It was 50 years ago today on April 29, 1961 that ABC'S WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS made its debut. On that first show it started off with Jim McKay doing the initial introduction as he was covering the Penn Relay at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Later on that first show it was the Drake Relay in Des Moines, Iowa and it was Bill Flemming who covered the action. Fans can now contribute to this new topic! Have a great weekend everybody!
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ABC'S WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS DEBUTS 50 YEARS AGO TODAY!
- Thread starter JonathanGabel
- Start date
C
cd637299
Guest
Oh wow! W.W.o.S. no longer is called that, as ESPN has taken control.
I remember their 10th anniversary show in 1971, where they had video of the first show. Will there be a retrospective program anywhere?
cd
I remember their 10th anniversary show in 1971, where they had video of the first show. Will there be a retrospective program anywhere?
cd
It was generally a favorite of mine but had one extremely irritating factor - they always seemed to paid something appealing to males (which I always assumed was their target audience) like skiing with something appealing to females (like figure skating). Then they broke up the coverage so that each was in segments meaning you had to wade through the uninteresting stuff to find out what happened to the interesting stuff.
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cd637299
Guest
One thing that bugged me about WWoS was the "preference" that ABC put on it, to a point where Pro Bowlers Tour (which came on before it, and was highly rated) "had to end" by the start time of WWoS. Can you imagine....a live sporting event, and the participants have to finish by a certain time? No wonder ABC had to nix it later on.
In 1991, PBT had the Firestone Tournament (the Super Bowl of bowling, if you will).....there was a bomb threat that day, and the tournament could not start for another 30 minutes plus. Even with that serious threat, because of commitments to WWoS, the final game could not be shown in its entirety, and the "news" about who won was broadcast on WWoS. Fine way to treat the keglers, ABC.
Oh well. (It didn't really help, that PBT had to squeeze 4 games into 90 minutes, especially if there was a tie and a roll-off.)
cd
In 1991, PBT had the Firestone Tournament (the Super Bowl of bowling, if you will).....there was a bomb threat that day, and the tournament could not start for another 30 minutes plus. Even with that serious threat, because of commitments to WWoS, the final game could not be shown in its entirety, and the "news" about who won was broadcast on WWoS. Fine way to treat the keglers, ABC.
Oh well. (It didn't really help, that PBT had to squeeze 4 games into 90 minutes, especially if there was a tie and a roll-off.)
cd
cd637299 said:
I also remember a WWOS 25th anniversary special in 1986, which also included clips of the opening and highlights of the first show.
ESPN has been showing selected highlights, but only of high-profile events like Ali-Frazier, Lance Armstrong winning the Tour De France, etc. The real gems on WWOS were the fringe sports like motorcycle racing on ice from the Soviet Union, cliff diving in Acapulco, the figure 8 races, wrist wrestling from Petaluma, California, etc.
There was a time in the early 1960's when WWoS ran on Sundays. I know in March, 1962, the show aired the Cincinnati-Ohio State NCAA Basketball Finals game from the night before via videotape..
...one tiny touch that I kinda liked was that in the early '70s, they used "The Minotaur" by Dick Hyman, the first U.S. Top 40 hit to be completely performed on a synthesizer, as their closing credits theme, especially if a boxing match was one of that day's events. I'm fairly sure that part of the reason was that the recording was then owned by ABC's record division...
azumanga said:
According to Castleman and Podrazik, "Wide World" aired on Saturdays in the summer of 1961 and was on for two hours (5-7 ET). It did not air in the fall of '61, but came back after the 1961 football season as a 90-minute show on Sundays (5-6:30 ET).
It aired on Sundays until the fall of '62, after which it assumed its longtime slot on Saturdays. The Saturday/Sunday version you're referring to began in the mid-'70s, IIRC, and continued into the '80s.
Any "WWOS" retro show is incomplete without a clip of a 1962 AFL game between Dallas and San Diego. The ABC crew was given unprecedented access to the field with crane-mounted, early hand-held and dolly cameras, Hall Of Fame coaches Hank Stram and Sid Gillman were miked for the first tme ever along with QBs Tobin Rote (SD) and that newcomer from the NFL, Len Dawson (Dal), and other innovations.
I believe Roone Arledge produced the game, and he used techniques that were later standard on ABC's college football games, certain AFL games through 1964 (after which the contract went to NBC), and eventually ABC'S Monday Night Football...it is a historic broadcast if only for an in-depth look at the late, great American Football League.
I believe Roone Arledge produced the game, and he used techniques that were later standard on ABC's college football games, certain AFL games through 1964 (after which the contract went to NBC), and eventually ABC'S Monday Night Football...it is a historic broadcast if only for an in-depth look at the late, great American Football League.
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