The DUMBEST NFL Broadcast Decision in NBC HISTORY | Chargers @ Raiders (1975)

Prior to week 6 of the 1975 NFL season, NBC executives in New York decided that it would be a good idea for KNBC, the affiliate station in Los Angeles, to show the winless San Diego Chargers take on the Oakland Raiders, instead of showing a battle between two 4-1 teams in the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills. This decision was criticized not just by fans, but by the Los Angeles affiliate itself, which blasted NBC for being clueless. Sure enough, this decision backfired in incredibly predictable fashion. This is the story behind the dumb broadcasting moment in the game between the 1975 Chargers and 1975 Raiders
OFFICIAL JAGUARGATOR9 MERCHANDISE: jg9shop.com/
New listings every week! Get your official JG9 merchandise at jg9shop.com, featuring t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, and much more! Includes merchandise of the JG9 logo, the JG9 Live logo, some minigames played on JG9 Live, and a shirt symbolizing your passer rating if you did nothing but spike the ball into the ground on every single play
LINK TO PATREON: / jaguargator9
Get early access to videos, your name featured in the credits, and the ability to request future video topics by joining today for as low as $3!
LINK TO TWITCH: / jaguargator9_nfl
Play live NFL trivia every Wednesday night at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific with the chance to win cash prizes! Join me every Sunday night at 11:30 PM Eastern following the conclusion of Sunday Night Football to discuss the day’s action!
Check out the video below to learn more: • WEEKLY LIVE NFL TRIVIA...
LINK TO DISCORD: / discord
LINK TO TIK TOK: vm.tiktok.com/ZMJmVTKpr/
See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by following JaguarGator9 on Tik Tok!
SUBSCRIBE TO 60 SECOND NFL HISTORY: / @jaguargator8
See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by subscribing to 60 Second NFL History on KZbin!
SUBSCRIBE TO JG9 HIGHLIGHTS: / @jg9highlights184
See daily highlight videos on random players throughout NFL history!
HIRE JG9 ON FIVERR: www.fiverr.com/jaguargator9/c...
Let JaguarGator9 create customized questions for your next NFL trivia show! Whether you want to play with a group of friends and family, or whether you want to host a trivia show for your business or company, JG9 has you covered!
#nfl #nbc #nflthrowback #snfonnbc #sundaynightfootball #chargers #lachargers #losangeleschargers #raiders #lvraiders #lasvegasraiders #football #sports #highlights

[@echobase1648]

I'm a retired broadcaster from out west, mostly radio and some TV. I remember this game's different controversy. Out west we had our fanbase was divided between Raiders, Chargers, Rams, and Cowboys. The 49ers huge fanbase didn't take off until Montana arrived. Raider fans were afraid they would not get to see their team and get stuck with the Dolphins and Bills, but luckily NBC let the game on out to most of west coast. So we got to see the Raiders vs Chargers. I think only ten or twelve stations carried the game. KTAR in Phoenix, KNBC-Los Angeles, KVOA-Tucson, KBLU-Yuma, KGTV-San Diego, KORK-Las Vegas, KRON-San Francisco/Oakland, KCRA-Sacramento, KCRL-Reno, KMJ-Fresno, KMIR-Palm Springs and maybe a few other stations. The main reason which wasn't explained why the Raiders vs Chargers was forced on KNBC was NBC needed a major market to show the commercials in so they wouldn't have to prorate a refund to the advertisers. In 1975 San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas were not the larger markets they are today. A lot has changed since then but that's what I remember as a young intern broadcaster.

[@marcus813]

What company in its right mind would've wanted to pay premium prices for ads during that Chargers/Raiders dud?

[@bryanglass5818]

I should have known. Right or wrong, it came down to money.

[@jcb4tube]

Do you know whether the Charger-Raider game was seen statewide in California, KVIQ, KSBY, KSBW, KERO, and KRCR?

[@Metalbass10000]

Great information. That little insight, advertisers wanted sufficient ROI, their commercials in front of enough eyeballs.

[@deacongowan117]

@@marcus813 Raiders were great villains then and no one one wanted to see the bills and Dolphins.

[@Rockhound6165]

Fun Fact: Thanks to the inept Chargers offense, John David Crow was let go as offensive coordinator and the Chargers brought in Bill Walsh who took them from the 25th ranked offense to the 11th.

