September 17, 1960…Roone Arledge Changes College Football Forever
September 17, 1960…Roone Arledge Changes College Football Forever
56 years ago today, The Georgia Bulldogs, lead by quarterback Fran Tarkenton, traveled to Legion Field in Birmingham to take on Coach Bear Bryant’s Crimson Tide. At 2:45 that afternoon, college football on television changed forever, as ABC broadcast the game.
That is where the ideas of a young Roone Arledge got put to the test. He had a different theory on how the game should be presented on TV, and was going to give fans something different.
With intimacy that was unprecedented, Arledge displayed the calm concentration of Bear Bryant on the sidelines before and important call, the youthful elation of Georgia QB Fran Tarkenton after scrambling for a first down, and the anguish of a Bulldog fan with a UGA pennant.
Several months before ABC began broadcasting NCAA college football games, Arledge sent his boss Ed Scherick a remarkable memo, filled with television production concepts which sports broadcasts have adhered to since. Previously, network sporting broadcasts had consisted of simple set-ups and focused on the game itself. The genius of Arledge in this memo was not that he offered another way to broadcast the game to the sports fan. The genius was to recognize television had to take the sports fan to the game.
In addition, Arledge realized that the broadcasts needed to attract and hold the attention of women viewers. At age 29, on September 17, 1960 he put his vision into reality with ABC’s first NCAA college football broadcast, and Roone’s future was on the line…along with the $6 Million ABC had spent for the rights to the season.
He had picked the right game and it was broadcast nation wide. He knew Bear Bryant was out to avenge the previous year’s humiliating season opener loss to UGA, and would draw a lot of interest. Roone had Curt Gowdy and Paul Christman in the booth, and he had told them both to “emphasize the the developing story of the game, the contrast of the Bryant team and the individual ability of Tarkenton”.
Arledge told the cameramen to focus on personalities driving the game, and the activity in the stands and on the sidelines as well…especially the cheerleaders. He wanted impact shots that showed “all the excitement, wonder, jubilation and despair that makes this America’s Number One sports spectacle”.
As a UGA grad, I’m sorry to report that Bama beat us that day. Enjoy, share and Go Dawgs! -Bobby Ellerbee
Paul Chrisman was a Missouri quarterback under Coach Don Faurot. Who would have known 56 years later his Mizzou Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs would play in the same conference.
Arledge was a visionary in sports broadcasting. He knew what viewers wanted to see and hear; not just the game, but the STORY in the game. He told of the personalities that make up the game and got in closer than ever before. He changed the technology of sports broadcasting in ways we enjoy to this day. I wish there were more like him in television now, but that cannot be. Roone Arledge was one of a kind.
Just one of many creative achievements. He put ABC News on the map. Olympics. Wide World of Sports. Monday Night Football (and the trio in the booth often more interesting than the game). Only Don Hewitt is in the game league. That said, TV – even with Roone’s creativity and modern today’s technology – still doesn’t come close to the actual experience of being at a college football game, especially when it’s your college.
And. You have not worked in a truck unless you were at the console and the “Roone” phone rang. One phone was dedicated to Roone. When it rang the pucker factor went very high.
My brother would have loved this post. He was a longtime NBC sportscaster for KRIS TV in Corpus Christi Texas.
My boss when I was a producer on the 20/20 program. Wonderful working for him.