Craigh:
Are you sure that in 1964 swimming was on TV more than anyother sport? Perhaps the % of the sport compared to other sports on TV may have have been greater then because of the lack of cable. I do remember seeing the 1964 Olympics on TV and seeing Don Schollandar and Dona de Varona and they were truly the first media stars and were shown a lot on TV. I do not recall seeing the Olympic Trials or any of the AAU Nationals and if they were shown it was part of ABC Wide World of Sports.
I will admit that College Football was not on as much today because of a lack of cable and a lack of all those flea bag bowls that are on now. I remember the 4 major bowls on New Years Day and maybe a couple of others. I know College Basketball was a lot smaller and they only showed the Regional finals and the Final Four. The size of the NCAA Tournament was half of what it is now. Also I know the NBA playoffs were not always on TV just the Finals on weekends were shown.
Perhaps someone like Bill Mulliken or Rich Abrahams would remember since both swimmers were very active back then. I do know that I read somwhere last year that swimming was shown on TV more hours than before and I mentioned this on another thread "Amazing Swims".
I should also direct you to the Long Beach Olympic Trials thread. Emmett Hines made some very excellent points about swimming on TV and whats expected of the coverage. We, as swim fans want to see everything and he gave very pointers as to why we have what we have.
Craigh:
Are you sure that in 1964 swimming was on TV more than anyother sport? Perhaps the % of the sport compared to other sports on TV may have have been greater then because of the lack of cable. I do remember seeing the 1964 Olympics on TV and seeing Don Schollandar and Dona de Varona and they were truly the first media stars and were shown a lot on TV. I do not recall seeing the Olympic Trials or any of the AAU Nationals and if they were shown it was part of ABC Wide World of Sports.
I will admit that College Football was not on as much today because of a lack of cable and a lack of all those flea bag bowls that are on now. I remember the 4 major bowls on New Years Day and maybe a couple of others. I know College Basketball was a lot smaller and they only showed the Regional finals and the Final Four. The size of the NCAA Tournament was half of what it is now. Also I know the NBA playoffs were not always on TV just the Finals on weekends were shown.
Perhaps someone like Bill Mulliken or Rich Abrahams would remember since both swimmers were very active back then. I do know that I read somwhere last year that swimming was shown on TV more hours than before and I mentioned this on another thread "Amazing Swims".
I should also direct you to the Long Beach Olympic Trials thread. Emmett Hines made some very excellent points about swimming on TV and whats expected of the coverage. We, as swim fans want to see everything and he gave very pointers as to why we have what we have.
