NBA on television in the 1950s

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Main article: National Basketball Association on television

The League signed a contract with DuMont in its 8th season (1953–54), marking the first year the NBA had a national television broadcaster. Similar to NFL, the lack of television stations led to NBC taking over the rights beginning the very next season until April 7, 1962 - NBC's first tenure with the NBA.

## 1953-54

[edit]

The contract had the DuMont Television Network televising 13 Saturday afternoon games. According to the book Tall Tales, NBA owners wanted the presumably "worst" game of the week to be shown on DuMont, because they were afraid if the "best" games were shown, it would negatively affect the gate for that game. Also, even though DuMont wanted the games on Saturday afternoons, a number of owners resisted because they feared that Saturday matinees would not draw as many people as a night game.

The DuMont Network would televise 20 Saturday afternoon games the following season, paying $39,000 for the rights. DuMont's first game aired on December 12, 1953, with the Boston Celtics defeating the Baltimore Bullets 106–75. This was the only year of NBA coverage on DuMont; the Saturday afternoon package moved to NBC for the 1954–55 season, mainly because NBC could clear the games on far more stations that DuMont could.

Games on DuMont were usually blacked out in the cities they were played in; for example, the three Boston Celtics home games included in the 1953-54 package were blacked-out in Boston, however, WJAR-TV in nearby Providence (whose signal covers most of the metropolitan Boston area) did carry the two regular-season Celtics' home games that were part of the DuMont package.[1][2]

Date  | Teams  | Commentators

|
|

12/12/53[3][4] | Baltimore @ Boston | Marty Glickman and Curt Gowdy
12/19/53[5] | Syracuse @ Boston  | Marty Glickman and Curt Gowdy
12/26/53  | Boston @ Milwaukee | Marty Glickman and John Reddy
1/2/54[6] | Philadelphia @ Syracuse  | Marty Glickman and Dick Grossman
1/9/54  | Minneapolis @ Milwaukee  | Marty Glickman and John Reddy
1/16/54  | Philadelphia @ Baltimore  | Marty Glickman
1/23/54  | Philadelphia @ Rochester | Marty Glickman
1/30/54  | Milwaukee @ Minneapolis  | Marty Glickman
2/6/54  | Fort Wayne @ Syracuse  | Marty Glickman and Dick Grossman
2/13/54  | Syracuse @ Rochester  | Marty Glickman
2/20/54  | Fort Wayne @ Baltimore  | Marty Glickman
2/27/54  | Milwaukee @ Philadelphia  | Marty Glickman
3/6/54  | Philadelphia @ Syracuse  | Marty Glickman and Dick Grossman
3/13/54  | New York @ Syracuse  | Marty Glickman and Dick Grossman
3/20/54[7] | New York @ Boston  | Marty Glickman
3/27/54  | Minneapolis @ Rochester  | Marty Glickman
4/3/54  | Syracuse @ Minneapolis  | Marty Glickman
4/10/54  | Minneapolis @ Syracuse  | Marty Glickman

Marty Glickman and Lindsay Nelson called Games 2 and 5 of the 1954 NBA Finals for DuMont.

## 1954-1959

[edit]

NBC's first tenure with the National Basketball Association began on October 30, 1954, and lasted until April 7, 1962. On November 9, 1989, the NBA reached an agreement with the network worth US$600 million contract to broadcast the league's games for four years, beginning with the 1990–91 season. On April 28, 1993, NBC extended its exclusive broadcast rights to the NBA with a four-year, $750 million contract.[8]

The announcers during this period[9] included:

* Jerry Doggett (1960–1961)
* Marty Glickman (1954–1961)
* Jim Gordon (1954–55)
* Curt Gowdy (1955–1960)
* Chick Hearn (1957–1958)
* Joe Lapchick (1955–56)
* Lindsey Nelson (1954–1961)
* Bill O'Donnell (1957–1960)
* Bud Palmer (1958–1962)
* Bob Wolff (1961–1962)

The 1959 NBA All-Star Game marked the first time that the All-Star Game was nationally televised. However, NBC only broadcast the second half at 10 p.m. Eastern Time, in lieu of its Friday Night Fights telecast. The 1959 All-Star Game was announced by Don Dunphy per Dick Barhold, who shared this fact with David J. Halberstam.

