1 of 1- RadioActive
- Moderator
Offline 
54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
It was November 17, 1968 - exactly 54 years ago - a day that would live in infamy amongst NFL fans and forever leave one of the biggest networks in the U.S. red-faced. It happened in the middle of a lengthy AFL Championship game between the N.Y. Jets and the Oakland Raiders, the one in which then superstar New York QB Joe Namath guaranteed fans a win. His team was ahead with just minutes to go and a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
What happened next will never be forgotten. NBC had endlessly promoted its Sunday night movie, "Heidi" and was bound and determined to make sure it ran at its 7 PM start time come hell or high water. It turned into hell, since the network brass decided to cut away from the game in its final minutes, with the Jets in the lead. No one, except those in the stadium, ever saw the Oakland comeback in the last minute of play and the entire incident is now forever enshrined in TV history as "The Heidi Bowl."
The four-minute video below takes you through exactly what happened from both sides and the not unexpected outrage with one of the dumbest decisions in television history. And it changed TV forever - to this day, no matter what's been scheduled or when, no network will ever cut into a sports broadcast for any reason to start a show on time. It's what drives me crazy about trying to watch anything on Sunday nights with so many flexible start times. And we have NBC and a little Swiss girl named Heidi to thank for it.
- MJ Vancouver
- Member
Offline
Re: 54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
CBC evidently didn’t fully learn from this, given what happened in 1987 that led to the infamous Dave Hodge pen flip. In that case I believe they were determined to air The National.
- RadioActive
- Moderator
Offline
Re: 54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
MJ Vancouver wrote:
CBC evidently didn’t fully learn from this, given what happened in 1987 that led to the infamous Dave Hodge pen flip. In that case I believe they were determined to air The National.
I'd forgotten about the Canadian version of "Heidi." Thanks for the reminder!
To show you how seriously the networks now take sports interruptions, both John Lennon's shooting and the infamous O.J. slow speed chase didn't get in the way of sporting events on the networks as they were going on. As I recall, NBC - yes, that network again - was in the middle of the NBA finals and reduced the screen size of the game to cover the Bronco going down an L.A. highway - but the game was still shown.
Howard Cosell infamously broke the news of the Lennon shooting on Monday Night Football, but the game went on.
- •
Thread Starter- mace
- Member
Offline
Re: 54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
Just a correction. The "Heidi" game was a regular season telecast. Oakland scored two TD's in the final 90 seconds which was only seen by viewers in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. The 90 second segment was shown on the Monday Huntley-Brinkley Report. The AFL Championship game was held Dec 29th where the Jets defeated the Raiders 27-23.
- RadioActive
- Moderator
Offline
Re: 54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
It's happened again - although not quite as dramatic as the infamous "Heidi Bowl," where NBC cut away from an NFL game to show its well promoed version of "Heidi" on a Sunday night. (The game turned around completely after the interruption, and no one got to see it.)
This latest incident happened on the CW, of all places, on Sunday. The network, which had famously made a deal for its first-ever sports property, LIV Golf, was showing a playoff between two well-known golfers. But the match had been postponed by a very long rain delay. It started late, which means it also ended late.
The problem? The agreement with the network only applies to a certain period of paid time, and if the action goes over that allotted duration, stations have every right to simply cut if off. And many did just that.
Golf Digest points out that the list of shows that were chosen to replace the sudden death playoff left many incredulous. Love the reference to Murdoch Mysteries.
"News. Variety shows. Game shows. A parade. Something called "Murdoch Mysteries." Old sitcoms. Old dramas. DAWSON'S CREEK! Talk about running the gamut. And apparently, the transition away from the golf was pretty abrupt!"
The CW switched off LIV Golf's big Sunday finish, and the list of TV programs it aired instead is something else
- •
Thread Starter- Paul Jeffries
- Member
Offline
Re: 54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
Apparently it's not just sports fans that get up in arms when their favourite program gets cut off. A similar thing happened in 2004 during a CSI:NY episode when news broke that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had died. An overly-eager CBS news executive, anxious to jump the gun, pre-empted the last few minutes of the procedural drama instead of running a crawl at the bottom of the screen, as had been previously instructed.
'CSI' Interruption: The Producer Did It! (November 12, 2004)
PJ
Last edited by Paul Jeffries (May 15, 2023 10:52 pm)
ClassicHitsOnline.com...The place where all the cool tunes hang out!
- RadioActive
- Moderator
Offline
Re: 54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
This week seems to be rife with stupid broadcast sports decisions. Here's another one from the U.S. which happened on Sunday.
Fans blast ESPN's decision to air blowout Sunday Night Baseball game over Stanley Cup Playoffs as viewers miss three goals before the network cuts over to the NHL
- •
Thread Starter- mace
- Member
Offline
Re: 54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
Was ESPN contractually obligated to carry the baseball game until the end? Still no excuse not advising viewers the hockey game was available on ESPN2.
- Paul Jeffries
- Member
Offline
Re: 54th Anniversary Of One Of The Most Famous Screw-Ups In TV History
And then there's this... 
PJ
ClassicHitsOnline.com...The place where all the cool tunes hang out!