Editing NFL on CBS (section)

===1970s===
When the AFL and the NFL [[AFL–NFL merger|officially merged]] in 1970, the combined league divided its teams into the [[American Football Conference]] (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). It was then decided (officially announced on January 26, 1970) that CBS would televise all NFC teams (including playoff games) while [[NFL on NBC|NBC]] would carry games from all AFC teams. For interconference games, CBS would broadcast them if the visiting team was from the NFC and NBC would carry them when the visitors were from the AFC. This was in line with the NFL television blackout rules of the time, meaning that every televised game of a local NFL team would be on the same channel (at the time, home games were banned from local television regardless of sell-out status, while road games are required to be aired in the teams' primary [[media market]]s, and select neighboring markets as well, even if it is not the most popular team in the market). The two networks also divided up broadcast rights to the Super Bowl on a yearly rotation.

By 1971, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) introduced the [[Prime Time Access Rule]], which freed local network affiliates in the top 50 markets (in practice, the entire network) to take a half-hour of prime time from the networks on Mondays through Saturdays and one full hour on Sundays. Because nearly all affiliates found production costs for the FCC's intended goal of increased [[public affairs (broadcasting)|public affairs]] programming very high and the ratings (and by association, advertising revenues) low, making it mostly unprofitable, the FCC created an exception for network-authored news and public affairs. After a six-month hiatus in late 1971, CBS would find a prime place for ''[[60 Minutes]]'' in a portion of that displaced time, 6:00 to 7:00&nbsp;p.m. ([[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern]]; 5:00 to 6:00 [[Central Time Zone|Central Time]]) on Sundays, in January 1972.<ref name="Madsen 15">Madsen 15</ref> This proved somewhat less than satisfactory, however, because in order to accommodate CBS' telecasts of late afternoon National Football League games, ''60 Minutes'' went on hiatus during the fall from 1972 to 1975 (and the summer of 1972). This took place because football telecasts were protected contractually from interruptions in the wake of the infamous "Heidi Game" incident on NBC in November 1968.

Due largely to CBS' live broadcast of NFL games, as well as other sports events aired by the network that run past their scheduled end time, ''60 Minutes'' sometimes does not start until after 7:00&nbsp;p.m. Eastern Time, with the program starting right after the conclusion of game coverage (however, on the West Coast, because the actual end of the live games is much earlier in the afternoon in comparison to the Eastern and Central Time Zones, ''60 Minutes'' is always able to start at its normal 7:00&nbsp;p.m. Pacific start time, leaving affiliates free to broadcast local newscasts, the ''[[CBS Evening News]]'', and other local or syndicated programming leading up to ''60 Minutes''). The program's success has also led CBS Sports to schedule events leading into ''60 Minutes'' and the rest of the network's primetime lineup, causing (again, except on the West Coast) the pre-emptions of the Sunday editions of the ''CBS Evening News'' and affiliates' local newscasts.

On January 16, 1972, the [[1971 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys]] defeated the [[1971 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]] 24–3 in [[Super Bowl VI]] in [[New Orleans]]. The CBS telecast had an estimated household viewership of 27,450,000 homes, the highest-rated single-day telecast ever at the time. Although [[Tulane Stadium]] was sold out for the game, unconditional [[blackout (broadcasting)|blackout]] rules in the NFL prohibited the live telecast from being shown in the New Orleans market. This would be the last Super Bowl to be blacked out in the television market in which the game was played. The following year, the NFL allowed [[Super Bowl VII]] to be televised live in the host city (Los Angeles) when all tickets were sold. In 1973, the NFL changed its blackout policy to allow games to be broadcast in the home team's market if tickets are sold out 72 hours in advance (all Super Bowls since the second have sold out, as it is the main event on the NFL schedule, and there is high demand for Super Bowl tickets).

