Liquor ads were banned on TV from 1948 to 1996. In all liquor, beer and wine commercials, you never see anyone actually consuming any of the liquor, beer and wine. This is actually a self-imposed rule in the industry NOT to show people drinking alcohol in commercials, essentially to ward off any congressional intrusion to …
Players’ Salaries Could Average $1 Million NBC Sports agreed yesterday on a four-year, $600 million contract to televise NBA games beginning next season, snatching the package from longtime carrier CBS and continuing the recent vast escalation in sports rights fees. The $150-million-a-year price tag marks about a 340 percent increase over …
They finally pulled the plug on me. First the cable goons came by and said I hadn’t paid the bill; guilty as charged—I pointed out that there never was anything on cable worth paying for. Then my old college lit professor came by and said I hadn’t read a book since Super Bowl …
I never have been to any of Joe Theismann’s three restaurants in Virginia, but I would imagine a visit goes something like this: After you park your car, Theismann greets you and comments on the abundant parking. After you check your coat, Theismann talks about the coat-check area. After you are …
Be It a Single Wing or a Chicken Wing, Theismann Says a Mouthful Read More »
“I don’t think we’ll see pay-per-view, at least while I’m the commissioner, unless I stay 30 years like Pete Rozelle, which I don’t think I’ll do.” — Paul Tagliabue on ABC Monday night. Sooner or later—maybe even while Paul Tagliabue is commissioner—the NFL will embrace pay-per-view. It will be …
You’re sitting in a Hilton, Sheraton or Westin in Los Angeles, Chicago or Washington. You’re exhausted, and there’s nothing on the TV. So you decide to take the pay-TV plunge: For $5.95, your choices are “No Way Out,” a soft-porn flick, or… the Denver Nuggets. Welcome to the brave new world of ordering the NBA …
Get Ready for a Whole New Ballgame: Denver Does America Read More »
When Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent had to decide if and when to resume the World Series amid the aftermath of the Loma Prieta earthquake, a lot of folks whispered: Well, what’s best for television? In the cynical, big-moneyed worlds of professional sports and network TV, it seemed a logical question. …
“Well, folks, that’s the greatest open in the history of television, bar none… We’re still here. We are still, as [far as] we can tell, on the air and I guess you are hearing us even though we have no picture and no return audio. And we will be back, we hope, from …
ABC’s Visibly Shaken Michaels Continues to Describe Series of Emotions Read More »
Recently the networks asked if I would rate their play-by-play broadcasters, because I’m a regular guy. They said they would pay me $25. I said I would do it for free. I compared the major broadcasters (excluding those who have been doing network play-by-play for less than two years). Announcers were …
