Bigger Than All of Us

The message was clear, a full-page newspaper ad dominated by pictures of crunching National Football Leaguers.

It was CBS-TV's way of promoting a Sunday-afternoon doubleheader. And for wives who on weekends find themselves aggrieved football widows, there was a fine-print note of sympathy: "Ladies, take our advice -- just relax and wait for it to blow over. It's bigger than all of us."

Last weekend, with five bowl games, a college all-star game and the N.F.L. championship, it was blowing a gale, but the news from CBS is that 1966 will be even bigger. The network's new two-year contract with the league calls for two Saturday-afternoon games (instead of one) and eight Sunday twin bills (instead of five).

Furthermore, in 1966, the football widows in N.F.L. cities will lose those periodic reunions with their husbands when the game is blacked out because the local team is in town. Henceforth, though the home game will still not be shown within a 75-mile radius, an out-of-town game will be offered.

13 Million a Same. The major breakthrough under the new agreement is the National Football League's first network appearance in prime time, with three regular-season night games and four exhibition games. CBS has long resisted using prime evening time for sports programs. But NBC has already led the way, scheduling three night baseball games next summer. CBS has not definitely scheduled all the night games, but one date is sure: Thanksgiving of '66, at 9:30 E.S.T. "Eventually," suspects CBS's vice president for sports Bill MacPhail, "there may be a sports night on a network."

For the whole two-year package agreed upon with League Commissioner Pete Rozelle, CBS will pay the N.F.L. a record $37.6 million, for a boost of 30% over the last contract two years ago. This money will be shared out equally among the league teams, each of which will collect $1.2 million. The football teams, with crowds averaging 50,000 a game, have little fear of endangering their stadium attendance; CBS, which pulls about 13 million viewers for its N.F.L. games, could not afford to let the league go elsewhere. Says CBS's MacPhail, "They need us and we need them."

$110,000 a Minute. In the 1964-65 contract bargaining, the N.F.L. had squeezed a 200% price increase out of CBS. But that killing was the product of three-network bidding for the rights. This time, NBC was already locked into a fiveyear, $36 million deal with the rival American Football League, and so out of the picture; and ABC, which had just committed $15.6 million for two seasons of college ball, was "not terribly interested." The virtual elimination of the competition, however, did not necessarily make it a buyers' market for CBS. For one thing, the National Football League could peddle television rights to an ad hoc sports network on a station by station basis (as has been done frequently for golf tournaments). For another, if NBC and ABC were offering football programming, CBS could hardly afford not to.

In any case, CBS has the perfect hedge for its bet; the higher the price it pays, the higher it charges the sponsors. An advertising minute during the regular-season N.F.L. games this fall commanded $60,000 (a 60% boost over 1962) and--for last Sunday's championship--$110,000 a minute. By contrast, the highest-rated television entertainment series, Bonanza, goes to Chevrolet for a comparatively bargain-basement price of $50,000 a minute. The only threat that the N.F.L. bonanza may face: that of all the other show-business commodities, overexposure.

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