Baseball and Football ; Monitor and NIS (NBC Radio)
Mark J. Cuccia
NBC-NIS...
As I'd said in earlier posts, Long form live play-by-play sports and
other special events (such as a long form news coverage of a funeral,
or immediate incident, etc. was no real problem when NBC Radio had
Monitor. Even when Monitor was trimmed down to several 2-3 hour
segments,
NBC Radio knew that they had most of their affiliates cleared to carry
the network for most of the weekend.
Shortly after Monitor was cancelled, NBC started their (nearly) 24/7
"NIS" format. This caused a problem for NBC Radio, since this was before
the days of separate simultaneous satellite channels. NBC fed both the
"traditional" fare of short-form and Sun morn/nite long-form programs
of the NBC Radio Network as well as the NIS 23-25 min segments down the
same set of AT&T Bell System landlines (similar to the way ABC sent its
four program packages down the line at different times during the hour,
and Mutual fed the Mutual Black Network newscasts/etc. at different
times
than the "traditional" Mutual Broadcasting System programs.
I don't think that the FCC had even granted any special waivers or
relaxed
the restrictions against chain-broadcasting "duopolies" which broke the
Blue network from RCA/NBC, that eventually became ABC in the 1940's.
Later on, network radio rules were relaxed, and for what it matters, I
don't even think that such rules apply to network TV, since the "big
boys"
own numerous satellite/cable services and channels as well.
NBC Radio gave up one of their TRADITIONS when they started the NIS.
That was Major League Baseball. They gave up their rights to the Wild
Card
Games, the American/National League Playoffs, and the World Series.
(I don't know if NBC Radio had been carrying the All Star Game in the
Summer, prior to 1975, though). CBS Radio snatched up the rights to
Major
League Baseball - I remember hearing the games on CBS Radio in the late
1970's. Apparantly, NBC didn't want to have to pre-empt the NIS segments
to carry the baseball games on the "traditional" NBC Radio Network.
HOWEVER, NBC Radio DID pre-empt NIS (at least) ONCE a year (1976 and 77)
during the NIS period... and that for several hours in the afternoon
on New Years' Day (or the day after New Years' in 1977?), so that the
"traditional" NBC Radio Network could carry its tradition since
1-Jan-1927,
the Rose Bowl Game from Pasadena! I know that I heard it on NBC Radio in
1976 and 1977. I don't know if there were any other Bowl games that NBC
carried in the 75-77 period, thus pre-empting NIS. I do know that after
NIS ceased operations, NBC Radio did carry a few holiday period Bowl
games.
I do have a bit more regarding long-form sports and network radio in the
1970's... but I'm going to need to shut down my system right now. I'll
try to save it for a later posting.
--
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Mark J. Cuccia
Major League Baseball (wild-card playoffs, American/National League
playoffs, World Series) when they started that "NIS" service from
Spring.1975 to Summer 1977, I said:
> I don't think that the FCC had even granted any special waivers or
> relaxed the restrictions against chain-broadcasting "duopolies"
> which broke the Blue network from RCA/NBC, that eventually became
> ABC in the 1940's.
> Later on, network radio rules were relaxed, and for what it matters,
> I don't even think that such rules apply to network TV, since the
> "big boys" own numerous satellite/cable services and channels as
> well.
> NBC Radio gave up one of their TRADITIONS when they started the NIS.
> That was Major League Baseball. They gave up their rights to ...
> CBS Radio snatched up the rights to Major League Baseball -
> I remember hearing the games on CBS Radio in the late 1970's.
> Apparantly, NBC didn't want to have to pre-empt the NIS segments
> to carry the baseball games on the "traditional" NBC Radio Network.
> HOWEVER, NBC Radio DID pre-empt NIS (at least) ONCE a year (1976
> and 77) during the NIS period... and that for several hours in the
> afternoon on New Years' Day (or the day after New Years' in 1977?),
> so that the "traditional" NBC Radio Network could carry its tradition
> since 1-Jan-1927, the Rose Bowl Game from Pasadena! I know that I
> heard it on NBC Radio in 1976 and 1977.
And also in years following as well...
> I don't know if there were any other Bowl games that NBC carried in
> the 75-77 period, thus pre-empting NIS. I do know that after NIS
> ceased operations, NBC Radio did carry a few holiday period Bowl games.
