NBA on CBS


The NBA on CBS is the branding that is used for weekly broadcasts of National Basketball Association games produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. CBS aired NBA games from the 1973–74 NBA season until the 1989–90 NBA season.

History

Early presentation

In the early 1970s, the CBS television network aired American Basketball Association games, specifically league's annual All-Star Game/selected playoff games. Pat Summerall served as the CBS analyst on some ABA games alongside Don Criqui on play-by-play. Game 5 of the 1970 ABA Finals was nationally televised by CBS on Saturday, May 23 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The broadcast was however, blacked out in Indiana. After that league's 1972-73 season, CBS lost its TV airing rights as they started airing NBA games in its 1973-74 season onward.
During CBS' first few years of covering the NBA, CBS was accused of mishandling their NBA telecasts. Among the criticisms included CBS playing too much loud music, the lack of stability with the announcers, regionalizing telecasts, billing games as being between star players instead of teams, and devoting too much attention to the slam dunk in instant replays. Regular features included a pre-game show that consisted of mini-teams of celebrities, and active and former NBA players competing against each other, and a halftime show called Horse.
The NBA eventually took notice of the criticisms and managed to persuade CBS to eliminate its original halftime show. In its place, came human-interest shows about the players. There also was a possibility that CBS would start televising a single national game on Sunday afternoons.
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. CBS also put microphones and cameras on team huddles to allow viewers to see and hear coaches at work. Finally, CBS introduced a halftime segment called Red Auerbach on Roundball, featuring the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics coach. The segment intended to not only educate CBS' viewers about the complexities of the pro game, but also to teach young players how to improve their skills. They also subtly introduced audiences to an all-star team based on Auerbach's criteria such as screening and passing. In a Red on Roundball halftime segment which appeared on CBS' NBA telecasts in the 1973–74 season, Auerbach and referee Mendy Rudolph discussed and demonstrated the practice of flopping with obvious disapproval.
DateTeamsTime
Atlanta @ Phoenix
Buffalo @ Cleveland
Capital @ Philadelphia
Kansas City-Omaha @ Milwaukee
Portland @ Houston
Seattle @ Atlanta
Phoenix @ Chicago
Boston @ Atlanta
Los Angeles @ Milwaukee
New York @ Atlanta
Capital @ Boston
Los Angeles @ Chicago
New York @ Milwaukee
Milwaukee @ K.C.-Omaha
New York @ Boston
Los Angeles @ Boston
Milwaukee @ Chicago
Atlanta @ Capital
New York @ Capital

Pat Summerall worked the Masters for CBS during the April 13–14 weekend in 1974.
DateTeamsTime
11/23/75Philadelphia @ Atlanta
Milwaukee @ Seattle
12/7/75Golden State @ Seattle
12/21/75Los Angeles @ Cleveland
1/11/76Boston @ Philadelphia
1/25/76Buffalo @ Boston
Chicago @ Kansas City
2/1/76Washington @ Golden State
2/3/76ALL-STAR GAME
2/8/76Buffalo @ Philadelphia
2/15/76Los Angeles @ Washington
2/22/76 - Double HeaderLos Angeles @ Seattle
Philadelphia @ Golden State
2/29/76Golden State @ Boston
3/5/76Golden State @ Los Angeles
3/7/76Milwaukee @ Kansas City
3/14/76Washington @ Boston
3/21/76Houston @ Seattle
3/28/76Buffalo @ Washington
4/4/76 - Double HeaderBuffalo @ Boston
Philadelphia @ Detroit
4/11/76 - Double HeaderBoston @ Washington
Kansas City @ Buffalo

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.

Slam dunk contest

During the 1976–77 season, the NBA's first after the ABA–NBA merger brought four American Basketball Association teams into the league, CBS held a slam dunk contest that ran during halftime of the Game of the Week telecasts. Don Criqui was the host of this particular competition. The final, which pitted Larry McNeill of the Golden State Warriors against eventual winner Darnell "Dr. Dunk" Hillman of the Indiana Pacers, took place during Game 6 of the 1977 NBA Finals. At the time of the final, Hillman's rights had been traded to the New York Nets, but he had not yet signed a contract. Since he was not officially a member of any NBA team, instead of wearing a jersey, he competed in a plain white tank top. Then for the post-competition interview, Hillman donned a shirt with the words "Bottle Shoppe" – the name of an Indianapolis liquor store, which is still in existence, and was the sponsor of a city parks softball league team for which Hillman played left field. Other players to compete in the slam dunk tournament included Julius Erving, George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone. CBS, anxious for star power, also gave David Thompson the opportunity to be eliminated three times.
DateTeamsTime
12/25/76Chicago @ Kansas City
Los Angeles @ Detroit
New York @ Golden State
Denver @ Seattle
Seattle @ Phoenix
San Antonio @ Seattle
Los Angeles @ Philadelphia
Denver @ Phoenix
Los Angeles @ Washington
Boston @ Golden State
Philadelphia @ Seattle
Chicago @ Golden State
Washington @ Golden State
Portland @ Phoenix
Golden State @ Denver

