NBA on CBS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| NBA on CBS | |
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| Genre | Sports |
| Starring | Brent Musburger Dick Stockton Tommy Heinsohn Hubie Brown Pat O'Brien |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 150 minutes+ |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS (1973–) |
| Original run | 1973 – 1990 |
The NBA on CBS was a weekly presentation of National Basketball Association games on CBS Sports. The NBA on CBS ran from the 1973-1974 NBA season (when CBS succeeded ABC Sports as the official American television broadcaster of the NBA) until the 1989-1990 NBA season (when CBS was succeeded by NBC Sports). From 1986 to its final year in 1990, CBS paid about $47 million per year for their NBA coverage.
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[edit] Tape delay and playoff scheduling
From 1975-1979 CBS aired all NBA Finals games live (usually during the afternoon). Starting in 1982, CBS resumed live coverage of all NBA Finals games. During this era, CBS aired weeknight playoff games from earlier rounds on tape delay at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time (airing games live when the game site was in the Pacific Time Zone). CBS continued this practice until at least the mid-1980s.
[edit] Scheduling
| Game | Day | Date | Status |
| 1979 NBA Final | |||
| 1 | Sun. | May 20 | Live |
| 2 | Thu. | May 24 | Tape Delay |
| 3 | Sun. | May 27 | Live |
| 4 | Tue. | May 29 | Live to EDT/CDT, Tape Delay to MDT/PDT (11:30 p.m. EDT start) |
| 5 | Fri. | June 1 | Live (9 p.m. EDT start) |
| 1980 Eastern Conference Final | |||
| 1 | Fri. | April 18 | No broadcast |
| 2 | Sun. | April 20 | Live |
| 3 | Wed. | April 23 | No broadcast |
| 4 | Thu. | April 24 | No broadcast |
| 5 | Sun. | April 27 | Live |
| 1980 Western Conference Final | |||
| 1 | Tue. | April 22 | No broadcast |
| 2 | Wed. | April 23 | Live to EDT/CDT, Tape Delay elsewhere |
| 3 | Fri. | April 25 | Live to EDT/CDT, Tape Delay elsewhere |
| 4 | Sun. | April 27 | Live |
| 5 | Wed. | April 30 | Live to EDT/CDT, Tape Delay elsewhere |
| 1980 NBA Final | |||
| 1 | Sun. | May 4 | Live |
| 2 | Wed. | May 7 | Live to EDT/CDT, Tape Delay elsewhere |
| 3 | Sat. | May 10 | Live |
| 4 | Sun. | May 11 | Live |
| 5 | Wed. | May 14 | Live to EDT/CDT, Tape Delay elsewhere |
| 6 | Fri. | May 16 | Affiliates had choice to show live or tape delay |
[edit] 1979
In 1979, Games 2 and 5 of the Eastern Conference Final were televised live, while Game 7 was broadcast on tape delay. Games 3 and 6 of the Western Conference Final aired live, while Games 2, 5 and 7 were televised via tape delay. Games 6 and 7 of the 1979 NBA Finals would have been televised live (at 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday and then 9:00 p.m. on the following Tuesday), but were unnecessary.
[edit] 1980
By 1979-1980, CBS' NBA ratings had bottomed. CBS felt that wasn't worth it to them to pre-empt their Friday night lineup (the smash hit Dallas in particular) during May sweeps to show an NBA Finals game. The consensus was that a basketball game in prime time would have drawn fewer viewers. As a result, CBS used to regularly run NBA games in the 11:30 p.m. time slot (then occupied by The CBS Late Movie). For the 1980 and 1981 NBA Finals, CBS scheduled Games 3 and 4 on back-to-back days (Saturday and Sunday) to avoid an extra tape delay game. When it came time for CBS to broadcast Game 6 (on Friday, May 16) of the 1980 Finals, they gave their affiliates the option of either airing the game live or on tape delay. If the affiliate choice to air the game later that night, then prime time viewing would consist of reruns of The Incredible Hulk, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Dallas.
