Sponsor (Apr-June 1964)

TV MEDIA All athletic events today pack a multi-milliondollar advertising wallop — a far cry from 1939 when baseball was just a 'rookie' on the medium Tv sponsored sport ■ CBS-TV's record-breaking $1.8 million-a-year pact to televise the next two National football League title games is only the latest in a series of events, dating back to 1939, that have seen first baseball and now football riding the crest in a sea of tv dollars. On May 17, 1939, a select group of several hundred viewers watched the nation's first televised sports event: Princetown's 2-1 10-inning triumph over Columbia University's nine, in the second game of a double-header at Columbia's Baker Field. It was a far cry from the sportseasts that are among the "hot" properties of today, with the networks laying out millions of dollars in a fiercely competitive bid lor valuable tv rights that in turn mean vast tv audiences and lucrative sponsorships. Twenty-five years ago, before commercial tv sponsors, networks or even stations, there were fewer than 400 (five, nine and 12-inch) tv sets (costing about $600 each) compared to the 51.3 million video homes of today. I he 16-man NBC crew transmitted the pioneer game to NBC's experimental station W2XBS, which broadcast the event to groups ol viewers in Radio City, at ad agencies ami to the lew homes with receivers Responsibility for the historic telecast apparently rests with Robert Marion, then director of sports publicity Foi Columbia oiow assistant to the president), who intei ested William Burke (Skeets) Miller of NBC in doing the sports broadcast. Yesteryear's small screens plus the understandable lack of experience on the part of the camera crew resulted in coverage deficiencies that have long been overcome by today's skilled crews using the latest equipment. But in 1939, the first televised sports event had these among many defects: the baseball was barely visible; there were no closcups of action since only one camera was in use; little of the playing field was in view at any one time; players looked like "little while flies" running across the sereen. Sportscaster Bill Stern also had problems, but he did the best he could, working without a monitor. NBC's equipment for the video "first" cost nearly $100,000, while the game's broadcast cost the network an estimated $3,000. Many who viewed that first teleeast were skeptical about a future for television as a sports medium. But among the enthusiasts, late fight promoter Mike Jacobs saw the potential: "Someday." he said. "I'll sell television rights for a championship bout for as much as SI million." I he historj o\ commercially sponsored televised sports is the history of tv's phenomena] growth. Back in 1946 and 1947, baseball became the first major sport to attract advertising revenue to t\ l xtensive Sponsor research into the first tv sponsorship of a locally broadcasl major league baseball game appears to be buried or los1 in the not-too-distant past of les ! than 20 years ago. The Basebal' Commissioner's office reports tha in 1946 Du Mont's channel 5 it New York, WABD (now WM Vv TV), signed sponsors for Yanke> broadcasts, when there were abou 500 sets in the area. But the exac facts are obscured. However, by 1947, when the na' tionwide total of video receiver rose to approximately 16.500 I Niel sen coverage figures started twi years later, listing 660,000 V homes), several pioneer stations bej gan sponsored pro baseball tele casts (Sponsor, March. April. Aug ust and September. 1947). KSD-1 St. Louis aired the Cardinals' am Browns' games, sponsored by Fori Motor Co.. through JWT, and Pur ' ity Bakeries ^(Y&R): Detroit WWJ-TV broadcast Tiger basebal with Goebel Brewing Co. (Brooke Smith, French & Dorrance) a ad vertiser; in New York. WCBS H aired the Brooklyn Dodgers' uniqw brand of ball, with Ford t.lVv I i am General Foods (YcvR. B&B, aw FC<£B) picking up the lab. WPTv (now WRCV) Philadelphia. WNB1 (now WNBC-TV) and WABD irT New York also telecast advertise! supported games that summer. televised baseball sponsorshi] came into its own. however, later il 1947 with the "network" coverag* o{ the exciting Yankee-Dodgei World Series, the fust such broadcast of the September classic. v hookup for the event linked NBCowned stations in New York SPONSOf