H-O-R-S-E Competition

During the 1977–78 season, CBS held a H-O-R-S-E competition at halftime of the Game of the Week telecasts. Again, Don Criqui hosted with Mendy Rudolph officiating. 32 players, including Rick Barry, Pete Maravich, George Gervin, JoJo White, Doug Collins, Paul Westphal and Bob McAdoo, competed in a round-robin single-elimination tournament each week. Barry was eliminated in the first round by journeyman Earl Tatum of the Los Angeles Lakers. 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. However, Maravich was injured and unavailable, so CBS instead had Westphal shoot a free-throw against "Bag-Man". Westphal, with a bag over his head as well, made the free throw while Barry missed, and CBS awarded him the trophy.

Tape delay and playoff scheduling

From 1975 to 1979, CBS aired all NBA Finals games live ; live NBA Finals game coverage on the network resumed in 1982. During this era, CBS aired weeknight playoff games from earlier rounds on tape delay at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time. CBS continued this practice until at least the mid-1980s.
CBS did not want sportscasters to give the final score on the late-evening newscasts aired by its local affiliates. The network preferred the games to not be over by that time if they were going to be aired on tape later that night. Most CBS games were either 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. local starts. For instance, CBS aired Games 1–3 of the 1981 Western Conference Finals, between the Houston Rockets and Kansas City Kings. 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.
1986 was the last year that CBS aired an NBA playoff game on tape delay. The network's final delayed playoff broadcast was Game 3 of the playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets. The game aired at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time after having a 9:30 p.m. tip.

Preemptions

in Cincinnati, a CBS affiliate during the NBA on CBS era, did not carry many regular season games in the 1970s, deciding to run movies and other programming instead. The city had lost the Cincinnati Royals when they moved to Kansas City and Omaha in 1972; Cincinnati has not had an NBA team since. As an ABC affiliate post-1996, WCPO has carried that network's regular season since ABC and ESPN gained broadcast rights to the NBA in 2002.
All through the 1980s when CBS broadcast NBA basketball games on Sunday afternoons, those games were pretty much a no-show in the Carolinas. WBTV in Charlotte, WFMY in Greensboro, WTVD in Raleigh, and WBTW in Florence refused to show any of the games. They instead opted for old movies, and off-net repeats mostly. WLTX in Columbia did air a full schedule of NBA games and low-powered indie Ch. 62 in Fayetteville did take the games in lieu of WTVD.

