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Message: [QUOTE="Carnac, post: 4364984, member: 5798"] Mine too. I know some baseball history and know of some player after 1050, but I didn't become a fan until 1958. TV coverage of MLB was not like it is now. 1 game a week on Saturdays in the early 50's. [HEADING=2]Origins - 1950's[/HEADING] See also: [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_on_ABC']Major League Baseball on ABC[/URL] and [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_on_CBS']Major League Baseball on CBS[/URL] In [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_in_baseball']1953[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Broadcasting_Company']ABC[/URL]-TV executive [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_J._Scherick']Edgar J. Scherick[/URL] (who would later go on to create [I][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_World_of_Sports_(US_television_show)']Wide World of Sports[/URL][/I]) broached a Saturday [I]Game of the Week[/I]- baseball's first regular-season network telecast. At the time, ABC was labeled a "nothing network" that had fewer outlets than [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS']CBS[/URL] or [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC']NBC[/URL]. ABC also needed paid programming or "anything for bills" as Scherick put it. At first, ABC hesitated at the idea of a nationally televised regular season baseball program. In April 1953, Scherick set out to acquire broadcasting rights from various major league clubs, but only got the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Philadelphia_Athletics_season']Philadelphia Athletics[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Cleveland_Indians_season']Cleveland Indians[/URL], and [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Chicago_White_Sox_season']Chicago White Sox[/URL] to sign on. To make matters worse, Major League Baseball blacked out the [I]Game of the Week[/I] on any TV stations within 50 miles of a ballpark. Major League Baseball, according to Scherick, insisted on protecting local coverage and didn't care about national appeal. ABC though, did care about the national appeal and claimed that "most of America was still up for grabs." In [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_in_baseball']1953[/URL], ABC earned an 11.4 [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings']rating[/URL] for their [I]Game of the Week[/I] telecasts. [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackout_(broadcasting)']Blacked-out[/URL] cities had 32[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percentage']%[/URL] of households. In the rest of the United States, 3 in 4 TV sets in use watched [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizzy_Dean']Dizzy Dean[/URL] and [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Blattner']Buddy Blattner[/URL] call the games for ABC. In [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_in_baseball']1955[/URL], CBS took over the [I]Game[/I] package, adding Sunday telecasts in [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_in_baseball']1957[/URL]. NBC began its own Saturday and Sunday coverage in 1957 and [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_in_baseball']1959[/URL], respectively. In [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_in_baseball']1960[/URL], ABC resumed Saturday telecasts; that year the "Big 3" networks aired a combined 123 games. As ABC's Edgar Scherick later observed, "In '53, no one wanted us. Now teams begged for Game's cash." That year, the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League']NFL[/URL] began a US$14.1 million revenue-sharing pact. Dean and Blattner continued to call the games for CBS, with [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee_Wee_Reese']Pee Wee Reese[/URL] replacing Blattner in 1960. [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Kirby']Gene Kirby[/URL], who'd worked with Dean and Blattner for ABC and [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_on_Mutual']Mutual[/URL] radio, also contributed to the CBS telecasts as a producer and announcer. Buddy Blattner teamed with Don Wells to broadcast games for the [B]Los Angeles Angels[/B] in the second season in 1962. [/QUOTE]

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