NFL on DuMont
Encyclopedia
The NFL on DuMont was an American television program
that broadcast National Football League
games on the now defunct DuMont Television Network
. The program ran from 1951
to 1955
.
-to-coast
professional football game, the NFL Championship Game
between the Los Angeles Rams
and Cleveland Browns
. DuMont paid $
75,000 for the rights to broadcast the game.
In 1952
, DuMont only aired New York Giants
games before moving to a more national scope the following season.
and 1954 seasons
, DuMont broadcast Saturday night NFL games. It was the first time that National Football League games were televised live
, coast-to-coast, in prime time
, for the entire season. This predated Monday Night Football
on ABC
by 17 years. Several of the games in 1953 and 1954 originated in New York
(Giants
), Pittsburgh
(Steelers
), or Washington
(Redskins
). (All three of these cities had DuMont O&O
s.)
In 1953, DuMont became the first television network to televise a Thanksgiving Classic
when it aired a game between the Detroit Lions
and the Green Bay Packers
. They also broadcast the 1954 game
as well.
DuMont normally used a single announcer for its telecasts, a departure from modern practice where a play-by-play announcer is paired with a color commentator. Several of DuMont's championship game broadcasts did have color commentators.
DuMont proved to be a less than ideal choice for a national broadcaster. The network had only eighteen primary affiliates in 1954, dwarfed by the 120 available to NBC. Coverage of Canadian football's "Big Four
" was more readily available on NBC than NFL games were in most markets on DuMont.
only one week before the game date. As they had trouble lining up affiliates to cover the game on such short notice, the telecast was cancelled.
By 1955
, the DuMont network was beginning to crumble. For instance, in 1955, NBC
replaced DuMont as the network for the NFL Championship Game, paying a rights fee of $
100,000. ABC acquired the rights to the Thanksgiving game. Meanwhile, most teams (sans the Giants
, Eagles
and Steelers
, who received regionalized coverage from DuMont) were left to fend for themselves in terms of TV coverage.
DuMont ceased most entertainment programs (and a nightly newscast
) in early April 1955
. DuMont still broadcast some sports events (a Monday-night boxing show
and the 1955 NFL season
) until August 1956
, when the network as a whole shut down for good.
after the network ceased to exist; even if DuMont's programming had been saved, the games were broadcast live and may have never been recorded in the first place, given the high expense of videotape at the time, and the high unlikelihood that they would have been recorded via kinescope
for later viewing by their few sparse affiliates and stations in the west.
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
that broadcast National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
games on the now defunct DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
. The program ran from 1951
1951 NFL season
The 1951 NFL season was the 32nd regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, Baltimore Colts owner Abraham Watner faced financial difficulties, and thus gave his team and its player contracts back to the league for $50,000. However, many Baltimore fans started to protest...
to 1955
1955 NFL season
The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season of the National Football League. NBC paid $100,000 to replace DuMont as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game...
.
1951-1952
On December 23, 1951, DuMont televised the first ever coastWest Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
-to-coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
professional football game, the NFL Championship Game
NFL Championship Game, 1951
In the 1951 National Football League Championship Game, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cleveland Browns, 24–17, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California on December 23, 1951. This Championship Game was the first one televised coast-to-coast. The DuMont Network purchased...
between the Los Angeles Rams
1951 Los Angeles Rams season
The 1951 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 14th year with the National Football League and the sixth season in Los Angeles.-NFL Draft:* 1 - Bud McFadin, Texas, G* 2 - Herb Rich, Vanderbilt, B* 3 - Charlie Toogood, Nebraska, T...
and Cleveland Browns
1951 Cleveland Browns season
The 1951 Cleveland Browns season was the team's second season with the National Football League. Dub Jones set an NFL record with six touchdowns in one game versus the Chicago Bears.-Exhibition Schedule:-Regular Season Schedule:-Playoffs:-Standings:...
. DuMont paid $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
75,000 for the rights to broadcast the game.
In 1952
1952 NFL season
The 1952 NFL season was the 33rd regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, New York Yanks owner Ted Collins sold his team back to the NFL...