====Labor disputes====
A CBS technicians strike in [[1972 NFL season|1972]] [[Labor dispute disruptions of sports on television|disrupted]] coverage of numerous NFL games. Some games were covered by local television crews, while some were not seen at all. The scheduled commentators for CBS did not cross the picket lines and instead, CBS had to scramble to substitute announcers. [[Billy Joe Patton]] and even the head of [[CBS Sports]], [[Bill MacPhail]], were among those that filled in. According to the ''[[New York Times]]'', the cut cables were discovered around noon. When CBS emergency crews (made up of supervisors) tried to bring other cables in from two trucks parked outside the stadium, a [[New York City]] [[New York Police Department|cop]] saw a striking CBS technician trying to pry loose a cable that was hooked up to one of the trucks. At this point, the cop attempted to arrest the technician, but two of the latter's cohorts got involved, with a "scuffle" then breaking out. The first technician was arrested for criminal tampering, while the other two got hauled in on a host of other charges. CBS presumably figured it would be impossible to avoid having it happen again (although the strikers reportedly only numbered 25), so they just canceled the broadcast.

Interestingly, the [[1972 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco]]-[[1972 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay]] game at [[Milwaukee County Stadium|Milwaukee]] also had nine television cables cut, but the picture was only out for eight minutes at the start of the second half. Finally, in the [[1972 Los Angeles Rams season|Los Angeles]]-[[1972 Atlanta Falcons season|Atlanta]] game (called by Jack Drees, George Connor, and Gil Stratton), there were no replays because they had two less cameras in use because of the strike. That Sunday, CBS was also forced to preempt ''[[Face the Nation]]'' because of the strike, which is notable because it came just two days before the [[1972 United States presidential election|Presidential election]].

Also in Week 8 of the 1972 season, the [[1972 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas]]-[[1972 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego]] game was seen on a [[KDFW|regional basis]] in Texas. [[Bill Mercer]] and [[Dick Risenhoover]] were the commentators for this game. No CBS network personnel worked this game, though it appears several CBS affiliates did cover the game. Meanwhile, that week's [[1972 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay]]-[[1972 Chicago Bears season|Chicago]] game was covered by about five or six CBS affiliates in [[List of television stations in Wisconsin|Wisconsin]] and a [[List of television stations in Michigan|Michigan]] CBS affiliate in the [[Upper Peninsula]]. While the game actually was done by [[WBAY]], the channel fed the game to [[WISN-TV|WISN]] in [[Milwaukee]], who then distributed the game on a [[Closed-circuit television|closed-circuit]] feed to the other outlets. Bruce Roberts was not a part of the crew which was otherwise composed of Jack Whitaker and Jim Morse. The Week 11 [[1972 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota]]-[[1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh]] game was called by Jack Drees and George Connor with [[Andy Musser]] in CBS Control. CBS canceled the telecast for this the [[1972 Philadelphia Eagles season|Philadelphia]]-[[1972 New York Giants season|New York]] game in Week 11. The [[International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers]] had disrupted a couple of earlier telecasts from New York and CBS did not want any more hassle. [[WPVI]] (an ABC affiliate) in [[Philadelphia]] purchased the rights for this game. Abruptly on the day before the game, WPVI canceled the telecast (the Eagles lost 62–10).

The scheduled telecasts of two [[1972 New York Jets season|New York Jets]] home games, Week 8 vs. [[1972 Washington Redskins season|Washington]] and week 12 vs. [[1972 New Orleans Saints season|New Orleans]], were cancelled due to the labor dispute.

====Simulcasts in the San Francisco Bay Area and other experiments====
On November 4, [[1973 NFL season|1973]], local San Francisco CBS affiliate [[KPIX]] (now an owned-and-operated station of the network) experimented with a "simulcast" in which the station kept switching back and forth between the network's broadcasts of a [[1973 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]] game (against the [[1973 Detroit Lions season|Detroit Lions]]) and an [[1973 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland Raiders]] game (against the [[1973 New York Giants season|New York Giants]]) that were being played at the same time, with frequent cuts to studio host [[Barry Tompkins]]. The station received many complaints from viewers, however, and the experiment was not repeated. This resulted in the NFL instituting new rules for markets that had two teams, which basically state that teams televised in two markets must play their games at different times in the day or week, or one of the teams must be on the road, or the teams' games must be on different networks. (For example, an NFL schedule for a given week in markets with two team franchises might look like this: [[Los Angeles Rams]] at [[Kansas City Chiefs|Kansas City]], 1:00&nbsp;p.m.; [[New York Giants]] at [[Philadelphia Eagles|Philadelphia]], 1:00&nbsp;p.m.; [[Los Angeles Chargers]] at [[San Francisco 49ers|San Francisco]], 4:15&nbsp;p.m.; and [[New England Patriots|New England]] at [[New York Jets]], 8:00&nbsp;p.m.)

