CBS added two broadcasts in November near the end of the 1982 National Football League players' strike. The Heat and the Lakers coming through your TV, it's the NBA on ABC. Game 5 of the 1970 ABA Finals (Indiana vs. Los Angeles) was nationally televised by CBS[7] on Saturday, May 23 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. ", "How the next NHL rights deal could shake out", "CBS Sports Network to Showcase Live NBA Development League Games for 2012-13 Season", "Column: CBS Sports and the WNBA teaming up is great for women's sports", "Remembering the classic 1976 NBA Finals game 5", "Looking back on the Rick Barry "watermelon grin" comment", "Billy Cunningham has made NBA telecasts smoother", "Cbs' O'brien Turns His 'Sideline' Into A Big Deal", "Welcome to TV ARK The Television Museum", "NBA Finals, Music Division: NBC is great, but CBS is better", List of current National Basketball Association broadcasters, Historical NBA over-the-air television broadcasters, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=NBA_on_CBS&oldid=1020772683, National Basketball Association on the radio, Articles with dead external links from June 2016, Articles needing additional references from February 2012, All articles needing additional references, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Live to Eastern/Central zones, tape delay elsewhere, Affiliates had choice to show live or tape delay, This page was last edited on 30 April 2021, at 23:07. On November 9, 1989,[63][64] the NBA and NBC[65] reached an agreement on a four-year, US$600 million contract[66] (beginning in the 1990–91 season). As an experiment of sorts, the network decided to air the first two games of the Conference Finals at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The lyrics, sung in an upbeat fashion by an ensemble of singers, were paired with visuals using rotoscoped basketball players in silhouette, against a black background and outlined in different colors. However, non-West Coast weeknight games required tape-delay, to be shown at 11:30 p.m. CBS broadcast a Christmas Day game each year from 1975 to 1989 with the exception of 1982. TV Theme music and songs from 32,913 different television shows. They're on the floor, And they're ready to score, So let the game begin, And let's see how the ball's going to bounce today Welcome to N-B-A The network preferred the games to not be over by that time if they were going to be aired on tape later that night. Other markets which hardly aired NBA games during the early half the of CBS era included Baltimore and, infamously, Atlanta (which had, and still has, a team). The 1980–1981 season was arguably the rock bottom point of the tape delay era for CBS. In 1994, Epic Records released an album entitled B-Ball's Best Kept Secret, which featured hip hop songs performed by several NBA players, including Jason Kidd, Dana Barros and Isaiah Rider. Ironically, toward the end of the NBA's partnership with CBS, the Charlotte Hornets would make their debut, citing the sport's popularity in the Carolinas as a reason for expansion. One of my favorites is the NBA on CBS theme from 1973-80.. Give it all you got, Take your your very best shot And may the best team win. So long! The NBA on CBS is the branding that is 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. The games broadcast on CBS from local broadcasts already airing on the WNBA’s streaming site, WNBA League Pass.[76]. Meanwhile, the 1990 Finals intro carried a little more usage of a trumpet sound. TNT's NBA theme music, composed by Trevor Rabin, has been used since the 2002–03 NBA season, the longest of the league's three broadcast partners. The NBA eventually took notice of the criticisms and managed to persuade CBS to eliminate its original halftime show. During Game 5 of the 1981 NBA Finals, CBS posted an old photo of Bill Russell, who was on the announcing team with Gary Bender and Rick Barry, on the 1956 Olympic team. From 1986 to its final year in 1990, CBS paid about US$47 million per year for the NBA broadcast contract. In 1976, CBS' regular season ratings earned an abysmal (by the standards of the time) 26 share on Sunday afternoons. Working with Tom Heinsohn (who was criticized[79] by the media and viewers for being too biased to the Boston Celtics, a team he once played for and later coached) from 1983 to 1987, Stockton called some of the most memorable NBA Finals in league history. Maravich and Westphal made it all the way to the final, which was scheduled to take place at halftime of Game 2 of the 1978 NBA Finals. 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. And let's see how the ball's going to bounce today The Lakers and Celtics, two iconic teams in large television markets, rose to prominence during the period; many credit the theatrics of Bird and Johnson to boosting the overall popularity of the NBA (especially during the tape delay era of NBA telecasts). Game 3 of the NBA Finals in Houston was played during the midst of an electrical storm that knocked the picture out for approximately the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. They're on the floor, The Hockey Theme (2,492 words) exact match in snippet view article find links to article produced a number of successful jingles, promotional songs and television theme music, to write the tune. The consensus was that a basketball game in prime time would have drawn fewer viewers. The. So anchoring the coverage in Musburger's absence were Frank Glieber (Games 2-4) and Pat O'Brien (Game 5). In the late 1990s, TNT used a swing band to sing its theme (with the refrain of "It's the NBA on TNT tonight...") for promotional advertisements. Between the 1989 NBA Finals and the 1990 NBA Finals' intros, there is a slight theme tune revision. The NBA has used several artists in league produced promotions. 1986 was the last time CBS aired an NBA playoff game on tape delay, Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, which was held on May 16 of that year. For the 1983–84 season, CBS would televise just ten (out of 170 nationally) regular season games. needed] Unlike later NBA broadcast partners, CBS used lyrics in their theme music from 1973–76. Further information on the NBA and hip hop: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (, National Basketball Association criticisms and controversies, steps to fix negative perceptions of its players, "Welcome to TV ARK The Television Museum", ABC NBA OPEN TO FEATURE THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS. Ironically, both Western Conference teams finished the regular season with a record 40–42, instead of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers (both teams finished with a 62–20 record). In 2004, Musburger and Raftery worked NBA playoff games on ESPN. With the Finals starting a week later, the awkward long pauses between Games 1 and 2 were no longer required. In 1988 and 1989, Pat O'Brien filled-in for Brent Musburger (who was busy covering the College World Series for CBS) as the NBA Finals anchor for Game 2. Pat Summerall worked the Masters for CBS during the April 13–14 weekend in 1974. Barry was eliminated in the first round by journeyman Earl Tatum of the Los Angeles Lakers. The connection has often been noted from the large African American constituency of players, which also dominate the hip hop industry. ABC's current NBA game theme is called "Fast Break", by Non-Stop Music. 62 in Fayetteville did take the games in lieu of WTVD (other indies in the state didn't bother with them though). From 1975 to 1979, CBS aired all NBA Finals games live (usually during the afternoon); live NBA Finals game coverage on the network resumed in 1982. Listen to NBA on CBS - 1973 theme song and find more theme music and songs from 32,913 different television shows at TelevisionTunes.com During the 1977–78 season, CBS held a H-O-R-S-E competition at halftime of the Game of the Week telecasts. The computer-generated imagery (once again set in and around a virtual arena) was made to look more realistic (live-action footage was incorporated in the backdrops). In the 1975–76 season, CBS had asked the NBA to schedule both games on January 25, so they could choose which one to televise. The game aired at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time following a 9:30 p.m. tip. Perhaps even more confusing, both Game 5 sites (Coliseum at Richfield in Cleveland and Omni Coliseum in Atlanta) were in the Eastern Time Zone, so differing local start times were not a factor. Superstars program call the latter game the play-by-play, 'cause ABC Sports got the NBA, CBS reduced... 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