In 1977 or 1978, CBS Radio carried the championship fight between
Muhammad Ali against challenger Leon Spinx. I remember that Spinx won
that match, but too many people were "oh so upset" that Ali was beat
that it was decided to have a re-match fight.
I don't remember who carried the re-match fight on network TV (probably
ABC?), but I'd read that ABC Radio was going to carry this 1978 re-match
fight. I remember thinking to myself, and also later reading in industry
press sources (i.e., Broadcasting Magazine), that this would be the
first time in TEN YEARS that ABC Radio had carried any special live
long-form sporting event.
When ABC Radio changed into the four package services fed over the same
set of AT&T Bell Telco lines but at different times during the hour,
beginning on 1-Jan-1968 (American Information, American Entertainment,
American Contemporary, American FM), so as not to pre-empt as much news
and short-form features for only ONE station in the market to be able to
carry a fight, game, horserace, etc., ABC Radio cancelled any previous
games that they traditionally had carried play-by-play, and didn't renew
or contract to carry any further games/etc. Of course, ABC Radio's
four package services had numerous weekend 3-to-5 min sports update feeds
and also some weekday morning / weekday evening sportscasts...
Lou Boda's "World of Sports" on ABC-Information
Dave Martin's and Keith Jackson's "SportsWorld" on ABC-Entertainment
Howard Cossell's "Speaking of Sports" on ABC-Contemporary
(I don't know who did the sportscasts for ABC-FM, though)
But for ABC Radio to carry the Ali-Spinx re-match fight in 1978 was
something that ABC Radio hadn't done since 1-1-1968!
However, I also heard that the fight (which took place here in New Orleans
at the Superdome) was going to be BLACKED OUT on radio and TV for approx.
200 miles radius surrounding New Orleans.
I thought that I'd simply listen to the fight via Armed Forces Shortwave.
But I never heard any information on the daily program updates on AFRTS-SW
that they would be carrying the re-match fight from ABC Radio.
However, I was able to pick-up KRLD-Dallas, a 50-KW station, carrying the
fight.
When the time was coming up to the top-of-the-hour, or the bottom-of-the-
hour, I was about to tune in WGSO-1280 (ABC-Information) and WSMB-1350
(ABC-Entertainment), to hear if the local DJ/Talkhost was going to do
something like:
"This is WGSO New Orleans, 1280-AM, let's take a quick five for ABC Radio
News from the American Information Network, and then we'll be back with
more music and talk this evening; call-in any thoughts you might have at
588-1280."
"This is WSMB New Orleans, 1350 on your radio dial. We're going to break
for five minutes of news from ABC and the American Entertainment Network.
Stick around for more music after the news, and give us a call at
561-8111, if you'd like to talk on the air."
And the local host/DJ would open up the ABC "pot" on the board, expecting
to get ABC-Information or ABC-Entertainment news, but instead hear the
ABC sportscaster from the Superdome announcing the fight.
BUT NO... The REGULAR ABC-Information Network newscast fed from :00-:05,
and the REGULAR ABC-Entertainment Network newscast fed from :30-:35...
while at the same time, KRLD-Dallas was getting the fight from ABC Radio!
Apparantly, the FCC had relaxed the rules against "duopolies" or multiple
simultaneous feeds per time-zone/market... ABC Radio had least a SEPARATE
set of AT&T Bell System landlines ("traditional, regular" 5.0 Khz acoustic
bandwidth, too), to feed the re-match fight only for those affiliates
that were going to carry the fight, while those other ABC affiliates not
carrying the fight could still get the regular feeds of five-min news
or info programs from whatever ABC radio package they carried!
At the end of the fight, and then the post-fight program, when all was
over, and the announcer was reading the credits, I wondered what/if he
would "outcue" ... maybe as "This is been a presentation of ABC Radio
Sports" (?) -- I didn't remember any pre-fight publicity indicating that
the re-match was to be considered part of the Information Network
package, nor the Entertainment package, nor the Contemporary package--
only that 'ABC Radio' had the rights to carry the re-match...
As the closing music was finishing up, he identified himself by name,
and then outcued:
"THIS.... is the ABC... Radio Network"
Something that hadn't been heard THAT WAY in about ten years, since
probably 31-Dec-1967!
