Television, Sports and Mass Culture

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Television, Sports and Mass Culture

• The Role of Television in American Sports After
  1946

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I. Televised Sports Origins

• TV changes the nature of sports
• Love affair between TV and boxing
• The love affair enters a rocky period
• A very quiet Friday night
• Some boxing fans happy with the end of fight
  night
• TV and sportsgood, bad, or both?

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I. Televised Sports Origins (cont.)

• Sports on TVan early novelty
• --Columbia vs. Princeton (May 17, 1939)
• Television industry takes off after World War II
• Initial programming obstacles
• Sports or Entertainment?

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II. Wrestling on Television

• History of wrestling
• During WWII, a new form of professional wrestling
  emerged
• -- Gorgeous George
• Lovers of true sports attacked Georges
  behavior
• Ex-boxers and women turned to wrestling for a
  living
• Women were avid viewers
• TV adds to carnival atmosphere of wrestling

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III. Roller Derby on Television

• Origins of Roller Derby
• ABC introduces televised roller derby in 1949
• Similarities between pro wrestling and roller
  derby
• Violent fans and swearing, punching women

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IV. Boxing on Television

• Boxing forges the strongest ties with TV in the
  40s and 50s
• Everyone connected with the partnership is at
  first pleased with the results
• --Gillette Safety Razor Company and the Friday
  Night Fights
• New standards for judging a good fight

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IV. Boxing on Television (cont.)

• Hurricane Jackson the new style TV boxer
• Popularity of white, well-rounded boxers
• --Roland LaStarza and Chuck Davey
• Television changes boxing

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IV. Boxing on Television (cont.)

• Television destroys the club system
• Big fight arenas face reduced live gate revenues
• --Madison Square Garden
• By late 1950s, the romance between TV and boxing
  was stale

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V. Basketball on Television

• Television set sales jumped tremendously in 1948
• Sports an important part of 1948 TV programming
• Basketball dominates programming in the winter of
  1948
• Problems with TV coverage of basketball

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VI. Baseball on Television

• Technological problems
• Owners sign their own TV deals to the detriment
  of competitive balance
• Televised games take their toll at the gates
• Decline for minor league teams a real problem

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VII. Professional Football on TV

• TV really contributes to the growth and
  popularity of pro football
• Owners negotiated a single package with revenue
  sharing
• Pro football looked good on early TV
• 1958 championship game
• By 1960, TV was firmly a part of the sporting
  scene for better and for worse

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VIII. The Roone Revolution

• Real revolution in sports television in the 60s
  and 70s
• Roone Arledge and Richard Nixon
• Arledges background
• A bold new plan for covering football games
• Near-perfect program judgement

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VIII. The Roone Revolution (cont)

• First task improve televised college football
• Goal attract the casual viewer
• Lots of shots of beautiful women
• Bringing the sounds of football to TV viewers
• Introduces instant replay

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IX. Wide World of Sports

• Arledges approach successful from the beginning
• Aggressive pursuit of the rights for major sports
  events
• Keys to success for Wide World of Sports
• Criticism of the show

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IX. Wide World of Sports

• The use of creative editing
• Securing the rights to Acapulco cliff divers
• The appearances of Evel Knievel
• Wide World of Sports produced a number of
  spinoffs
• -- The American Sportsman
• -- The Superstars

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X. Monday Night Football

• Encouragement from Pete Rozelle
• More and better technology
• Selecting a team of announcers
• --Keith Jackson
• Don Meredith country charm and humor

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X. Monday Night Football (cont.)

• Howard Cosellthe man people loved to hate
• Reactions to the show were predictably strong
• Team of announcers altered for the second season
• --Frank Gifford

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XI. The Olympics on Television

• Arledge changed the way that Americans saw the
  Olympic Games
• Host cities promised publicity and exposure
• Heroic technology and extended coverage
• An opportunity to promote their own television
  shows

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XII. The Battle over Control of Television Sports

• By the mid-70s, Arledge was one of the top
  executives in the industry
• -- Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
• Battle over the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games
• Sports TV becomes a sellers market
• --Sugar Ray Leonard

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XIII. The Era of Trash Sports

• Origins of ABCs The Superstars (1973)
• --Red Auerbach protests the NBAs betrayal
• Trash Sports shows multiply
• Battle of the Network Stars
• Era of trash sports ended in the early 80s

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XIX. The Golden Age of Television Sports
Ending?

• Competition from local superstations and cable
  channels in the 80s
• --WTBS and ESPN
• Traditional sports sponsors began moving their
  advertising dollars into other areas

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XIX. The Golden Age of TV Sports Ending?
(cont.)

• TV networks caught between rising costs for
  rights and falling advertising dollars
• Capital City takes over ABC in 1985
• Rising costs for rights in the 90s and sports
  dependence on television revenue

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XIX. The Golden Age of TV Sports Ending?
(cont.)

• For the most part, televised sport takes place
  outside of prime time
• Special events still work for prime time
• NBCs commitment to the Olympics in the 90s
• Appetite for TV sports still seems to be high
• The success of the 1996 Atlanta Games on TV

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XX. How Has Television Changed the Game Itself?

• Has TV influenced the way a game is played?
• Instant Replay
• The TV time out
• Starting times for games
• Schedule of Olympic events
• Winter Olympics bumped to another year starting
  in 1994
• 1988 Calgary games moved
• North American settings