Scheduling history overview

1976
The 1976 NBA Finals had three straight off days between the Sunday afternoon opener and Game 2 the following Thursday night due to CBS' concern with low ratings for professional basketball. The 1975–76 network television season ended after Wednesday, May 26. Accordingly, CBS allowed Game 1 to be played on Sunday afternoon, since the ratings would not count, but would not permit Game 2 to be played live in prime time unless the NBA waited until Thursday evening.
For Game 3 of the Finals, CBS forced the NBA to start the game in Phoenix at 10:30 a.m. local time on a Sunday morning. This was done in order to accommodate a golf telecast that afternoon. Many local clergymen were outraged, as attendance at Sunday church services was drastically reduced that day.
1977
By 1977, CBS' NBA schedule was composed of six regionalized telecasts on Sundays. Not only that, the network would air one national game if they felt that match-up itself warranted national coverage. CBS also could stage doubleheaders and switch from a one-sided game to a close one. During this period, the network stopped airing any games during prime time prior to the NBA Finals. Instead, CBS started airing several West Coast games at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
For most of the early years, the NBA tried to assist CBS by allowing the network to choose any game it wanted to broadcast. But too often, these involved smaller-market teams that were in the playoffs or had won the championship.
CBS wanted the NBA to start Game 6 of the Finals at 10:30 local time on Sunday morning to accommodate a golf telecast of the Kemper Open. This time, the NBA refused and CBS agreed to a noon start in Portland. Despite the fact that this was the Finals' clinching game, CBS cut away from its NBA coverage very quickly after the game ended, skipping the trophy presentation in the Trail Blazers' locker room to instead televise the golf tournament.
1978
By 1978, NBC aired Saturday afternoon college basketball games, while CBS aired NBA doubleheaders on Sunday afternoons, and most independent stations aired local professional and college games. CBS started to fear that their ratings suffered as a result of too many basketball games being aired on television at once. 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.
1979
In 1979, Games 2 and 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals were televised live, while Game 7 was broadcast on tape delay. Games 3 and 6 of the Western Conference Finals aired live, while Games 2, 5 and 7 were televised via tape delay. Games 6 and 7 of the 1979 NBA Finals would have been televised live, but were unnecessary. However, Game 2 of the Finals was aired on tape delay while CBS affiliates in the DC area and the Pacific Northwest telecast the game live.
1980
By the 1979–1980 season, the network's NBA ratings had bottomed, with a regular season rating for the broadcasts at 6.4. By this time, the network had eliminated its regional coverage and only used two play-by-play announcers and three color commentators ; CBS felt that showing an NBA Finals game was not worth pre-empting their Friday night lineup during May sweeps. The consensus was that a basketball game in prime time would have drawn fewer viewers. As a result, CBS used to regularly run NBA games in the 11:30 p.m. time slot. For the 1980 and 1981 NBA Finals, CBS scheduled Games 3 and 4 on back-to-back days to avoid an extra tape delay game.
When it came time for CBS to broadcast Game 6 of the 1980 Finals, the network gave its affiliates the option of either airing the game live or on tape delay. If the affiliate chose to air the game later that night, then the prime time schedule would consist of reruns of The Incredible Hulk, The Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas. The clinching Game 6 of the 1980 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers was, most notably, aired live in the Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle markets; CBS stations in the latter three markets were able to air the game live and still show most of the CBS prime time schedule since the game tipped at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Otherwise, most CBS affiliates chose to air Game 6 on tape delay.
The reason for this scheduling dilemma was the fact that the NBA had opted to start the regular season earlier. Starting in the mid-1970s, the NBA had pushed back the start of the regular season, resulting in it ending increasingly later. Prior to that, the regular season had always ended in late March. For the 1979–1980 and 1980–1981 seasons, the NBA reverted to the earlier practice, with the season ending respectively on March 30, 1980 and March 29, 1981. That meant that the Finals in those years began in the first week of May rather than the end of May, and as a result, the weeknight games were played during May ratings sweeps. Consequently, weeknight games held on the West Coast started at 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time, which was 11:30 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone; those games could be shown live. However, non-West Coast weeknight games required tape-delay, to be shown at 11:30 p.m.
DateTeamsTime
10-12-79 LA Lakers vs San Diego Clippers11:30pm
12-25-79 Philadelphia vs Washington12:30pm
1-20-80 Seattle vs Boston12pm
1-27-80 - regional actionAtlanta vs San Antonio
San Diego Clippers vs Boston		1pm
2-3-80 NBA All-Star Game @ Landover, MD 1pm
