NBA on Dumont/NBC episode guide (1953-58)

[highwayman128]

NBA on Dumont- 1953-1954

1953-1954
December 12- Baltimore @ Boston- 2:30pm
January 2-Syracuse @ Philadelphia- 2pm
January 9-Minneapolis @ Milwaukee Hawks- 3pm
January 16-Philadelphia @ Balitmore- 3pm
January 23-Rochester @ Philadelphia- 3pm
January 30-Milwaukee @ Minneapolis- 3pm
February 6-Fort Wayne @ Syracuse- 3pm
February 13- Syracuse @ Rochester- 3pm
February 20-Fort Wayne @ Baltimore- 3pm
February 27-Fort Wayne @ Philadelphia- 3pm
March 6- Philadelphia @ Syracuse- 3pm

1954-55- (now on NBC)
December 4-Rochester @ Boston- 3pm
December 11-Syracuse @ Boston- 3pm
December 18-New York @ Milwaukee- 3pm
January 8-Boston @ Philadelphia- 3pm
January 15-Philadelphia @ Milwaukee- 3pm
January 29-Fort Wayne @ Minneapolis- 3pm
February 5-Fort Wayne @ Philadelphia- 3pm
February 12-Milwaukee @ Syracuse- 3pm
February 19-Fort Wayne @ Minneapolis- 3pm
March 5- Minneapolis @ Rochester- 3pm
March 12-Fort Wayne @ Syracuse- 3pm

1955-56
December 10- Minneapolis @ Boston- 3pm
December 17-New York @ Fort Wayne- 3pm
January 7- New York @ Philadelphia- 3pm
January 14- Boston @ Philadelphia- 3pm
January 21-Minneapolis @ New York- 3pm
February 4- Boston @ Rochester- 3pm
February 11-Philadelphia @ Minneapolis- 3pm
February 18-Fort Wayne @ Syracuse- 3pm
February 25-St. Louis @ New York- 3pm
March 3- Minneapolis @ Rochester- 3pm
March 10- Minneapolis @ St. Louis- 3pm

1956-57
December 15- Philadelphia @ Syracuse- 2:30pm
December 22- St.Louis @ Boston- 2:30pm
January 5- New York @ Fort Wayne- 2:30pm
January 12- New York @ Philadelphia- 2:30pm
January 19-St. Louis @ Syracuse- 2:30pm
January 26- Philadelphia @ Fort Wayne- 2:30pm
February 2- St. Louis @ Minneapolis- 2:30pm
February 9- Boston @ Rochester- 2:30pm
February 16-Minneapolis @ New York- 2:30pm
February 23-Syracuse @ Minneapolis- 2:30pm
March 2- Boston @ Rochester- 2:30pm
March 9- Fort Wayne @ St. Louis- 2:30pm

1957-58
December 14-New York @ St. Louis- 2pm
December 21-Minneapolis @ Boston- 2pm
January 4- Philadelphia @ Detroit- 2pm
January 11-Syracuse @ Cincinnati- 1pm
January 18-Detroit @ St. Louis- 2pm
January 25-Minneapolis @ New York- 2pm
February 1- Syracuse @ Minneapolis- 2pm
February 8- St. Louis @ Syracuse- 2pm
February 15-Boston @ Philadelphia- 2pm
February 22-Syracuse @ New York- 2pm
March 1- Cincinnati @ Philadelphia- 2pm
March 8-Detroit @ Boston- 4pm

 

[KMRichards]

> NBA on Dumont- 1953-1954

Wow. Where did you dig this up (as well as the other schedules)?

(The above is considered a gentle reminder from the moderator that sources are to be quoted in retro schedule posts.)
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[TimL]

> > NBA on Dumont- 1953-1954
>
> Wow. Where did you dig this up (as well as the other
> schedules)?
>
> (The above is considered a gentle reminder from the
> moderator that sources are to be quoted in retro schedule
> posts.)


I would like to know too..considering it is hard enough to dig out shows from the 1947-55 period that actually aired on DuMont via local stations when doing retro schedules.

 

[highwayman128]

> > NBA on Dumont- 1953-1954
>
> Wow. Where did you dig this up (as well as the other
> schedules)?
>
> (The above is considered a gentle reminder from the
> moderator that sources are to be quoted in retro schedule
> posts.)
>

I Looked them up from the New York Times microfilm site from the Boston Public Library.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

I suspect that New York was the only city with a full-time DuMont affiliate (network flagship O&O WABD-5, now Fox-owned WNYW) that had an NBA team.

I wonder if there were any cities with NBA teams that did not get DuMont's 1953/54 NBA broadcasts. And, given DuMont's competitive position, I would think there were large areas of the country who could not see the network's NBA coverage that year.

