NBA on CBS
| The NBA on CBS | |
|---|---|
|
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| Genre | NBA basketball telecasts |
| Directed by |
Sandy Grossman Mike Arnold Larry Cavolina Robert A. Fishman Vin DeVito (associate director) Roy L. Hamilton (associate director) Richard Zyontz (associate director) Stephen Gorsuch (technical director) Steve Cunningham (technical director) Cathy Barreto (halftime director) Scott Johnson (halftime director) Alam Brum (associate director) Artie Kempner (associate director) Colleen Kolibas (associate director) Elliott Mendelson (associate director) Suzanne Smith (associate director) |
| Presented by | See the broadcasters section below |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 17 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ted Shaker |
| Producer(s) | Michael Burks Bob Dekas Bob Mansbach Robert D. Stenner |
| Location(s) | Various NBA arenas (game telecasts) |
| Cinematography | Carmen Abhold Scott Carlson Al Cialino Terry Clark Keith Dabney Dan Flaherty Mike Glenn George Graffeo Mike Harvey Tim Maher Michael Marks Tom McCarthy Jeffrey Pollack George Rothweiler Paul T. Sherwood Fred Shimizu |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 150 minutes or until end of game |
| Production company(s) | CBS Sports |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Picture format |
480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | October 20, 1973 – June 14, 1990 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The NBA on CBS is the branding that was used for weekly broadcasts of National Basketball Association (NBA) games produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. CBS aired NBA games from the 1973–1974 NBA season (when it succeeded ABC Sports as the national broadcaster of the NBA) until the 1989–90 NBA season (when CBS was succeeded by NBC Sports).
During CBS' first few years of covering the NBA, CBS was accused of mishandling their NBA telecasts. Among the criticisms included CBS playing too much loud music, the lack of stability with the announcers, regionalizing telecasts (thus fragmenting the ratings even further), billing games as being between star players instead of teams, and devoting too much attention to the slam dunk in instant replays. Regular features included a pre-game show that consisted of mini-teams of celebrities, and active and former NBA players competing against each other, and a halftime show called Horse.
The NBA eventually took notice of the criticisms and managed to persuade CBS to eliminate its original halftime show. In its place, came human-interest shows about the players (similar to the ones seen on the network's NFL pre-game The NFL Today). There also was a possibility that CBS would start televising a single national game on Sunday afternoons.
Other adjustments that CBS made in hopes of improving its coverage included hiring reporter Sonny Hill to cover the league on a full-time basis. CBS also put microphones and cameras on team huddles to allow viewers to see and hear coaches at work. Finally, CBS introduced a halftime segment called Red Auerbach on Roundball, featuring the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics coach. The segment intended to not only educate CBS' viewers about the complexities of the pro game, but also to teach young players how to improve their skills. They also subtly introduced audiences to an all-star team based on Auerbach's criteria such as screening and passing. In a Red on Roundball halftime segment which appeared on CBS' NBA telecasts in the 1973–74 season, Auerbach and referee Mendy Rudolph discussed and demonstrated the practice of flopping with obvious disapproval.
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