies were already struggling to provide food and healthcare, while fighting other diseases such as cholera. Many people have no access to soap, clean water or other basics.

Some eastern Congo communities are out of reach of health clinics — roads are unreliable, and hourslong risky boat trips are sometimes the only means of transport, said Mercy Muthee Lake of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent.

People can be more susceptible to severe mpox cases because of malnutrition and undiagnosed HIV, she said.

She also said health workers in eastern Congo have requested more mpox training as medications to treat fever and ease pain run out.

Health authorities "are up against it because it’s such a complex area,” said Chris Beyrer, of Duke University’s Global Health Institute.

Africa has no capacity to produce mpox vaccines. Around 250,000 doses have arrived in Congo from the European Union and the United States, and more are expected. Congolese authorities say they need around 3 million vaccines. It will likely be weeks before any vaccines reach people in eastern Congo.

For now, the vaccine is approved only for adults. There's limited evidence of how it works in children.

Vaccines are desperately needed, but they're just “an additional tool,” said Emmanuel Lampaert, the Congo representative for Doctors Without Borders. The key, Lampaert said, is still identifying cases, isolating patients, and executing grassroots health and education campaigns.

Local conditions make that trying — Lampaert noted it's almost impossible to isolate cases among poor, displaced people.

“Families with six to eight children are living in a hut, which is maybe the space of the bed we are sleeping in,” he said. “So, this is the reality.”

Unlike the millions of dollars that poured into Congo for Ebola and COVID aid, the response to mpox has been sluggish, many critics say.

Health experts say the sharp contrast is due to a lack of both funds and international interest.

“Ebola is the most dangerous virus in the world, and COVID wiped out the world economy,” said professor Ali Bulabula, who works on infectious diseases in the medical department at Congo’s University of Kindu. “While mpox is a public health emergency of international concern, there is a lack of in-depth research and interest in the virus, as it’s still seen as a tropical disease, localized to Africa with no major impact on Western economies.”

Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria, and Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP reporter Sam Mednick contributed from Kamituga, Congo.

For more news on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.