[edit] Later years
The NBA responded to CBS' actions by moving the regular season later, resulting in the NBA Finals ending after sweeps ended (the NBA had experimented in 1979-1980 and 1980-1981 with ending the regular season at the end of March, thereby ensuring that the Finals were played in early to mid-May; starting in 1981-1982, a late April regular season finale was held, resulting in the finals starting in late May and stretching into June). While CBS would stop using tape delay after the 1981 NBA Finals, many first round playoff games were not nationally televised (a practice that didn't begin until 1995). During this era, CBS typically provided regional coverage of two games in a late Sunday afternoon time slot during the first three weekends of the playoffs. In 1989 alone, only 13 of the 24 Games 1-3 in Round 1 appeared on TBS or CBS. For example, none of the four games from the Seattle-Houston first round series appeared on national television.
Another interesting fact is that Game 5 of the 1989 playoff series between Chicago and Cleveland (featuring Michael Jordan's now famous game winning, last second shot over Craig Ehlo) wasn't nationally televised. For instance, CBS affiliates in Virginia elected to show the first game of a second round series between Seattle and the Lakers. Meanwhile, many CBS affiliates on the West Coast such as Los Angeles and San Francisco got a chance to see at least a portion of the Chicago-Cleveland game. In Los Angeles, the hometown Lakers finished their game (started at the same time as the Chicago-Cleveland game) just in time for CBS to switch to Chicago-Cleveland, where as it happened Jordan made his game winner. The Portland Oregonian criticized CBS for its decision to show the Game 1 of the second round Seattle-Lakers series in Portland rather than that game. Further, CBS only broadcast the fifth game of the first round series between Atlanta and Milwaukee nationally. The nationally televised Atlanta-Milwaukee game went on the air at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time while the regionally televised Chicago-Cleveland and Seattle/L.A. Lakers games went on the air at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Perhaps even more confusing, both Game 5 sites (Chicago at Cleveland and Atlanta at Atlanta) were in the Eastern Time Zone, so differing local start times were not a factor. Previously, CBS aired Game 2 of the Chicago-Cleveland series nationally while relegating Game 2 of the Atlanta-Milwaukee series to TBS. CBS used its number one announcing team, Dick Stockton and Hubie Brown to call that game.
During the 1980s, CBS showed a mixture of NBA and college basketball during the regular season. Each March, CBS would essentially put their NBA coverage on hold during the NCAA Tournament.
[edit] Resurgence of the NBA
Popular belief holds that the peak era of the NBA on CBS occurred from 1984 to 1987. During this period, CBS' NBA coverage was the beneficiary of a new era in the league that would forever link two of the game's greatest players, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Bird and Johnson entered the NBA (coming off of playing against each other in the highest rated NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship of all time), playing for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. The Lakers and Celtics, two iconic teams in large television markets, rose to prominence during the period; many credit the theatrics of Bird and Johnson to boosting the overall popularity of the NBA (especially during the tape delay era of NBA telecasts). Within three years of Johnson and Bird entering the league, the NBA had a weekly Game of the Week on CBS, and ratings for Finals games approached World Series levels.
Prior to the Bird/Magic era, CBS used to televise approximately five to seven games regionally per week in a doubleheader format (1:45 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET) on Sundays. ratings for regional were far outdrawn by NBC's college basketball coverage and ABC's Superstars program. After ratings bottomed out in 1980 and 1981, coinciding with CBS airing tape delayed coverage, the network decided to scrap the regional telecasts. In its place CBS sold the marquee players and teams (i.e. Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers, Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers, etc.) for a "Game of the Week" broadcast.