2-10-80 LA Lakers vs Philadelphia1pm
2-17-80 Boston vs Seattle3:45pm
2-24-80 - regional actionMilwaukee vs Kansas City
San Diego Clippers vs Chicago		1pm
3-2-80 - Double HeaderLA Lakers vs Phoenix
Milwaukee vs San Diego Clippers		1pm
3:45pm
3-9-80 Philadelphia vs San Antonio1pm
3-16-80 - regional actionNY Knicks vs Washington
Phoenix vs LA Lakers
Kansas City Kings vs Milwaukee		2pm
3-21-80 Phoenix vs Portland11:30pm
3-23-80 NY Knicks vs Philadelphia1pm
3-28-80 San Diego vs LA Lakers11:30pm
3-30-80 Boston vs Philadelphia1pm
1981
The 1980–1981 season was arguably the rock bottom point of the tape delay era for CBS. CBS aired four of the six Finals games on tape delay and six of nine during the Conference Finals. Just like the previous year, CBS scheduled Games 3 and 4 of the NBA Finals without an off-day to avoid yet another tape delayed game. CBS wanted the Pacific teams to advance in the playoffs so that they could show live games at 11:30 p.m. on the Eastern U.S.; however, the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers were upset in Round 1, while the Phoenix Suns were upset in Round 2. This left two teams located in the Central Time Zone, the Houston Rockets and Kansas City Kings, to play in the Western Conference Finals.
DateTeamsTime
10-10-80 LA Lakers vs Seattle11:30pm
12-25-80 Boston vs NY Knicks12:30pm
1-18-81 LA Lakers vs Boston1pm
1-25-81 - regional actionPhoenix vs Philadelphia
Seattle vs Boston		12pm
2-1-81 NBA All-Star Game @ Cleveland 1pm
2-8-81 LA Lakers vs Philadelphia1pm
2-22-81 - Double HeaderLA Lakers vs NY Knicks
Philadelphia vs Phoenix		1pm
3:30pm
3-1-81 - Double HeaderPhiladelphia vs Boston
Phoenix vs LA Lakers		1pm
3:30pm
3-8-81 - regional actionChicago vs Washington
Milwaukee vs Philadelphia		1pm
3-15-81 - regional actionPhiladelphia vs NY Knicks
Chicago vs Kansas City Kings		1pm
3-22-81 Boston vs Philadelphia1pm
3-27-81 LA Lakers vs Seattle11:30pm
3-29-81 Philadelphia vs Boston1pm
Later years
The NBA responded to CBS' actions by returning to a schedule that started later --- usually the last weekend in October --- and ended in mid-to-late-April, resulting in the NBA Finals ending after sweeps. In the 1979–1980 and 1980–1981 seasons, the NBA had experimented with ending the regular season at the end of March, thereby ensuring that the Finals were played in early-to-mid-May; starting with the 1981–1982 season, a late April regular-season finale was held, resulting in the finals starting in late May and stretching into June.
While CBS would stop tape delaying its game broadcasts after the 1981 NBA Finals, many first-round playoff games were not nationally televised. During this era, CBS typically provided regional coverage of two games in a late Sunday afternoon time slot during the first three weekends of the playoffs. In 1986, CBS provided regional coverage of the Eastern Conferences Finals and Western Conference Finals games on May 18. This would be the last time that any NBA Conference Finals game was not nationally televised.
During the 1980s, CBS showed a mixture of NBA and college basketball games during the regular season. Each March, CBS would essentially suspend its NBA coverage during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. CBS typically showed a few regular season NBA games in the weeks after the NFL season ended, before March Madness and several weekends leading into the playoffs.
1981–82
CBS would reserve a playoff game with an early start for tape delay, preventing USA Network from televising it live.
The '82 Finals marked the first time since 1978 that all of the games aired live in its entirely; As a compromise between CBS and the NBA, the season returned to late October after starting it in early October the previous two seasons, meaning that the championship series started after the conclusion of May sweeps. Also, Brent Musburger served as anchor for Game 1 in Philadelphia, but had to anchor Games 2 and 3 from New York, because he hosted CBS Sports Sunday. So anchoring the coverage in Musburger's absence were Frank Glieber and Pat O'Brien.
DateTeamsTime
10-30-81 Houston vs LA Lakers11:30pm
12-25-81LA Lakers vs Phoenix3:30pm
1-17-82 Philadelphia vs New Jersey1pm
1-22-82 Detroit vs LA Lakers11:30pm
1-24-82 Portland vs Boston12pm
1-31-82 NBA All-Star Game @ East Rutherford, NJ
2-7-82 LA Lakers vs Boston12pm
2-14-82 Boston vs LA Lakers3:45pm
2-21-82 Phoenix vs Philadelphia1pm
2-28-82 Milwaukee vs Boston12pm
3-7-82 LA Lakers vs Philadelphia1pm
3-14-82 Phoenix vs Boston12pm
3-28-82 Philadelphia vs Boston2pm
4-2-82 San Antonio vs Seattle11:30pm
4-4-82 - Double HeaderHouston vs San Antonio
Portland vs LA Lakers		1pm
3:30pm
4-11-82 Boston vs Philadelphia1pm
4-16-82 Golden State vs LA Lakers11:30pm
4-18-82 - Double HeaderMilwaukee vs Philadelphia
Portland vs LA Lakers		1pm
3:30pm
1982–83
In the 1982–83 season, CBS significantly reduced the number of regular season broadcasts from 18 to four. The rationale was that cable television networks were carrying a large number of regular season games. In return, CBS executives believed that the public was being oversaturated with NBA coverage.
DateTeamsTime
11-7-82 Seattle vs Milwaukee3:30pm
11-14-82 Washington vs Philadelphia3:30pm
1-30-83 LA Lakers vs Boston1pm
2-13-83 NBA All-Star Game @ LA 3:30pm
3-6-83 Philadelphia vs New Jersey12pm
4-15-83 Seattle vs LA Lakers11:30pm
4-17-83 Philadelphia vs Boston1pm
1983–84
For the 1983–84 season, CBS would televise just ten regular season games. Meanwhile, CBS televised about 16 playoff games. 1984 featured an increase to 47 nationally televised playoff time slots.