[@bryanglass5818]

Amazing how many talented coaches have gone through San Diego.

[@Jiltedin2007]

@@bryanglass5818 If I recall, Bill Walsh also coached Stanford sometime in the late 70’s.

[@bryanglass5818]

@@Jiltedin2007 Yes. Walsh coached Stanford in 77 & 78.

[@mfdixon1985]

As a native Californian, one thing I've found is that people from outside of California sometimes struggle to understand how big California actually is, both in terms of population and size. I live in Northern California and had a cousin once ask me if we could go to LA when she was visiting. She was a teenager at the time but I think it quite clicked with her that doing that is essentially the equivalent of going to another state. So, especially in 1975, it wouldn't surprise me at all if a New York NBC executive just kind of had it in his mind that essentially anyone in California would want to watch a game between 2 California teams

[@brianarbenz7206]

That geographic lump sum thinking hurts many areas. Here in the Louisville, Ky. TV market, the NBC-TVS regional college basketball games would often be some dreary SEC matchup, going back to the 1960s when the SEC was _awful._ When Larry Bird's No. 1 ranked Indiana State finally got a regional TV game in 1979, Louisville's WHAS showed Kentucky in the SEC, and passed up Larry Bird's 49-point performance that day. And Larry Bird's hometown in Indiana is in the WHAS broadcast zone. There was some major ticked off-edness in Southern Indiana.

[@deacongowan117]

One thing no one struggles with is how much of a third world shit hole California has turned into where everyone is running away as fast as possible.

[@deacongowan117]

You can fit California in Alaska, California is an overrated third world country that no one likes and everyone laughs at.

[@theleap2946]

This happened to me in 1993 as well. I am an ardent Giants fan and on the last day of the season, they were playing the Cowboys for the division and a first week bye. But I live in Arizona, and we were treated to a god awful Cardinals-Falcons game where both teams had losing records. While the world got to witness Emmitt Smith’s heroic one arm war against the Giants defense, we got stuck with a 27-10 stinker. Yuck.

[@johnmanier7968]

I remember watching the Dolphins-Bills game. I lived in South Bend, Indiana, which is a Bears’ secondary market, but wasn’t an AFC secondary market until 1984 when the Colts moved to Indianapolis. That meant we almost always got the best AFC game of the week, and sometimes the two best if NBC had the doubleheader. The Bears were horrible until December 1975, late in Walter Payton’s rookie year, so I often ditched them to watch the AFC game. The only time we were stuck with a terrible game and no other options was when the Monday night game sucked. And that usually wasn’t the case. But perhaps the worst Monday night matchup ever was in Week 13 of 1975. For reasons which remain a complete mystery to me, the NFL and ABC decided to treat us to the aforementioned San Diego Chargers (1-11) against the downtrodden New York Jets (3-9). Maybe you can do an episode on that incident.

[@DolFan316]

One of 20 straight Dolphins wins over the Bills for the entire decade of the '70s 😎 Still the longest winning streak ever by one NFL team over another.

[@docadams7099]

They didn't have flexible scheduling back then; the Monday Night games were set when the league schedule came out. Al Michaels often complained that ABC would not be able to air games where both teams had winning records past the midway point for many seasons.

[@ericthomas917]

@@docadams7099 which was the point of having Sunday Night Football on NBC.

[@romelovesdan]

Me as a young NON- rams fan in LA, I was constantly a victim of the NFL broadcasting rules. Rams did not commonly sell out and we missed a lot of excellent , exciting double header games beyond this undefendable decision.

[@NillyNilly546]

Spiking the ball into the ground every play is still a smarter decision then the one made that afternoon.

[@joedavis4257]

That's funny right there.

[@mateuszdonda]

😂 lol

[@Joemamahahahaha821]

Ok I don’t fully know the origin of this, can anyone explain or link a vid?

[@mateuszdonda]

@@Joemamahahahaha821 it's a take on the channel owner - who has great content btw - often pointing out that a qb's statistical absurdly dismal qb rating is in fact so bad that had he spiked the ball on every play it would have been higher

[@Joemamahahahaha821]

@@mateuszdonda gotcha, I knew he said it all the time but i wasn’t sure if it was from somewhere else. Thank you. What would be the qb rating if you just spiked the ball, anyway?

