Has anyone else noticed how biased CBS is regarding the AFC vs. the NFC? It's difficult to endure their coverage when the AFC team visits an NFC team and the game is unfortunately on CBS. They seem to go out of their way to hype the AFC team to infinity and beyond. I began to notice this last season. This year, neither conference seems to be superior to the other. Besides trying too hard to be hip, The NFL Today is painful to watch with their slant on the AFC. Yeah, CBS paid a bunch of money for the AFC and its smaller market teams. Maybe they've got little man's syndrome. Just give me some balanced analysis of BOTH teams. Win or lose, the NFC is clearly the better package based on the number of O&O's for CBS and Fox in the top 20 markets. In the those markets, Fox has owned stations with NFC teams in NY, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Phoenix and Tampa Bay. CBS has owned stations with AFC teams in NY, Oakland, Boston, Denver, Miami, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. CBS has O&O's in 7 of the Fox O&O/NFC team markets. The owned stations are the economic gravy for the networks if they have a local team (i.e. Fox 5 Atlanta airing the Falcons or Fox 4 Dallas airing the Cowboys). The local ad rates are always top dollar due to the draw of the NFL. BTW, I'm so glad that the Super Bowl is on NBC. They seem to be conference neutral and only want the best game of the week so they can grab the best ratings.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
CBS and the NFL
- Thread starter daryll
- Start date
You obviously don't remember pro football back in the league war days of the NFL vs. AFL. CBS, holder of NFL TV rights for many years before Neil Pilson lost them in 1994, was a giant PR vehicle for Pete Rozelle. When the AFL, televised by NBC back then, started gaining respectability and eroding the NFL's ratings, they started a huge propaganda campaign and nose-tweaking of the AFL.
In Super Bowl II, CBS barely acknowledged the existence of Green Bay's opponent, the Oakland Raiders. The telecast might as well have been produced by the Packers' PR Dept.
In Super Bowl IV, CBS announcers squirmed openly as the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs trounced the heavily-favored Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in a game that wasn't even close.
After Super Bowl I, Vince Lombardi called the AFL "a rinky-dink league".
Some Packer players said things like "They'll be ready for us in five years."; "Who are these guys?"; "They got no business being on the same field as us."
During league merger talks, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, whose team later joined AFL teams in the AFC, said: "I don't ever want to see the Denver Broncos in my stadium." Please note in Browns history how the years 1986 & 87 came out for them.
I used to love the way that NFL people would put the AFL down by saying that they had small market teams, but yet the NFL has Green Bay, which is smaller than Bakersfield.
It used to be so different. Pilson, then CBS Sports president, botched the longtime NFL deal, and the NFC wound up on Fox.
It's so ironic now that CBS is doing the AFC, and holding their banner up. What would Rozelle & Lombardi think?
In Super Bowl II, CBS barely acknowledged the existence of Green Bay's opponent, the Oakland Raiders. The telecast might as well have been produced by the Packers' PR Dept.
In Super Bowl IV, CBS announcers squirmed openly as the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs trounced the heavily-favored Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in a game that wasn't even close.
After Super Bowl I, Vince Lombardi called the AFL "a rinky-dink league".
Some Packer players said things like "They'll be ready for us in five years."; "Who are these guys?"; "They got no business being on the same field as us."
During league merger talks, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, whose team later joined AFL teams in the AFC, said: "I don't ever want to see the Denver Broncos in my stadium." Please note in Browns history how the years 1986 & 87 came out for them.
I used to love the way that NFL people would put the AFL down by saying that they had small market teams, but yet the NFL has Green Bay, which is smaller than Bakersfield.
It used to be so different. Pilson, then CBS Sports president, botched the longtime NFL deal, and the NFC wound up on Fox.
It's so ironic now that CBS is doing the AFC, and holding their banner up. What would Rozelle & Lombardi think?
I'll bet CBS' re-acquisition of NFL rights coincides with their recent bragging rights concerning their runs as the 'most watched network' on and off the last ten years. If Fox didn't snag NFC rights in 1994, they aren't the half the network player they are today. One can only imagine what might have happened if UPN execs didn't pass on American Idol.
