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NFL

I

ixnay

The thread entitled "When Was The Last Time A Home Game Of Your Hometown NFL Team Was Blacked Out??" got me wondering...

Prior to 1973, in the era when NFL home games were blacked out sellout or not,
how did your NFL market's Big 3 outlets fill in the time that they otherwise would have shown the local team at home if allowed?

I once saw a thread on the Baltimore Sun mb about TV fill ins during Baltimore Colts blackouts and I wish I had bookmarked it for pasting here.

I was born and raised in a long time NFL market (Philadelphia) and was 11 years old in 1972, so I wouldn't remember.

Also, did the AFL have a blackout policy with ABC and/or NBC? If so, how did the 1966 "peace treaty" laying the groundwork for the 1970 merger affect this? (1966 was NBC's second season with the AFL)

ixnay<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by ixnay on 12/02/05 01:25 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: NFL "blackout theater" pre-1973

I do remember at least once when the Patriots were blacked out on Monday Night Football in the mid 70s WCVB ran the Elvis movie "Kissin' Cousins". I'm not sure what WBZ (then NBC) did.
 
>
> Also, did the AFL have a blackout policy with ABC and/or
> NBC? If so, how did the 1966 "peace treaty" laying the
> groundwork for the 1970 merger affect this? (1966 was NBC's
> second season with the AFL)
>
> ixnay
>

I've heard the AFL had no such restrictions, and that allowed it a toehold on American TV. Fans with blacked out NFL games tuned to NBC for the other league.

I recall an Eagles/Giants Monday Night game in Philadelphia being blacked out in the Philly market, circa 1972. My dad and I listened on radio. That was the famous night when Cosell vomited.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Riley_dfwm on 12/03/05 01:09 AM.</FONT></P>
 
> >
> > Also, did the AFL have a blackout policy with ABC and/or
> > NBC?
>
> I've heard the AFL had no such restrictions, and that
> allowed it a toehold on American TV. Fans with blacked out
> NFL games tuned to NBC for the other league.
>
what happened was that the nfl blacked out ANY nfl game that was played in the home market and any cbs affiliate that fell in the 75 mile radius of the stadium.

the afl blacked the home team's game, but allowed another game to be televised in its place.

let's take a steelers home game in pittsburgh in 1968, as an example. the cbs channel could not televise any nfl game in pittsburgh when the steeler game took place. IF cbs had a 4 pm doubleheader game on, that game could be televised. if they did not have a 4pm game, then no game would be on kdka that day. meanwhile, nbc (then wiic) could tv an afl game - or two, if a doubleheader.

meanwhile in buffalo in 1968 with the bills at home at the "rockpile", the cbs channel (wben then), would televise most likely a browns game with no restrictions and possibly a second nfl game. over at wgrz, the bills game would be blacked out, BUT nbc would pipe in an out of town afl game into western ny.

that was the difference.

tb
 
Re: Retro NFL Blackouts

Timmy B commented:

> What happened was that the NFL blacked out ANY NFL game that
> was played in the home market and any CBS affiliate that
> fell in the 75 mile radius of the stadium.

At the time, the NFL's television policy, while blacking-out home games in the home team's television market (and other TV markets within 75 miles of the city the game was being played in), also mandated that all away games of each NFL team be televised in the visiting team's home market.

Does anyone know how the NFL TV policy prior to 1973 applied to the following situations:

(1) The Washington Redskins and the then-Baltimore Colts played each other annually from 1953 through 1969 (except for 1968), based on info from Shrp Sports.com.

With significant overlap in the TV signals of the Baltimore and Washington markets, did a Colts/'Skins game in Washington get televised in Baltimore, and vice-versa??

If that indeed was the case, fans of each team---unless on the fringe of TV signals from the other team's home market---were able to watch one home game of their team (usually) each other year by simply watching the broadcast from the visiting team's TV market.

(2) In 1970, the two NFL teams in each of the TV markets that had two teams (New York Jets vs. New York Giants on November 1st; San Francisco 49ers vs. Oakland Raiders on December 20th, thanks again to Shrp Sports.com for the info) played each other. In those cases, were the games locally televised to satisfy the rules mandating all of the visiting team's away games being televised in the visiting team's market, although it was the same one as the home team's TV market??

If those games were shown locally to satisfy the road game telecast rules, then New Yorkers on November 1, 1970 could have seen a Jets' home game against the Giants on WCBS-2; while viewers in the San Francisco/Oakland on December 20th area could have seen a Raiders' home game against the 49ers on KPIX-5.
 
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