, DuMont only aired New York Giants
1952 New York Giants season
The 1952 New York Giants season was the 28th season for the club in the National Football League.-Schedule:-Standings:-See also:*List of New York Giants seasons...
games before moving to a more national scope the following season.
1953-1954
During the 19531953 NFL season
The 1953 NFL season was the 34th regular season of the National Football League. The names of the American and National conferences were changed to the Eastern and Western conferences....
and 1954 seasons
1954 NFL season
The 1954 NFL season was the 35th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Detroit Lions in the NFL Championship Game.-Major rule changes:...
, DuMont broadcast Saturday night NFL games. It was the first time that National Football League games were televised live
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
, coast-to-coast, in prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
, for the entire season. This predated Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
by 17 years. Several of the games in 1953 and 1954 originated in New York
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
(Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
), Pittsburgh
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...
(Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
), or Washington
Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891...
(Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
). (All three of these cities had DuMont O&O
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
s.)
In 1953, DuMont became the first television network to televise a Thanksgiving Classic
Thanksgiving Classic
The National Football League's Thanksgiving Classic is a series of games played during the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. It has been a regular occurrence since the league's inception in 1920. Since 2006, three games are played every Thanksgiving...
when it aired a game between the Detroit Lions
1953 Detroit Lions season
The 1953 Detroit Lions season resulted in the Lions winning their third NFL Championship.-Schedule:-Standings:-Roster:-NFL Championship Game:Detroit Lions 17, Cleveland Browns 16 Scoring*DET - Walker 1 yard run...
and the Green Bay Packers
1953 Green Bay Packers season
The 1953 Green Bay Packers season was their 33rd in the National Football League. The club posted a 2-9-1 record under coaches Gene Ronzani, Ray McLean, and Hugh Devore, earning them a last-place finish in the newly named Western Conference. Gene Ronzani coached the first 10 games and then was...
. They also broadcast the 1954 game
1954 Detroit Lions season
The 1954 Detroit Lions season was their 25th in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 10-2, winning only nine games. They qualified for the playoffs for the third consecutive season.-Schedule:-Playoff schedule:...
as well.
DuMont normally used a single announcer for its telecasts, a departure from modern practice where a play-by-play announcer is paired with a color commentator. Several of DuMont's championship game broadcasts did have color commentators.
DuMont proved to be a less than ideal choice for a national broadcaster. The network had only eighteen primary affiliates in 1954, dwarfed by the 120 available to NBC. Coverage of Canadian football's "Big Four
Canadian Football League East Division
The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues.- Pre-1907 :...
" was more readily available on NBC than NFL games were in most markets on DuMont.
1955
In January 1955, DuMont obtained rights from the Los Angeles Newspaper Charities to cover the Pro Bowl1955 Pro Bowl
The 1955 East-West Pro Bowl was played on January 16, 1955. West beat East by a score of 26-19. Billy Wilson was named the game's Most Valuable Player....
only one week before the game date. As they had trouble lining up affiliates to cover the game on such short notice, the telecast was cancelled.
By 1955
1955 in television
The year 1955 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1955.-Events:*March 5 – Elvis Presley appears on television for the first time...
, the DuMont network was beginning to crumble. For instance, in 1955, NBC
NFL on NBC
NFL on NBC is the brand given to NBC Sports coverage of National Football League games until 1998, when NBC lost the NFL American Football Conference rights to CBS...
replaced DuMont as the network for the NFL Championship Game, paying a rights fee of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100,000. ABC acquired the rights to the Thanksgiving game. Meanwhile, most teams (sans the Giants
1955 New York Giants season
The 1955 New York Giants season was the 31st season for the club in the National Football League.-Schedule:-Standings:-See also:*List of New York Giants seasons...
, Eagles
1955 Philadelphia Eagles season
The 1955 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 23rd in the league. They failed to improve on their previous output of 7–4–1, winning only four games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.-NFL Draft:...
and Steelers
1955 Pittsburgh Steelers season
-Schedule:- Week 1 : Chicago Cardinals :at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania* Game time:* Game weather:* Game attendance: 26,359* Referee:* TV announcers:Scoring Drives:...
, who received regionalized coverage from DuMont) were left to fend for themselves in terms of TV coverage.
