January 15, 1967...In Super Bowl 1, It Was CBS Against NBC There was literally more animosity between the CBS and NBC crews that there was on the field between Green Bay and Kansas City. Tensions were so high, a chain link fence had to erected to separate them. Although the video from the game has been lost by both networks, there is this great NFL Films summery. Also included here is the Los Angeles Times article from the next day which was titled, Super Bowl 1...Battle Of The Networks, by Larry Stewart. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee _______________________________________________________ Two may usually be better than one, but that wasnt the case on Jan. 15, 1967, when two television networks covered the first Super Bowl. It created a little confusion and a whole lot of competition. Jack Whitaker, who worked the game for CBS, said during an interview this week: There was tremendous pressure for us to get a higher rating than NBC. Id never felt that kind of pressure before, and havent felt it since. NBCs Charlie Jones, from his home in La Jolla, said: We had production meetings back at our hotel every night during the week leading up to the game, and so did they. We plotted how to beat CBS, and they plotted how to beat us. Pat Summerall of CBS, from his home in Lake City, Fla., said: It was different than anything Ive ever done as a broadcaster. Actually, the announcers found the rivalry ridiculous, but their bosses didnt. Whitaker, now with ABC, said from his Palm Springs home: We ended up getting the higher rating, but it had nothing to do with us (the CBS announcers) or anything we did. CBS got the higher rating simply because CBS was available in more homes and also because viewers tuned in out of habit since CBS had been televising the NFL longer. It was a good lesson in humility. CBS, in an unusual setup, had Ray Scott doing the play-by-play the first half and Whitaker the second. Frank Gifford was the commentator, and Summerall worked the sideline and the winners locker room. Curt Gowdy did the play-by-play for NBC, with Paul Christman, who has since died, doing the commentary. Jones was assigned to the sideline and the losers locker room, and George Ratterman, who worked the game as a commentator for radio, was assigned to the winners locker room for television. The shared television feed was a first for sports. Theyd done it before for some space shots, but not for sports, Jones said. CBS, which had been doing NFL football since the 50s, didnt think NBC, which had started doing the American Football League in 1965, should be involved. But NBC argued that it had put a lot of money into the AFL and deserved to be there. So it was agreed that CBS would provide the pictures and each network would use its own announcers for the game at the Los Angeles Coliseum between the Green Bay Packers of the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs of the upstart AFL. One of the first arguments was over camera position. NBC wasnt happy with where CBS wanted its 11 cameras. The arguments among the network brass and the technical staff continued through the game. There was more animosity among the technical people, who belonged to different unions, than there was between the two teams, Summerall said. They had to put up a chain link fence at the Coliseum to separate those guys. There was more of a cooperative spirit among the announcers. Said Jones: Summerall and I, as the sideline reporters, were set up at card tables on the Green Bay side. He was at one 20-yard line, and I was at the other, but we secretly agreed to work together. We figured the people at home would be watching one telecast or the other and not both. We had both gone to Arkansas at the same time and knew each other. Vince Lombardi, Green Bays coach, had been an assistant coach with the New York Giants when Summerall played for them. Pat had an in there, Jones said, and I had an in with the Chiefs since Hank Stram (then the Chiefs coach) was a good friend. The first big thing to happen was (Packer receiver) Boyd Dowler got injured and came over to the sidelines, where they took off his jersey and wrapped his shoulder. I looked down at Pat, and he was just sitting there. So I walked down and told him, Go find out whats wrong with Dowler. Recalled Summerall: I knew Lombardi wouldnt let anyone connected with the telecast near his bench. That was his office, and it was off-limits. Said Jones: I finally talked Pat into asking the trainer about Dowler. He learned that Dowler had a separated shoulder and was out for the game. Later, the Chiefs Fred (the Hammer) Williamson, who had made some derogatory remarks about the Packers before the game, was hurt and carried off. This time, Jones got the information and fed it to Summerall. Problem was, NBC never went down to Jones for either injury report, so only CBS benefited from the sharing. Jones had his problems after the game, as well. He was in the Kansas City locker room with running back Mike Garrett, quarterback Len Dawson and owner Lamar Hunt. But the CBS director working the game, Bob Dailey, never cut to Jones. At the time he said it was a time problem, but years later he said he didnt cut to me because it wouldnt have been good television, Jones said. Here we had someone in the losers locker room, something that wasnt done in those days, but nobody knew it. youtube/watch?v=Kk1_DlMapLo
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 09:59:56 +0000
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