[edit] Announcers
[edit] Brent Musburger
The most familiar voice to NBA fans during the seventeen years of the NBA on CBS was Brent Musburger. Musburger was involved in every NBA Final (either as a play-by-play man or as a host) from 1975 to 1989, and was the lead voice for NBA games on CBS for much of that period. From 1975 to 1980, Musburger worked with a variety of analysts for regular season games (including Billy Cunningham, Mendy Rudolph, Rod Hundley, Oscar Robertson, Steve Jones, Tom Heinsohn, and Rick Barry). The most memorable game Musburger called was Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals (arguably, the greatest game in NBA history), with Rick Barry and sideline reporters Mendy Rudolph and Sonny Hill. In 1989, he and Bill Raftery were the number two team on playoff games, working the Western Conference Final games that were broadcast on CBS. In 2004, Musburger and Raftery worked NBA playoff games on ESPN.
[edit] Dick Stockton
Dick Stockton was the lead voice of the NBA on CBS from 1981 to 1990. After CBS failed in an attempt to compete with the NBC college basketball announcing team of Dick Enberg, Billy Packer and Al McGuire with Gary Bender, Rick Barry and Bill Russell, Stockton became the voice of the NBA. Working with Tom Heinsohn (who was criticized by the media and viewers for being too biased to the Boston Celtics, a team he once played for and later coached) from 1983 to 1987, Stockton called some of the most memorable NBA Finals in league history. In 1984, 1985 and 1987, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics played each other in the NBA Finals, and Stockton's broadcasts became the then-highest rated in NBA history. Stockton would call the NBA Finals through the rest of the 1980s and in 1990 as well, working the 1988 NBA Finals with Billy Cunningham and the 1989 and 1990 NBA Finals with Hubie Brown (after Cunningham left CBS Sports to accept a management job with the new Miami Heat).
[edit] Other personalities
CBS employed many NBA greats during its seventeen years as the lead network carrier; Bill Russell was an analyst for several years, mainly in the 1970s and early 1980s. Elgin Baylor was an analyst during CBS' inaugural year in 1973-1974, and was fired during that year's playoffs due to what CBS considered a lackluster performance. He was replaced by another NBA great, Rick Barry, who held a fairly consistent role with CBS through the 1970s and early 1980s, including calling several NBA Finals. Steve "Snapper" Jones, best known from the NBA on NBC, was part of CBS' broadcast teams, partnering with Don Criqui in 1975-1976 and 1976-1977.
During Game 5 of the 1981 NBA Finals, CBS analyst Rick Barry made this comment when CBS posted an old photo of colleague Bill Russell's on the 1956 Olympic team:
| “ | Who’s the guy in the back row with the big watermelon smile?[1][2] | ” |
Barry's comments were considered to be racially insensitive (Bill Russell is African American) and CBS did not renew Barry for the subsequent season.
CBS often used the same analysts for both the NBA Playoffs and NCAA Tournament. Tom Heinsohn, Billy Cunningham, and Hubie Brown all worked NCAA Regionals during years when also serving as the lead NBA analyst for CBS. Billy Packer worked NBA playoff games in 1987 and 1988 while he was the CBS' lead college basketball analyst.
While Brent Musburger did host most of CBS' NBA Finals pregame and halftime programs, Pat O'Brien hosted a pregame show during the earlier rounds of the playoffs called The Basketball Show. O'Brien, working with analyst Bill Raftery, also hosted the The Prudential At The Half. When Musburger left CBS Sports in April 1990, O'Brien took over the NBA Finals (the last that CBS did) hosting duties full-time. In 1989, Pat O'Brien filled-in for Brent Musburger (who was busy covering the College World Series for CBS) as the NBA Finals anchor for Game 2.
[edit] List of broadcasters
- For more details on this topic, see List of NBA Finals broadcasters.