====''The NFL Today'' debuts====
In [[1975 NFL season|1975]], CBS debuted ''[[The NFL Today]]'', a pre-game show originally hosted by journalist [[Brent Musburger]] and former NFL player [[Irv Cross]], with former [[Miss America]] [[Phyllis George]] serving as one of the reporters. [[Jimmy Snyder (sports commentator)|Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder]] joined the program in [[1976 NFL season|1976]] but was dismissed by the network in January 1988 after making comments about racial differences among NFL players on [[Martin Luther King, Jr. Day]]. George was replaced by [[Jayne Kennedy]] for the 1978 season, only for Kennedy to depart at the end of [[1979 NFL season|the following season]]. George returned in 1980 and stayed on through the [[1983 NFL season|1983 season]], after which she was replaced by [[Charlsie Cantey]]. In 1979, the first year that the [[Sports Emmy Awards]] were awarded to sportscasts, ''The NFL Today'' was among the recipients.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

====Soundtracks, new graphics, and record Super Bowl ratings====
By [[1975 NFL season|1975]], CBS used several themes (technically, CBS had different opening songs and graphics per crew) to open their broadcasts, ranging from [[David Shire]]'s "Manhattan Skyline" from the ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' [[Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] to "[[Fly, Robin, Fly]]" by the [[Silver Convention]].  Around this time, Electric Light Orchestra's "Fire on High" was also used as a lead-in to the broadcast.

CBS' 1976 telecast of [[Super Bowl X]] between the [[1975 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers]] and Dallas Cowboys was viewed by an estimated 80 million people, the largest television audience in history at the time. CBS' telecast featured play-by-play announcer Pat Summerall (calling his first Super Bowl in that role) and color commentator [[Tom Brookshier]].

On October 12, 1976, Commissioner Pete Rozelle negotiated contracts with the three television networks to televise all NFL regular-season and postseason games, as well as selected preseason games, for four years beginning with the [[1978 NFL season|1978 season]]. ABC was awarded yearly rights to 16 [[Monday Night Football|Monday night games]], four prime time games, the [[AFC-NFC Pro Bowl]], and the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame Game|Hall of Fame Games]]. CBS received the rights to all NFC regular season and postseason games (except those in the ABC package) and to Super Bowls [[Super Bowl XIV|XIV]] and [[Super Bowl XVI|XVI]]. NBC received the rights to all AFC regular season and postseason games (except those in the ABC package) and to Super Bowls [[Super Bowl XIII|XIII]] and [[Super Bowl XV|XV]]. Industry sources considered it the largest single television package ever negotiated.

At the height of the [[disco]] fad, from [[1977 NFL season|1977]] to [[1979 NFL season|1979]], CBS used [[Meco]]'s "[[Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band]]," a disco arrangement of [[John Williams]]'s theme from ''[[Star Wars]]'', as a musical theme.

Vin Scully and Alex Hawkins were assigned to call the [[1977–78 NFL playoffs#NFC Championship: Dallas Cowboys 23, Minnesota Vikings 6|1977 NFC Championship Game]] between the [[1977 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys]] and [[1977 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings]]. Late in that game, Hawkins quipped as [[Roger Staubach]] was shown running off the field "You know, Vin, that Roger Staubach runs like a sissy." Scully responded by remarking "You know, Hawk, they tell me you didn't always wear your helmet when you played!" CBS Sports fired Hawkins the day after the game.