## See also

[edit]

* List of NBA Finals broadcasters#1950s
* List of NBA All-Star Game broadcasters#1950s
* List of NBA on NBC broadcasters
* NBA on television in the 1960s
* NBA on television in the 1970s
* NBA on television in the 1980s
* NBA on television in the 1990s
* NBA on television in the 2000s
* NBA on television in the 2010s

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Boston Globe, December 19, 1953, p.23
2. ^ Boston Globe, December 26, 1953, p.7
3. ^ "TV Schedules Pro Basketball Game-of-Week". Christian Science Monitor. August 18, 1953. p. 11.
4. ^ Saunders, Dusty (December 11, 1995). "HBO'S SPECIAL ON AFL A 'REEL'KEEPER". Rocky Mountain News.
5. ^ Remenih, Anton (December 15, 1953). "WHERE TO DIAL TODAY". Chicago Tribune. p. 26.
6. ^ Remenih, Anton (December 27, 1953). "GRID CLASSICS TO MAKE GAUDY RADIO, TV FARE". Chicago Tribune. p. N_A8.
7. ^ Hooper, Rand (March 19, 1954). "Knicks and Celtics Battle In 'Must' Game Tomorrow". Christian Science Monitor. p. 15.
8. ^ "November 9, 1989: The NBA signs a lucrative 4-year television deal with NBC". Sports Media Watch.
9. ^ "The NBA on NBC: 1954–55 to 1961–62". The506.com.

## External links

[edit]

* THE NBA ON NETWORK TELEVISION: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
* NBA on Dumont/NBC episode guide (1953-58)
* The Rise of the National Basketball Association

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NBA on television

Broadcast partners|

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* List of NBA All-Star Game broadcasters
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| Decade summaries|

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* v
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NBA on NBC Sports

Related
programs|

* NBA Showtime
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| Non-NBA programs|

* College Basketball on NBC
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Related
articles|

* NBA on television (NBA Finals ratings)
* NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC
* Like Mike
* 2002 FIBA World Championship

NBC Sports Regional Networks
Bay Area (Golden State Warriors)
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* 1950s
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Key figures|

* All-Star Game
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| Play-by-play|

* Marv Albert
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* Don Criqui
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* Dick Enberg
* Greg Gumbel
* Tom Hammond
* Dan Hicks
* Jim Lampley
* Joel Meyers
* Bob Neal
* Paul Sunderland
* Mike Tirico

|

Color
commentators|

* Quinn Buckner
* P. J. Carlesimo
* Doug Collins
* Jamal Crawford
* Chuck Daly
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* Cotton Fitzsimmons
* Mike Fratello
* Matt Guokas
* Grant Hill
* Dan Issel
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* Joe Lapchick
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* Reggie Miller
* Ron Rothstein
* Isiah Thomas
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Sideline reporters|

* Bruce Beck
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* Marion Jones
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* Ahmad Rashad
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Studio hosts|

* Bob Costas
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* Maria Taylor
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Studio analysts|

* Carmelo Anthony
* Vince Carter
* Pat Croce
* Julius Erving
* Kevin Johnson
* Pat Riley
* John Salley
* Tom Tolbert
* Peter Vecsey
* Jayson Williams

Play-by-play (1954–62)|

* Jerry Doggett
* Marty Glickman
* Jim Gordon
* Curt Gowdy
* Bill O'Donnell
* Bud Palmer
* Lindsey Nelson
* Bob Wolff

All-Star Game|

* 1959
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
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* 1997
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* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2026

NBA Finals|

* 1955 (Games 2, 6)
* 1956 (Game 1)
* 1957 (Games 1, 7)
* 1958 (Game 1)
* 1959 (Games 1–2)
* 1960 (Games 1, 3–4, 7)
* 1961 (Games 1, 3–4)
* 1962 (Games 1–2)
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
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| WNBA Finals|

* 1997 (single game)
* 1998 (Games 1–2)
* 1999 (Games 2–3)
* 2000 (Game 2)
* 2001 (Game 2)
* 2002 (Game 2)

|

Lore|

*     * "Roundball Rock"
* Christmas Day
* O.J. Simpson's low-speed freeway chase
* The Clock Incident (1994)
* Clutch City
* Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals
* Memorial Day Miracle

| Rivalries|

* Bulls–Knicks
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McDonald's
Championship|

* 1990
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