(Today, Paul Harvey Jr uses that as the outcue of his dad's morning
five minute news and commentary... but back in the 1970's/80's, the
announcer for Paul Harvey (Sr) outcued the five-min morning newscast:
"This program came to you from Chicago".)
Starting about that time, I can remember that many long-form "Special"
that were pre-produced by ABC Radio (music specials, concerts, etc)
were mailed on LP-disk or tape-reel to affiliates opting to carry the
program. Thus, the "regular" ABC Radio feed of four different newscasts
during the hour, etc. wouldn't be interrupted.
Going into the 1980's, ABC Radio also began to bid (and win) the radio
rights to numerous other long-form sporting events. And they had AT&T
set up a SEPARATE set of telco lines to run the game, separate from
the "regular" ABC Radio fed short-form newscasts and info features for
its four program packages.
Around 1980, Mutual picked up the Sears Radio Theater after CBS Radio
dropped it. CBS fed Sears Radio Theater down the regular network.
Mutual sent it out on disk or tape by mail. Thus, Larry King, or the
three "MBS" hourly newscasts (Comprehensive News from Mutual Radio at
:00 and :30, Progressive News from Mutual Radio at :55) or the
"Mutual Black Network" newscast at :50, as well as other short form
"regular" fare could be fed without interruption.
However, Mutual still interrupted all "regular" programs for Saturday
afternoon NCAA football/basketball/etc., Sunday afternoon NFL games,
Monday night NFL (until CBS Radio picked up the rights), etc. since they
carried the games fed over the "regular" Mutual network lines.
But, also around this time, Black College Football was being offered by
the Mutual Black Network to "its" affiliates. On Saturday afternoons,
a separate set of telco lines was arranged to run those games.
Mutual even had a short-lived "Mutual Southwest Radio Network" in the
late 1970's, fed out of Dallas TX. There were three newscasts - 7-days
a week - one in the morning, one in the mid-day, one in the afternoon,
fed at the top of the hour, to states from Louisiana (yeah, that's not
really southwest, but Louisiana is a Central Time feed station that was
fed out of Dallas) to Arizona, all fed out of Dallas. This Mutual SW Radio
newscast "pre-empted" the feed of Mutual News from Wash.DC that hour,
for all states and affiliates fed out of Dallas.
Also, Mutual Southwest Network obtained the rights for a HUGE package of
Southwest Conference College Football. There could be up to FOUR games
being played simultaneously on a Saturday afternoon in the SW Conferemce
Football package for Mutual SW Network. I don't know which game might have
been fed over the "regular" regional feed, but the other three games would
feed over separately set-up telco circuits for Mutual-SW and the stations
that wanted to carry a different particular game.
Thus, in the Fall in late 1970's, "Mutual" could have SIX college football
games being fed, all over separate telco circuits...
- NCAA football on the "non-SW Mutual" feed of the "regular" Mutual lines
- Black College Football on the SEPARATE telco hook-up for MBN stations
- the "main" game that afternoon of the SW Conference package to those
states/affiliates hooked up to the Dallas TX feed...
- and THREE additional SW Conference package games on separate AT&T lines.
On Sunday afternoons, Mutual-SW (I don't remember if it were on a separate
feed or on the "regular" circuits thus pre-empting the nationwide NFL game
from Mutual) fed Dallas Cowboys Football to desired "Southwest" affils.
There WAS also a secondary separate Mutual-SW hook-up leased from telco,
with a separate set of announcers for the Dallas Cowboys, EN-ESPANOL!
And I think I remember reading that some stations in Mexico contracted with
Mutual-Southwest to carry this!
In either 1978 or 1979, when CBS Radio carried the Super Bowl (CBS-TV also
had the television rights in whatever year it was), and the game was
played here in New Orleans that year too...
The "pre-game" show started QUITE EARLY in mid-afternoon. I don't remember
if it "pre-empted" the "pre-feed" of CBS Radio Mystery Theater that Sunday
afternoon, but the game DID pre-empt one or more of the usual evening
feeds of CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
WWIW-1450 (now WBYU-1450), a "nostalgic music" station (it used to be
locally DJ'd, but mostly is now getting its nostalgic music from the
ABC-Dallas "Stardust" satellite channel) was the Mystery Theater affiliate
at the time (since regular CBS Radio affil, WWL-870 dropped their option).