I have also heard an urban legend that during either the 1953/54 regular-season or 1954 playoffs, DuMont ended up broadcasting an NBA game which took three hours to play, although the game itself ended after regulation. Supposedely, this "nationally"-televised ("nationally" in quotes due to DuMont's limited reach) embarrassment led the NBA to explore ways of speeding-up the game, leading to the creation of the 24-second "shot clock".

What's most amazing about these early NBA network schedules is the fact that cities like Syracuse, Rochester, and Fort Wayne all had NBA teams back in the 1950's. Today, all three cities (and their surrounding media markets) are considered "way too small" to have teams in the NBA (or any of the "big four" professional team sports).

Although the Boston Celtics were featured on DuMont's first NBA telecast, the Celts back then weren't a very good team. The fact the Celtics got seen more and more on network TV in the years that followed was a reflection on the team's improvement, culminating in the club's first NBA title in 1957.

 

[mmb5]

In looking through a on-line newspaper archive I have a subscription to, I found out the following:

There were nine franchises in the NBA for 1953-54:
1. New York (couldn't find a listing)
2. Boston (couldn't find a listing)
3. Syracuse (games cleared on WHEN-8)
4. Philadelphia (couldn't find a listing)
5. Baltimore (couldn't find a listing)
6. Minneapolis (couldn't find a listing)
7. Rochester (couldn't find a listing)
8. Fort Wayne (couldn't find a listing)
9. Milwaukee (games weren't on WTMJ-4, only station at the time)

These stations did clear the games:
1. Cleveland (WXEL-8 [ABC/DuMont])
2. Columbus, OH (WTVN-6 [ABC])
3. Chicago, IL (WGN-9 [DuMont])
4. Des Moines, IA (WOI-4 [all four])

Markets that didn't clear the games:
1. Pittsburgh, PA (even though a DuMont station -- used the time for other network's shows)
2. Kansas City, MO (three stations)
3. Traverse City, MI (only one station)
4. Providence, RI (only one station)
5. Buffalo, NY (only one station)
6. Toledo, OH (only one station)

Unsure if market cleared the games (only have partial listings for the market):
1. Green Bay, WI (only have WBAY-2)
2. Kalamazoo-GR, MI (only have WKZO-3)
3. Fargo, ND (only have WDAY-6)

The other markets I wasn't able to get listings for, since the Newspaper Archive is far from a complete one.


--Mike

Sources:
Mansfield, OH paper
Marion, OH paper
Syracuse Post-Standard
St. Joseph, MI paper
Traverse City Record-Eagle
Newport (RI) Daily News
Bradford, PA paper
Moressen, PA paper
Fergus Falls, MN paper
Ames, IA paper
Atchison, KS paper




> I suspect that New York was the only city with a full-time
> DuMont affiliate (network flagship O&O WABD-5, now Fox-owned
> WNYW) that had an NBA team.
>
> I wonder if there were any cities with NBA teams that did
> not get DuMont's 1953/54 NBA broadcasts. And, given DuMont's
> competitive position, I would think there were large areas
> of the country who could not see the network's NBA coverage
> that year.
>

 

[TimL]

>> What's most amazing about these early NBA network schedules
> is the fact that cities like Syracuse, Rochester, and Fort
> Wayne all had NBA teams back in the 1950's. Today, all three
> cities (and their surrounding media markets) are considered
> "way too small" to have teams in the NBA (or any of the "big
> four" professional team sports).
>
> Although the Boston Celtics were featured on DuMont's first
> NBA telecast, the Celts back then weren't a very good team.
> The fact the Celtics got seen more and more on network TV in
> the years that followed was a reflection on the team's
> improvement, culminating in the club's first NBA title in
> 1957.
>


The Only reason Fort Wayne, Syracuse, Rochester, Minneapolis and The Milwaukee Hawks were in the NBA was because they were all members of the National Basketball League, which predated the NBA (First known as the Basketball Association of America) by several years. The NBL was considered the better League, talent wise. Minneapolis, Fort Wayne and Rochester joined the BAA in 1948-49 and Syracuse and the Hawks 1n 49-50. The Entire NBL merged into the NBA in 1949-50 creating a 17 team League, which was pared down to 11 by 1950-51 with only Syracuse and the Hawks surviving the 49-50 season. Teams in Denver,Anderson, Indiana, Sheboygan, Wisc. and Waterloo Iowa disbanded as well as St. Louis and Chicago of the Original BAA. In time, the NBL teams moved into bigger markets with Syracuse becoming the Philadelphia 76ers in 1963-64.