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American Football League (AFL) on ABC is a television program that broadcast professional football games of the then fledgling (when compared to the more established National Football League) American Football League on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), then itself a less established player in American network television. ABC broadcast AFL games from the league's first season in 1960 until the 1964 season, when NBC took over as the league's primary network television broadcaster.

Broadcast history

Terms of the deal

On June 9, 1960, the league signed a five-year television contract with ABC, which brought in revenues of approximately $2,125,000 per year for the entire league. The deal called for ABC to broadcast approximately 37 regular season games, the AFL Championship Game and the AFL All-Star Game. These games were typically broadcast regionally on 15 consecutive Sundays and on Thanksgiving Day. This became the first ever cooperative television plan for professional football, in which the proceeds of the contract were divided equally among member clubs; the National Football League would follow suit in 1961, a move that required Congress to pass the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to accommodate such collective broadcasting contracts.

Innovations

ABC and the AFL also introduced moving, on-field cameras (as opposed to the fixed midfield cameras of CBS and the NFL), and were the first to have players "miked" during broadcast games. As the AFL also had players' names stitched on their jerseys, it was easier for both TV viewers and people at the games to tell who was who.

The end of ABC's involvement

The last AFL game on ABC television was the All-Star Game on January 16, 1965; rights were sold in January 1964 to NBC for $36 million over five years, beginning with the 1965 season. This infusion of cash helped spur a bidding war for talent with the NFL, which led to the AFL–NFL merger agreement in June 1966. With the exception of the 1966 Continental Football League championship, ABC did not carry pro football again until after the completion of the merger and the subsequent creation of Monday Night Football for the 1970 season.

List of commentators

Pat Hernon hosted ABC's national postgame show out of New York. While ABC did show scores and updates from both the AFL and NFL, seldom if ever did viewers see any actual AFL highlights except from the game that had just been broadcast in their region, or nationally. They however, never showed any actual NFL highlights whatsoever.

Play-by-play

• Charlie Brockman (1964)
• Jack Buck (1960-1963)
• John Ferguson (1960)
• Bill Flemming (1964)
• Curt Gowdy (1962-1964)
• Keith Jackson (1964)
• Charlie Jones (1960-1964)
• Les Keiter (1960)
• Bob Neal (1961)

Color commentary

• Elmer Angsman (1960; 1964)
• Fred Benners (1960)
• Paul Christman (1962-1964)
• Dick Danehe (1960)
• Bill Dudley (1960)
• Lee Giroux (1961)
• Johnny Lujack (1964)
• Paul Mannaseh (1960)
• Jim McKay (1961)
• George Ratterman (1960-1964)

See also

• NFL on ABC
• History of the NFL on television
  • NFL on American television

References

1. Brulia, Tim. "A CHRONOLOGY OF PRO FOOTBALL ON TELEVISION: Part 1" (PDF). Pro Football Researchers.
2. "AFL, NBC ink pact". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI reports. January 29, 1964. p. 3B.
3. "American Football League may be expanded in 1966". Nashua Telegraph. (New Hampshire). Associated Press. May 23, 1964. p. 8.
4. "St. Petersburg Times - Page 100". St. Petersburg Times. September 10, 1961. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
5. "Longtime 'Voice of the Tigers' Ferguson Dies at 86". LSU Sports. December 18, 2005. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
6. "Curl Gowdy Has Done Them All. - Page 35". Lewiston Evening Journal. November 1, 1962. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
7. "Keith Jackson, legendary college football announcer, dies at 89". NFL.com. January 13, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
8. "Fort Smith's Charlie Jones to be inducted Arkansas Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame". River Valley Democrat-Gazette. June 23, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
9. Halberstam, David J. (April 26, 2019). "Remembering a legend: Les Keiter, born 100 years ago, called big events and coined colorful phrases". Retrieved December 14, 2024.
10. "Afl Title Game On... - Page 15". Lodi News-Sentinel. December 16, 1961. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
11. "CHARLIE JONES – A Voice For All Seasons". Tales from the American Football League. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
12. Stewart, Stewart (September 19, 1986). "Charlie Jones Opens 27th Season Sunday With 41st Analyst". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
13. "Richard Danehe Obituary (1920 - 2018) - Los Angeles, CA". Legacy.com. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
14. "Sports Events. - Page 12". Warsaw Times - Union. September 8, 1962. Retrieved December 14, 2024.

External links

• AFL on ABC at IMDb

• ABC Sports
• National Football League on television
• American Football League
• 1960 American television series debuts
• 1964 American television series endings
• American Broadcasting Company original programming
• Black-and-white American television shows
• Wide World of Sports (American TV program)