Also 1984, CBS Sports' Lesley Visser became the first woman to cover an NBA Finals.
DateTeamsTime
10-29-83 San Antonio vs Houston3:45pm
12-25-83 NJ Nets vs NY Knicks3:30pm
1-15-84 Boston vs Milwaukee1pm
1-29-84 NBA All-Star Game @ Denver 2pm
2-12-84 Philadelphia vs Boston3:30pm
2-26-84 LA Lakers vs Philadelphia12pm
3-4-84 LA Lakers vs Detroit12pm
4-8-84 - Double HeaderPhiladelphia vs NY Knicks
LA Lakers vs Portland		1pm
3:30pm
1984–85
On May 12, 1985, during halftime of the Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers playoff game, CBS televised the first NBA Draft Lottery.
DateTeamsTime
10-27-84 Houston vs Dallas3:30pm
12-25-84 Detroit vs Philadelphia3:30pm
1-13-85 LA Lakers vs Detroit12pm
1-20-85 Boston vs Philadelphia1pm
2-10-85 NBA All-Star Game @ Indianapolis 1:45pm
2-17-85 Boston vs LA Lakers3:45pm
2-24-85 LA Lakers vs NY Knicks12pm
4-7-85 - Double HeaderNY Knicks vs Boston
Portland vs LA Lakers		1pm
3:30pm
1985–86
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. The game aired at 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time following a 9:30 p.m. tip. Also in 1986, CBS provided regional coverage of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Finals games on May 18. As previously mentioned, this was the last time that any NBA Conference Finals game was not nationally televised.
As was the case in 1985, Game 1 of the 1986 NBA Finals was on Memorial Day afternoon. 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. Although the video was already on the fritz towards the end of the third, CBS announcer Dick Stockton waited for nearly three minutes before adjusting to a radio play-by-play.
DateTeamsTime
10-26-85 Philadelphia vs NY Knicks1pm
12-25-85 Boston vs NY Knicks3:30pm
1-19-86 LA Lakers vs Detroit12pm
1-26-86 Philadelphia vs Boston12pm
2-9-86 NBA All-Star Game @ Dallas 1:45pm
2-16-86 Boston vs LA Lakers3:30pm
2-23-86 LA Lakers vs Philadelphia12pm
3-2-86 Detroit vs Boston2pm
3-9-86 Indiana vs Philadelphia1pm
4-6-86 - Double HeaderBoston vs Philadelphia
LA Lakers vs Houston		1pm
3:30pm
1986–87
In 1987, CBS provided prime time coverage for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, marking the network's first pre-Finals prime time playoff telecast since 1975. CBS was able to do this because the NBA decided to push the Finals back from late May until early June. With the Finals starting a week later, the awkward long pauses between Games 1 and 2 were no longer required. Because of this, instead of Game 2 of the Finals being shown on the first night after sweeps ended, CBS could show Game 6 of the Conference Finals.
Also in 1987, the NBA Finals hit a then-record rating of 15.9. James Brown was the sideline reporter for Games 3 and 4 of the Finals because Pat O'Brien attended the birth of his son Sean Patrick. O'Brien called Games 1, 2, 5 and 6.
DateTeamsTime
11-1-86 LA Lakers vs Houston3:30pm
12-25-86 Chicago vs NY Knicks12pm
1-18-87 Houston vs Boston12pm
1-24-87 LA Lakers vs Dallas3:30pm
1-25-87 Philadelphia vs Boston1pm
2-1-87 Houston vs Atlanta1pm
2-8-87 NBA All Star Game @ Seattle 3pm
2-15-87 Boston vs LA Lakers3:30pm
3-1-87 Philadelphia vs Houston2pm
3-8-87 Boston vs Detroit12pm
4-5-87 - Double HeaderBoston vs Philadelphia
LA Lakers vs Denver		1pm
3:30pm
4-19-87 Atlanta vs Boston1pm
1988–89
By the late 1980s, CBS was telecasting 15 or 16 regular season games per year. In 1989 alone, only 13 of the 24 playoff games in Round 1 aired on TBS or CBS. Notably, Game 5 of the 1989 playoff series between the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers was not nationally televised. The CBS-affiliated stations in Virginia elected to show the first game of a second round series between Seattle and the Lakers.
Meanwhile, many CBS affiliates on the West Coast were able to broadcast at least a portion of the Chicago-Cleveland game. In Los Angeles, the hometown Lakers finished their game just in time for CBS to switch to the Chicago-Cleveland game, where, as it happened, Jordan made his game winner. The Portland Oregonian criticized CBS for its decision to show the Game 1 of the second round Seattle-Lakers series in Portland on KOIN rather than that game. Furthermore, CBS only broadcast the fifth game of the first-round series between Atlanta and Milwaukee nationally. The nationally televised Atlanta-Milwaukee game aired at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, while the regionally televised Chicago-Cleveland and Seattle/L.A. Lakers games aired at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Perhaps even more confusing, both Game 5 sites were in the Eastern Time Zone, so differing local start times were not a factor. Previously, CBS aired Game 2 of the Chicago-Cleveland series nationally, while relegating Game 2 of the Atlanta-Milwaukee series to TBS. CBS used its primary announcing team, Dick Stockton and Hubie Brown to call the latter game.
DateTeamsTime
11-26-88 LA Lakers vs Detroit8:30pm
12-25-88 LA Lakers vs Utah3:30pm
1-15-89 Boston vs Chicago3:30pm
1-22-89 Detroit vs Boston12pm
1-29-89 LA Lakers vs Dallas1pm
2-5-89 Chicago vs Detroit2pm
2-12-89 NBA All-Star Game @ Houston 3:15pm
2-19-89 Boston vs LA Lakers3:30pm
2-20-89 Houston vs Cleveland1:30pm
2-26-89 Boston vs NY Knicks2pm
3-5-89 LA Lakers vs Houston3:30pm
3-12-89 Denver vs Boston12pm
4-2-89 Boston vs Cleveland1:30pm
4-9-89 Chicago vs Atlanta12:30pm
4-16-89 Chicago vs Cleveland1pm
4-23-89 Seattle vs LA Lakers3:30pm

