Worrying About Prime Time Phenomenon is ABC’s Forte

Chet Forte had a nightmare.

Forte is the director of the ABC Monday Night Football prime time telecasts. As the only member of the circus to be there since its inception in 1970, he worries about the prime time phenomenon and frequently has sounded off when he thought the schedule not attractive.

In Forte’s dream the NFL season goes awry. The seven have-not teams which won’t see the light of ABC’s 16 prime-time telecasts this season -- Atlanta, Buffalo, Detroit, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay -- develop into the powerhouses of the league. Forte tosses and turns through this agony until he wakes up to reality and the comfort of what looks like a strong ABC slate and a good year for the NFL and television.

The NFL limits each team to three national telecasts. The showcase teams, San Francisco, Miami, the Raiders and Washington all will be on ABC three times each. Other national telecasts include Thanksgiving Day and the two final Saturdays when games go on CBS and NBC without competition.

The Jersey Giants will get national exposure on Sunday night, Oct. 6, against Dallas; on Monday night, Nov. 18, at Washington, and on Saturday, Dec. 21, against Pittsburgh. The Jersey Hessians, Leon Hess’ Jets, will be on Monday night, Oct. 14, against Miami; Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, at Detroit; and on Saturday, Dec. 14, against Chicago.

There is an up feeling in the NFL as the season gets under way Sunday on the field and on CBS and NBC. Commissioner Pete Rozelle expressed cautious optimism that he thinks the slides in ratings have bottomed out, and the almost 25 percent increase in the ratings for exhibition games last month would appear to support his optimism.

The NFL makes TV changes each year. Although they aren’t always noticed by viewers, they have a subtle effect on enjoyment of the game and the telecasts. The best news is that we may get a subtle break from ill-timed commercials.

There will be just as many commercial minutes during a game, but they will be spotted differently. There no longer will be any breaks for commercials after a runback of a kickoff, an interception or a fumble recovery -- times when a team’s momentum could be slowed. The breaks for commercials and promos will be increased from 90 seconds to two minutes, but that will mean fewer breaks, 16 during games from last year’s 22.

A big plus: timeouts called by the teams in the last two minutes of each half to stop the clock will be reduced from 90 seconds to 60 seconds -- which may still be 50 seconds more than needed.

There are other changes to speed up games and get them back to three hours duration. Officials will put the ball into play more quickly, and resumptions of play will be in the hands of the officials, not TV.

The new faces in the announcers’ booths are:

For NBC -- analysts Sam Rutigliano, the former Cleveland coach, and Bob Kuchenberg, the former Miami lineman, and play-by-play man Tom Hammond who did good work on the Breeder’s Cup races last year. Paul Zimmerman, the peerless pigskin pundit of them all, will be used as a third man in the booth.