On January 15, 1978, the [[1977 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys]] defeated the [[1977 Denver Broncos season|Denver Broncos]] in [[Super Bowl XII]] in front of the largest audience ever to watch a sporting event. CBS scored a 47.2/67 national household rating/share, the highest-rated Super Bowl to date. This game was the first Super Bowl to be played in [[prime time]], was broadcast in the United States by [[CBS]] with [[Play-by-play|play-by-play announcer]] [[Pat Summerall]] and [[color commentator]] [[Tom Brookshier]]. The game kicked off at 5:17&nbsp;p.m. [[Central Standard Time]]. Hosting the coverage was ''[[The NFL Today]]'' hosts [[Brent Musburger]]; [[Irv Cross]]; [[Phyllis George]] (in the last game of her first stint on ''The NFL Today'' before leaving to host the short-lived ''People'' the following season). Also contributing were [[Hank Stram]] (who had recently been fired by the [[New Orleans Saints]]); [[Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder]]; [[Sonny Jurgensen]] (working on [[CBS Radio]] coverage); [[Gary Bender]]; [[Paul Hornung]]; [[Nick Buoniconti]] and [[Jack Whitaker]]. Buoniconti and Hornung served as sideline reporters; with Hornung doing postgame interviews in the Broncos' locker room; while Bender covered the [[Vince Lombardi Trophy|trophy presentation]] in the Cowboy locker room. An interesting aspect was the use of what was called an Electronic Palette graphics system<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-sports/media-guides/super-bowl-50/download?id=356 |title= Press release |date=May 11, 1977 |website= www.cbspressexpress.com|format=PDF|access-date=May 4, 2019}}</ref> (created by CBS and [[Ampex]]) for a painting-like aspect to several visual graphics; such as the game intro, starting lineups and bumpers going into or coming out of a commercial break. CBS would also unveil what was known as the "Action Track"; showing the trail of a football that had been kicked during replays.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-01-16-BC.pdf |title=Broadcasting |date=January 16, 1978 |website=www.americanradiohistory.com |access-date=May 4, 2019}}</ref> Also, when the planned lead-in (the [[Phoenix Open]] golf tournament) was halted due to poor weather, [[CBS Sports]] president [[Robert Wussler]] (in New York) and producer Barry Frank (at the [[Mercedes-Benz Superdome|Superdome]]) ended up filling the time period with an impromptu look at how the game would be produced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-01-23-BC.pdf |title=Broadcasting |date=January 23, 1978 |website=www.americanradiohistory.com |access-date=May 4, 2019}}</ref>

[[1978 NFL season|1978]] was Don Criqui's last season with CBS before departing for NBC; he was "traded" to NBC in exchange for network's longtime lead announcer [[Curt Gowdy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/aa-time-machine-1979-cbs-nbc-announcer-trade.html|title=Once upon a time, NBC traded Curt Gowdy for Don Criqui|date=October 8, 2014}}</ref> Criqui was, at the time prior to the trade, on the #5 team with Sonny Jurgensen and/or [[Nick Buoniconti]]. Criqui returned to CBS in [[1998 NFL season|1998]] after CBS regained NFL coverage by taking over the [[American Football Conference]] package. While calling the [[1978 Philadelphia Eagles season|Eagles]]-[[1978 New York Giants season|Giants]] game at [[Giants Stadium]] with Jurgensen on November 19, 1978, Criqui was on hand for a [[fumble]] recovery by Philadelphia [[cornerback]] [[Herman Edwards]] that would become known as the "[[Miracle at the Meadowlands]]". With Giants victory all but assured, Criqui had begun to read the end credits for the game's control truck and on-field personnel shortly before the game's final play:

{{blockquote|It's Giants football now, third and two. We thank our producer Bob Rowe, our director Jim Silman, and our CBS crew, spotter and statistician [[John Mara]] and Tom McHugh here at Giants Stadium. As the clock winds down on the Philadelphia Eagles, a game they thought would project them into a possible wildcard position, it would bring them 7–5 had they won, but a late interception by the Giants will preserve a Giant victory, an upset win as the Giants lead 17–12, we're inside 30 seconds, the Eagles have no timeouts. [At this point, the snap and fumble take place.] Wait a minute... here's a free fla- I don't believe it! The Eagles pick it up and Herman Edwards runs it in for a touchdown! An incredible development!}}

Also in 1978, CBS experimented with three-man booths during the first half of the season.

Pat Summerall and [[John Madden]] were paired together for the first time on the telecast of the [[1979 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota]]–[[1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|Tampa Bay]] game on November 25, [[1979 NFL season|1979]]. Madden substituted for Tom Brookshier, who was unavailable to work the telecast. Madden would also join Summerall and Brookshier for the [[1979 Atlanta Falcons season|Atlanta]]–[[1979 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland]] game in Week 7. In Week 15, Summerall worked the [[1979 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas]]–[[1979 Philadelphia Eagles season|Philadelphia]] game on Saturday with Brookshier, then the [[1979 Chicago Bears season|Chicago]]–[[1979 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay]] game the next day with Sonny Jurgensen.