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[edit] Announcing teams
[edit] 1983-1984 |
[edit] 1984-1985 |
[edit] 1985-1986 |
[edit] 1986-1987 |
[edit] 1987-1988 |
[edit] 1988-1989 |
[edit] 1989-1990 |
[edit] Theme music
Through the 1973-1976 seasons, the theme music for the NBA on CBS actually had lyrics. By the 1983 NBA Finals, the opening sequence was set in a primitive, computer-generated montage of basketball action set inside a virtual arena. The sequence, created by Bill Feigenbaum, is generally considered to be the most familiar theme music that the NBA on CBS used. The theme was revamped for the 1989 NBA Finals and was used until the end of CBS' coverage in 1990.
[edit] Memorable moments
- For more details on this topic, see Notable National Basketball Association games televised by CBS.
During its tenure as NBA network partner, CBS aired notable Finals series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, as well as both championships won by the "Bad Boy" era Detroit Pistons.
[edit] Ratings
- For more details on this topic, see National_Basketball_Association_Nielsen_ratings#From_the_Beginning_.28CBS.29.
CBS' NBA ratings were extremely low during the early part of the eighties. Ratings fell to a level where, as mentioned before, CBS began airing games in tape delay. The 1981 NBA Finals set the standard for futility, with a 6.7 average rating. The mark was the lowest in NBA history, until the 2003 NBA Finals averaged a 6.5 on ABC. With the rebirth of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, ratings improved, especially in the three NBA Finals the two teams played in. CBS' highest rated NBA game (and the only NBA game that scored a 20 plus rating for the network) was Game 7 of the 1988 NBA Finals. By the end of its coverage, CBS' NBA ratings had been mostly respectable, with the lowest rated Final after 1982 scoring a 12.3 (three times). That mark is higher than any NBA Final since 1998.
[edit] Slam dunk contest
During the 1976-77 season, the NBA's first after merging with the ABA, CBS held a slam dunk contest that ran during halftime of the Game of the Week telecasts. Don Criqui was the host of this particular competition. The final, which pitted Larry McNeill of the Golden State Warriors against eventual winner Darnell "Dr. Dunk" Hillman of the Indiana Pacers, took place during the 1977 NBA Finals. CBS, anxious for star power, gave big names of that era (Julius Erving, George Gervin, and David Thompson) the opportunity to be eliminated three times.[5][6]
[edit] Statistics
| Season | 1973-74 | 1974-75 | 1975-76 | 1976-77 | 1977-78 | 1978-79 | 1979-80 | 1980-81 | 1981-82 | 1982-83 | 1983-84 | 1984-85 | 1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 |
| Games | 40 | 37 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 38 | 36 | 40 | 40 | 26 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 38 | 42 | 36 | 45 |
| Contracts | $27 million/3 years | $21 million/2 years | $74 million/4 years | $91.9 million/4 years | $173 million/4 years | ||||||||||||
[edit] See also
- NBA on ABC
- NBA on NBC
- NBA on TNT
- NBA on ESPN
- List of NBA Eastern Conference Final broadcasters
- List of NBA Western Conference Final broadcasters
- List of NBA Finals broadcasters
- Lakers-Celtics rivalry
[edit] References
- ^ Kick Out the Sports!
- ^ Sportscasters Gone Wild
- ^ Frank Glieber died of a heart attack after the second weekend of the playoffs and was replaced by Verne Lundquist.
- ^ Verne Lundquist and Len Elmore worked Game 7 of the Chicago Bulls-Detroit Pistons Eastern Conference Final.
- ^ Dr. Dunk Rates His Competition
- ^ Enjoying 'Mile High' should be a slam dunk
[edit] External links
- Aaron Mintz' Trade and Swap! - Sports Games, Shows & Highlight Films
- InsideHoops - NBA TV Contracts*NBA - CBS SportsLine.com
- CBS NBA Basketball (1982, Video) - No voice over.
- TV Theme - CBS, NBA.wav
- CBS TV Spot: NBA Playoffs
- CBS NBA 1985 Montage
| Preceded by ABC |
NBA network broadcast partner 1973 - 1990 |
Succeeded by NBC |