Resurgence of the NBA

Popular belief holds that the peak era of the NBA on CBS occurred from 1984 to 1987. During this period, CBS' NBA coverage was the beneficiary of a new era in the league that would forever link two of the game's greatest players, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Bird and Johnson entered the NBA, respectively playing for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. 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. Within three years of Johnson and Bird entering the league, the NBA had a Game of the Week on CBS, and ratings for Finals games approached levels rivaling those of the World Series.
Prior to the Bird/Magic era, CBS used to televise approximately five to seven games regionally per week in a doubleheader format on Sundays. Ratings for regional were far outdrawn by NBC's college basketball coverage and ABC's Superstars program. After ratings bottomed out in 1980 and 1981, coinciding with CBS airing tape-delayed coverage, the network decided to scrap the regional telecasts. In its place CBS sold the marquee players and teams for a "Game of the Week" broadcast.

Memorable moments

During its tenure as the NBA's broadcast network partner, CBS aired notable Finals series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, as well as both championships won by the "Bad Boy"-era Detroit Pistons.

Ratings

In 1976, CBS' regular season ratings earned an abysmal 26 share on Sunday afternoons. In 1978, the deciding game of the NBA Finals ranked 442nd out of 730 shows from September 1, 1977 to August 31, 1978. The next highest-rated playoff game in prime time only ranked 619th.
CBS' NBA ratings were also extremely low during the early part of the 1980s. In 1980, the 26 share from 1976 had fallen to 18%. Ratings fell to a level where, as mentioned before, CBS began airing games on tape delay. The 1981 NBA Finals set the standard for futility, with an average rating of 6.7, the lowest in NBA history until the 2003 NBA Finals averaged a 6.5 on ABC.
With the rebirth of the Lakers–Celtics rivalry, ratings improved, especially in the three NBA Finals that the two teams played in. Between 1981 and 1983, ratings for CBS' NBA telecasts rose by 12%. CBS' highest-rated NBA game was Game 7 of the 1988 NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons. By the end of its coverage, CBS' NBA ratings had been mostly respectable, with the lowest-rated Final after 1982 scoring a 12.3, a mark higher than any NBA Final since 1998.

The end of ''The NBA on CBS''

On November 9, 1989, the NBA and NBC reached an agreement on a four-year, US$600 million contract.
The NBA’s popularity was skyrocketing by the late '80s and Commissioner David Stern wanted more exposure. This meant that he wanted more than 15 games a year shown on network television. However, CBS didn’t have the room to broadcast double and triple headers every Sunday like NBC could because of their NFL and college basketball coverage. Additionally, CBS had recently signed deals with Major League Baseball and the Winter Olympics, making it even more difficult to accommodate the NBA’s request for more over the air telecasts. All in all, CBS was by 1990 pretty much destined to cut ties with the NBA.
From 1986 to its final year in 1990, CBS paid about US$47 million per year for the NBA broadcast contract. The final NBA game that CBS televised to date occurred on June 14, 1990. It was Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers. The Pistons won the game 92–90 to clinch their second consecutive World Championship. As the soundtrack for their goodbye montage, CBS used "The Last Waltz" by The Band and Marvin Gaye's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, ending CBS Sports' relationship with the NBA after 17 years. While the network broadcast all five NBA Finals involving Larry Bird, all four NBA Finals involving Julius Erving, nine of the ten NBA Finals involving Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and eight of the nine NBA Finals involving Magic Johnson, it never broadcast a Final involving Michael Jordan.
Prior to the closing montage, the network's final NBA game broadcast on June 14, 1990 ended with this sign-off by Dick Stockton:
DateTeamsTime
11-25-89 Chicago vs Golden State3:30pm
12-25-89 Cleveland vs Atlanta3:30pm
1-21-90 - Double HeaderLA Lakers vs Detroit
NY Knicks vs Chicago		12pm
2:30pm
1-28-90 Phoenix vs Boston12:30pm
2-4-90 Utah vs Detroit1pm
2-11-90 NBA All-Star Game at Miami 3pm
2-18-90 Boston vs LA Lakers3:30pm
2-19-90 Houston vs Chicago1:30pm
2-25-90 Detroit vs NY Knicks12pm
3-4-90 Chicago vs Boston2pm
3-11-90 LA Lakers vs Atlanta12pm
4-1-90 Utah vs LA Lakers3:30pm
4-8-90 Detroit vs Cleveland12pm
4-15-90 NY Knicks vs Boston1pm
4-22-90 Boston vs Philadelphia1pm