Reading Rico's post got me interested in just how Fox secured the NFL rights in 1994, and I found a good article from the "SI Vault" at Sports Illlustrated/SI.com.
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138126/1/index.htm
CBS certainly had sort of a 'disdain' for the AFC that they had to put aside. However, the article mentioned that the 'point man' in negotiations with the NFL wasn't Neil Pilson, but instead Peter Lund, CBS's executive VP who answered to Lawrence Tisch, CBS CEO at the time.
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138126/1/index.htm
CBS certainly had sort of a 'disdain' for the AFC that they had to put aside. However, the article mentioned that the 'point man' in negotiations with the NFL wasn't Neil Pilson, but instead Peter Lund, CBS's executive VP who answered to Lawrence Tisch, CBS CEO at the time.
I'm well aware of the NFL/AFL war in of the 1960's. It made the league much stronger and maximized the game. My point has nothing to do with yesteryear but today. I smell their AFC bias and I just watch them as little as possible. CBS is arrogant toward their affiliates and their Sunday night NFL overruns into prime cause the late local news on the East Coast to be severely delayed. Yeah, it only benefits CBS in prime but the affiliates only get two minutes per hour to sell in prime and most ad agency buyers skip the Sunday late news that's all local ad inventory.
The fact that they had to save face and regain the NFL via the AFC in 1998 is indeed ironic as CBS has a long history of simply being arrogant. The Fox raid on the New World CBS affiliates on May 23, 1994 is one of my all-time favorite broadcasting moments. Fox caught CBS with it's eyes closed.
The fact that they had to save face and regain the NFL via the AFC in 1998 is indeed ironic as CBS has a long history of simply being arrogant. The Fox raid on the New World CBS affiliates on May 23, 1994 is one of my all-time favorite broadcasting moments. Fox caught CBS with it's eyes closed.
The NFC is clearly the inferior conference this year. The only way there will be an interesting Super Bowl this year is if New York (Giants) or Dallas comes out of the NFC side.
Speaking of arrogance, back when NBC had the AFC package in the 80's they never showed the score unless a touchdown or field goal was made or the quarter ended. If you jumped in mid game or from the game on CBS you could be stuck watching NBC for 5,10,15 minutes until you found out the game was a laffer or a close battle. That drove me crazy. Fox started the trend of showing the score at all times and thankfully every sport on the planet has since followed suit.
Speaking of arrogance, back when NBC had the AFC package in the 80's they never showed the score unless a touchdown or field goal was made or the quarter ended. If you jumped in mid game or from the game on CBS you could be stuck watching NBC for 5,10,15 minutes until you found out the game was a laffer or a close battle. That drove me crazy. Fox started the trend of showing the score at all times and thankfully every sport on the planet has since followed suit.
Indeed, it's kind of weird now to see an old game on ESPN Classic or the Big Ten Network and not have the score displayed constantly. Regarding the post about Art Modell's jab against the Broncos, didn't Modell voluntarily jump to the AFC in '70, and in fact convince Art Rooney to bring the Steelers over, too? How many AFC Central titles did that move cost the Browns, I wonder?
Indeed, it's kind of weird now to see an old game on ESPN Classic or the Big Ten Network and not have the score displayed constantly. Regarding the post about Art Modell's jab against the Broncos, didn't Modell voluntarily jump to the AFC in '70, and in fact convince Art Rooney to bring the Steelers over, too? How many AFC Central titles did that move cost the Browns, I wonder?
Corky Marlowe said:
The prospect of many AFC Central titles was probably one factor in Modell's semi-voluntary jump to the AFC. Then-commissioner Pete Rozelle, a close friend of Modell's, had a long conference with Modell, and tactfully convinced him to make the jump. He touted the fact that Pittsburgh, at that time a longtime NFL laughingstock, would be in the same division, and that the Browns could begin a new rivalry with Paul Brown and the third-year expansion team the Cincinnati Bengals. No one foresaw the coming uprising of the Steelers.
- Status