Golf Channel is adding some new morning programming to its lineup which will feature the return of a familiar face.

Longtime Golf Channel broadcaster Gary Williams will return to the network’s morning lineup as part of a new one-hour morning show titled 5 Clubs on Golf Channel that will debut Monday, Jan. 6th. Williams helped found 5 Clubs, a multimedia platform that produces golf content across a variety of mediums, in 2021.

The new show, slotted for 8 a.m. ET Monday-Wednesday, will be hosted by Williams and feature 5 Clubs contributors including Golf Channel regulars and co-hosts of The Wagyu Filet Show, Johnson Wagner and Brendon de Jonge. ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, golf course architect Gil Hanse, and broadcaster Emma Carpenter — all 5 Clubs contributors — will make regular appearances on the show, as will PGA Tour Radio’s Taylor Zarzour.

“As a consumer of sports radio and television and for more than 20 years, and as a host of shows originating in the morning, I have immense appreciation for being in a position to initiate and drive the daily conversation in the game of golf,” Williams said in a press release. “We aspire to make 5 Clubs on Golf Channel the golf industry’s morning show. The way to achieve that is by having a wide lens on the interests of everyone who invests time into the game of golf. The daily pursuit of that objective is supremely motivating to me.”

Williams hosted Golf Channel’s flagship morning show Morning Drive for nearly a decade from 2011 until the show’s end in 2020. The network intends to announce other morning programming initiatives in the coming weeks.

5 Clubs on Golf Channel will continue a growing trend in sports media of television networks licensing out shows from established digital brands. While this will be unique in the sense that Wagner and de Jonge already appear frequently on Golf Channel’s studio programming, it nonetheless reinforces a new normal in the world of sports television.

Golf Channel finds itself in an interesting spot entering 2025. The network will be a part of Comcast’s impending SpinCo which will spin off most of the company’s cable assets like MSNBC, CNBC, and USA. Once detached from the mothership, it’s unclear how much will change for Golf Channel. Last month, NBC Sports president Rick Cordella insisted that all contractual obligations will be met, meaning fans can still expect to see PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, and DP World Tour events to air on Golf Channel.

Whether the niche sports network will be impacted by broader business forces remains to be seen.

[NBC Sports PR]