TV's historic role

[liowkc]

In 1961, ABC became the first TV network to telecast competition of the Pro Bowlers Association. Eddie Elias founded the PBA, and with his leadership, the Pro Bowlers Tour became a main stay of ABC sports programming Joined later by telecasts of the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour (now PWBA), millions of Americans were introduced to bowling and many took up the sport.

[PSBA10]

I agree. ABC was a great friend to bowling. If I remember correctly Chris Schenkel was inducted to the Hall of Fame because of that show. The time slot was great, Saturday afternoon. Now with ESPN the PBA and USBC are trying to bring bowling back to the forefront. I think the timeslot of Sunday afternoon is the worst possible position. Not only is bowling in direct viewership competition with the NFL, but with the largest spectator sport in america - NASCAR. Is ESPN doing bowling any favors????

[BubbaRay]

What really suprised me about ABC cancelling the Tour is that when ABC did cancell the show, it was still the #1 rated show in it's timeslot. Go figure !

[ArtVandelay]

Well, ABC and ESPN are, of course, affiliated, both owned by Disney. FWIW, Chris Berman, DOES mention it at the end of every NFL Countdown, but there's really no sport that can take on the NFL (don't say nascar... nascar is not a sport). It's a horrible time slot, but I don't think it wold survive on ABC these days, and when's a good time to air it on ESPN? It's a messed up situation, but the truth is, bowling is kind of like youth soccer. It has TONS of appeal if you're doing it yourself. Youth soccer has a huge following, there's a good chance most people on this board played it as a kid, but soccer is not the most popular sport in america. how did that happen?

I dunno... Everything's so crazy these days. You used to have "the big 3" in sports, but these days, I'm not sure that even rings true. I think everyone has too much ADD to watch a good sporting event. Football is the only sport that gets the ratings anymore. Baseballs ratings are down, basketball is down, hockey is hardly relevant anymore (banished to versus???? geech... hard times for a once great sport). Nascar gets good ratings, but it's entertainment.


How many signatures do you think we would need to replace one of those dancing or singing shows with PBA bowling? I can get a petition going if you like...... hahahahahahaha. Could you imagine? You'd need every signature of every person living OR dead, in the US to get those shows off the air.