DuMont ceased most entertainment programs (and a nightly newscast
DuMont Evening News
The DuMont Evening News is an American news program which aired on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network during the 1954-1955 season. Presented by Morgan Beatty, the 15-minute show was the network's third and final attempt at a nightly news broadcast....
) in early April 1955
1955 in television
The year 1955 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1955.-Events:*March 5 – Elvis Presley appears on television for the first time...
. DuMont still broadcast some sports events (a Monday-night boxing show
Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena
Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena was an American sports program originally broadcast on NBC from 1946 to 1948, and later on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network from 1954 to 1956.-Broadcast history:The DuMont version was hosted by Chris Schenkel....
and the 1955 NFL season
1955 NFL season
The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season of the National Football League. NBC paid $100,000 to replace DuMont as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game...
) until August 1956
1956 in television
The year 1956 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1956.-Events:*January 28 – Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on CBS on Stage Show, the first of six appearances on the series....
, when the network as a whole shut down for good.
Announcers
- Frankie AlbertFrankie AlbertFrank Cullen "Frankie" Albert was an American football player. He played as a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League...
- Jim BrittJim BrittJim Britt was an American sportscaster who broadcast Major League Baseball games in Boston, Massachusetts, and Cleveland, Ohio, during the 1940s and 1950s...
- Ken ColemanKen ColemanKenneth R. Coleman was an American radio and television sportscaster for 38 years . He was born in Quincy, Massachusetts....
- John Fitzgerald
- Earl GillespieEarl GillespieEarl W. Gillespie was an American sportscaster, best known as the radio voice of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves from 1953 to 1963....
- Red GrangeRed GrangeHarold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
- Tom HarmonTom HarmonThomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
- Herman HickmanHerman HickmanHerman M. Hickman was a Hall of Fame college football player for the University of Tennessee and later a head football coach for Yale University. He played pro football for the NFL's Brooklyn Dodgers. He later was a TV and radio analyst and broadcaster, a writer and a professional wrestler.-...
- Bob Kelley
- Bill McColgan
- Steve OwenSteve Owen (football)Stephen Joseph Owen was an American football player and coach who earned a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as head coach of the National Football League's New York Giants from 1930 to 1953...
- Van PatrickVan PatrickVan Patrick was an American sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play work with the Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers....
- Bob PrinceBob PrinceRobert Ferris Prince was an American radio and television sportscaster and commentator best known for his 28-year stint as the voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball club, with whom he earned the nickname “The Gunner” and became a cultural icon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Prince was...
- Bob Reynolds
- Byrum Saam
- Chris SchenkelChris SchenkelChristopher Eugene "Chris" Schenkel was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and baritone voice.-Early life and career:Schenkel began his broadcasting career at radio...
- Ray ScottRay Scott (sportscaster)Ray Scott , was an American sportscaster, best known for his broadcasts for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. His brother Hal Scott was also a sportscaster.-Early life and career:Scott began his broadcasting career on local radio in the late 1930s...
- Chuck ThompsonChuck ThompsonCharles L. "Chuck" Thompson was an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles and the National Football League's Baltimore Colts...
- Joe Tucker
- Don Wattrick
- Harry WismerHarry WismerHarry Wismer was a sports broadcaster and charter owner of the New York Titans franchise in the American Football League.-Early years:...
Status of broadcasts today
It appears no copies of any of the DuMont Network NFL broadcasts survive today. It is reported that DuMont's entire programming archive was destroyedWiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
after the network ceased to exist; even if DuMont's programming had been saved, the games were broadcast live and may have never been recorded in the first place, given the high expense of videotape at the time, and the high unlikelihood that they would have been recorded via kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
for later viewing by their few sparse affiliates and stations in the west.
See also
- 1951 NFL Championship Game
- 1952 NFL Championship Game
- 1953 NFL Championship Game
- 1954 NFL Championship Game
- List of NFL Championship Game broadcasters
- NFL on televisionNFL on televisionThe television rights to broadcast National Football League games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any American sport. It was television that brought professional football into prominence in the modern era after World War II...
- NFL on FoxNFL on FOXNFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...