Future

In May 2007, the NBA renewed its television contract with ESPN, making ABC the broadcast television home of the NBA through 2016. On October 6, 2014, ESPN and the NBA renewed their agreement through 2025. CBS has implied that it is unlikely to bid on further sports rights beyond those it already holds, including the NBA, because of the extensive investment it has made into its existing sports portfolio.
On August 30, 2012, the CBS Sports Network signed a deal with the NBA Development League to televise 12 regular games, as well as the 2013 NBA D-League Playoffs and Finals.
On April 22, 2019, CBS Sports Network and the WNBA struck a deal to televise 40 games in primetime and on weekends during the 2019 season. The games broadcast on CBS from local broadcasts already airing on the WNBA’s streaming site, WNBA League Pass.

Announcers

Brent Musburger

Musburger was involved in every NBA Final from 1975 to 1989, and was the lead voice for NBA games on CBS for much of that period. From 1975 to 1980, Musburger worked with a variety of analysts for regular season games. Musburger called Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals, with Rick Barry and sideline reporters Mendy Rudolph and Sonny Hill. In 1989, he and Bill Raftery were the secondary announcing team on playoff games, working the Western Conference Final games that were broadcast on CBS. In 2004, Musburger and Raftery worked NBA playoff games on ESPN.

Dick Stockton

Dick Stockton was the lead voice of The NBA on CBS from 1981 to 1990. After CBS failed in an attempt to compete with NBC's college basketball announcing team of Dick Enberg, Billy Packer and Al McGuire with Gary Bender, Rick Barry and Bill Russell, Stockton became the voice of the NBA. Working with Tom Heinsohn from 1983 to 1987, Stockton called some of the most memorable NBA Finals in league history. In 1984, 1985 and 1987, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics played each other in the NBA Finals, and Stockton's broadcasts became the highest rated in NBA history at that time. Stockton would call the NBA Finals through the rest of the 1980s and in 1990 as well, working the 1988 NBA Finals with Billy Cunningham and the 1989 and 1990 NBA Finals with Hubie Brown.

Other personalities

CBS employed many NBA greats during its 17 years as the lead network carrier; Bill Russell was an analyst for several years, mainly in the 1970s and early 1980s. Elgin Baylor was an analyst during CBS' inaugural year in 1973–1974, and was fired during that year's playoffs due to what CBS considered a lackluster performance. He was replaced by another NBA great, Rick Barry, who held a fairly consistent role with CBS through the 1970s and early 1980s, including calling several NBA Finals. Steve "Snapper" Jones, best known from the NBA on NBC, was part of CBS' broadcast teams, partnering with Don Criqui in 1975–1976 and 1976–1977.
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. Bender asked Barry, "Who do you think that is in the picture?" Barry answered:
Barry's comments were considered to be racially insensitive and CBS did not renew Barry's contract for the subsequent season. Russell stayed on with new play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton for two seasons before giving way to former Celtics teammate Tom Heinsohn for the 1983–84 season.
CBS often used the same analysts for both the NBA Playoffs and NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Tom Heinsohn, Billy Cunningham, and Hubie Brown all worked NCAA Regional rounds during years when they also served as the lead NBA analyst for CBS. Billy Packer worked NBA playoff games in 1987 and 1988, while he was CBS' lead college basketball analyst.
As previously mentioned, during the 1984 NBA Finals, Lesley Visser became the first woman to cover an NBA Finals. She joined CBS Sports part-time in 1984 before joining full-time in 1987. When she was part-time with CBS, she still worked for the Boston Globe, as she had many diverse assignments with the newspaper. Visser became the first female NBA beat writer in 1976, when she was assigned to cover the Boston Celtics. Visser resigned from the Globe in late 1988.
While Brent Musburger did host most of CBS' NBA Finals pregame and halftime programs, Pat O'Brien hosted a pregame show during the earlier rounds of the playoffs called The Basketball Show. O'Brien, working with analyst Bill Raftery, also hosted the Prudential At The Half. When Musburger left CBS Sports in April 1990, O'Brien took over the NBA Finals hosting duties full-time. In 1988 and 1989, Pat O'Brien filled-in for Brent Musburger as the NBA Finals anchor for Game 2.