WWIW-1450's studios at the time were in the Superdome, where the Superbowl
was being played. They were also the NBC Radio (hourly news) affiliate.
At 8:00pm Central, the board-op opened up his 'pot' to NBC Radio for the
hourly newscast. At 8:05:30pm, he closed the NBC 'pot', started a cart
of the song: "Radio - remember Radio - we'd sit and close our eyes - and
use or imagination - commedy, mystery, a fireside chat...." for the 90
seconds between the end of NBC Radio news (:05:30) until the 8:07pm
beginning of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater as fed. When it neared 8:07pm,
he opened his mike and announced: "and now, the Theater of the Mind...
the CBS Radio Mystery Theater", and then opened up his CBS 'pot'.
What came out was the Superbowl game, which WWL-870 was carrying, and the
DJ could have looked out of his studio window and see the game being
played down on the field! After a few minutes (I guess he planned to take
a coffee or bathroom break when he thought Mystery Theater was to start)
he comes back and closed the CBS 'pot', announced that "Mystery Theater
that night was cancelled due to circumstances beyond his control", and
he'd just go back to playing nostalgic music.
I called up the office line and said that there were later feeds of
Mystery Theater that night, maybe these would run if the game ended early
enuff. He said that since none of this was mentioned in the "log", he
just wasn't going to bother. IF CBS was able to pre-feed Mystery Theater
earlier that Sunday afternoon (before the pre-game show that started
hours before kickoff), WWIW didn't know to tape it.
CBS Radio didn't set up any separate telco hook-up for "other" programs,
nor did they mail-out disks/tapes of Mystery Theater, Adventure Theater,
nor Sears Radio Theater at that time. ALL programming was FED DOWN their
leased telco landlines!
Except--- for one instance I know of... the "CBS Radio at Fifty" 50th
anniversary special which aired in Sept.1977... it was fed on a Sunday
evening (three full hours) over the regular network lines. But WWL-870
had firm committments to sponsored but locally run tapes of religious
programs on Sunday evenings. WWL had received tapes or disks of the
program, which was PRE-produced, NOT live, and aired them that Sunday
afternoon... three hours earlier than the network feed.
All of this was pre-satellite. Today, ABC/Disney (including Dallas orig
feeds) and CBS/Westwood/"NBC"/(Mutual)/CNN/whatever, can feed MULTIPLE
programs SIMULTANEOUSLY, over individual separate satellite channels.
(But WHY don't they run Monitor, Dragnet, Fibber & Molly, etc.... over
some of these channels!!!! ?????)
Incidently, CBS Radio did something unique during football/basketball/
baseball games they carried in the 1970's and early 1980's... I don't
think NBC Radio did this during the Rose Bowl games, and I don't remember
Mutual doing this neither...
During a football game at halftime, and several times between innings in
a baseball game, CBS Radio would run a five-min NON-SPONSORED newscast!
Win Elliot (or whoever) would announce - "And now lets take a five min
break..." (two mins several times between innings if a baseball game)
"... from our half-time activities to switch to New York for the latest
news from CBS Newsroom..." (there is a slight pause after this)
The usual (1978-83) CBS Radio News jingle would play, and then Doug Poling
or whoever would start a "regular" newscast format for five mins (two
mins of updates between innings if a baseball game)... NO network
commercials would air in these newscasts/updates...
At the end, the newscaster would close:
"This is Doug Poling, CBS News New York...." (slight pause)
"Now we return to Win Elliot of CBS Radio Sports at Mile-High Stadium in
Denver for more of half-time activities and the second half of the game."
I guess that stations NOT carrying the game could cart-up this 5-min news
cast at half-time, and run it shortly after it finished feeding...
There was that brief pause before the newscast, and right after the
"regular type outcue" before saying "lets return to Win Elliot".
Did NBC or CBS (or Mutual or ABC) do any type of half-time newscast or
news-update between innings, back in the 1950's or 60's? Of course, if a
MAJOR news story would break in the middle of a game, the news department
at the radio network would simply break-into the game with the updates
or bulletins.