List of broadcasters

Announcing teams

1981–1982">1981–82 NBA season">1981–1982

  1. Dick Stockton and Bill Russell
  2. Frank Glieber and Hubie Brown
  3. Jim Kelly and Doug Collins
  4. Eddie Doucette and Kevin Loughery

    1982–1983">1982–83 NBA season">1982–1983

  5. Dick Stockton and Bill Russell
  6. Brent Musburger and Kevin Loughery
  7. Frank Glieber and Doug Collins
  8. Jim Kelly and Bill Raftery

    1983–1984">1983–84 NBA season">1983–1984

  9. Dick Stockton and Tom Heinsohn
  10. Brent Musburger and Kevin Loughery
  11. Gary Bender and Doug Collins
  12. Frank Glieber and James Brown

    1984–1985">1984–85 NBA season">1984–1985

  13. Dick Stockton and Tom Heinsohn
  14. Brent Musburger and Hubie Brown
  15. Gary Bender and Doug Collins
  16. Frank Glieber and James Brown

    1985–1986">1985–86 NBA season">1985–1986

  17. Dick Stockton and Tom Heinsohn
  18. Brent Musburger and Billy Cunningham
  19. Gary Bender and Hubie Brown
  20. Jim Nantz and Doug Collins
Jim Nantz called three games for CBS, all regional telecasts.

1986–1987">1986–87 NBA season">1986–1987

  1. Dick Stockton and Tom Heinsohn
  2. Brent Musburger and Billy Cunningham
  3. Verne Lundquist and Hubie Brown
  4. Tim Brant and Billy Packer

    1987–1988">1987–88 NBA season">1987–1988

  5. Dick Stockton and Billy Cunningham
  6. Brent Musburger and Tom Heinsohn
  7. Verne Lundquist and Hubie Brown
  8. Tim Brant and Billy Packer

    1988–1989">1988–89 NBA season">1988–1989

  9. Dick Stockton and Hubie Brown
  10. Brent Musburger and Bill Raftery
  11. Verne Lundquist and Tom Heinsohn
  12. Greg Gumbel and Quinn Buckner

    1989–1990">1989–90 NBA season">1989–1990

  13. Dick Stockton and Hubie Brown
  14. Verne Lundquist and Len Elmore
  15. James Brown and Tom Heinsohn
  16. Greg Gumbel and Quinn Buckner

    Christmas Day broadcasters

CBS broadcast a Christmas Day game each year from to with the exception of.

Theme music

Through the 1973–74 to 1975–76 seasons, as well as for most of the 1978–79 season, the theme music for The NBA on CBS incorporated lyrics; "Last Night" by the Mar-Keys was used roughly around 1975–76 as the play-by-play announcer would give a preview to the featured game.
Starting in 1977, CBS used an alternate opening showing a montage of still pictures of current NBA star athletes with music accompanying it. In 1980, CBS used rotoscoped animation in silhouette of one player shooting a jumpshot and the ball in mid-air rolling all the NBA teams as it spun in the air, set to disco-pop-moog music. During the 1978–79 season, the music for the highlights was "Chase", composed by Giorgio Moroder as the theme for the movie Midnight Express. The opening guitar and horn riff of the Chicago hit "Alive Again" were used for the highlights prior to the opening animation during the 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons.
By the 1983 NBA Finals, the opening sequence was set in a primitive computer-generated montage of basketball action inside a virtual arena that was similar in resemblance to the Boston Garden. This opening sequence was created by Bill Feigenbaum, who also created a similar open for The NFL Today used around the same time. This opening melody from 1983 to 1988 was composed by Allyson Bellink and is generally considered to be the most familiar theme music that The NBA on CBS used.
For the 1989 NBA Finals, CBS completely revamped the opening montage. The computer-generated imagery was made to look more realistic. Also, the familiar theme music was rearranged to sound more intricate and to have a more emotional impact, along the lines of the network's later World Series coverage. Between the 1989 NBA Finals and the 1990 NBA Finals' intros, the theme music was slightly revised; the 1989 Finals intro incorporated more of a guitar riff, while the 1990 Finals intro featured a little more usage of trumpets.

CBS Radio's coverage

From roughly the 1963–64 through the 1965–66 seasons, the CBS Radio Network broadcast NBA games with commentators Jerry Gross and Jack Buck.

Statistics