[@hrtvfan2870]

And KNBC wasn't just an affiliate but an NBC owned-and-operated station that got screwed over by corporate. As for the Saints-Rams game that, had it sold out, would have at least given Los Angeles viewers an alternative, the Rams won their fifth straight game by trouncing New Orleans 38-14.

[@marcus813]

I live in a major market with a FOX O&O and I've seen a few questionable assignments for said station in recent years.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

For 2 seconds I believed you when you said it was a great game. So I had to drink the spike.

[@bizzles44]

Ahh… the days when the raiders were always one of the best teams in the NFL and always whooped the chargers asses

[@Aztecism]

18 straight wins from 1969 to 1977.

[@DolFan316]

@@Aztecism My team beat the Bills 20 straight times so THERE~! 😋

[@Fireyninjadog]

@@Aztecism they tied in 1970 and 1972

[@OriginalOne1960]

Al Davis copied the Los Angeles Chargers 1960 original shield logo. Al Davis was part of the Los Angeles Chargers coaching staff 1960 birth season through 1962. Al Davis then left the Chargers coaching staff in 1962 to become the manager of the Oakland Raiders in 1963. Al Davis obviously copied the the 1960 L.A.Chargers original shield logo and added it to the Oakland Raiders pirate logo in 1963 because coincidentally the original 1960-1962 Oakland born Raiders pirate team logo didn’t have the shield logo in their original birth year of 1960-1962 until Al Davis joined the Oakland Raiders in 1963 then added the shield logo to the pirate logo. Raiders copy cat shield logo but the true Original L.A.born Shield logo is the Original Los Angeles Chargers battle horse shield logo. Da Da Da Da Charge!!! ⚡️🐴 🏈 Let’s Go Los Angeles Chargers! The true original 1960 L.A. born team now back playing in the original birth city L.A. And the true original Southern California NFL team Rams born in Cleveland Ohio played in Cleveland Ohio 10 years and played ST.Louis Missouri 23 years and Raiders born in Oakland played in Oakland 43 years and now play in Nevada. Da Da Da Da Charge!!!!!⚡️🐴 🏈

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

​@@Fireyninjadoghe's talking about the Miami Dolphins were 20-0 against the Buffalo Bills from 1970-79.

[@Metalbass10000]

Negative twenty-two passing yards? NEGATIVE TWENTY-TWO PASSING YARDS ??? That's worse than if the quarterback SPIKED THE BALL ON EVERY PLAY!!!

[@michaelalbertson7457]

Not really, they obviously gained yards on other plays. So you would have lost by more because wherever you got the kickoff and were tackled, or it was a touchback, after your 4 spikes, the other team would take over. You'd probably lose 100-0. And deserve it. Stupid saying that gets tiresome.

[@markbrian7179]

At 8:59, We saw a human bowling ball leap into the end zone.

[@douglasstarr234]

I am originally from Portland, Oregon and I hated the fact that NBC treated the Seahawks as the home team even though Seattle is 3 hours from Portland. At the time if CBS had the double header, NBC always showed the Seahawk game and I missed a ton of great AFC games because of that broadcasting decision. It was one thing to see one game at a specific time but it is altogether another being subject to see a bad boring team instead of great rivalries going head to head at an earlier time slot. The Seahawks had a few decent years in the 1980s but were never the best team and they were not overly fun to watch either. Instead of getting to watch the Chargers with Dan Fouts, the Raiders with Marcus Allen or the Broncos with John Elway, we were subjected to Dave Krieg and Brian Bosworth. Steve Largent was a class act but not overly flashy or exciting.

[@harpercole5321]

Funny the Chargers had such a dreadful offense in '75. Air Coryell was only three years away.

[@chicagojeff]

Bobby Douglass was Mike Vick before Mike Vick.

[@luisvaldes1568]

Just 3 years away from Air Coryell he's still in St. Louis. From 7 points a game to amazing.

[@blazer79]

Was at this game in Orchard Park. It was a sellout and televised in WNY. Bills started 4-0, until defensive issues killed their season. Dolphins rallied late to win 35-30. Chargers had a brutal season in 1975.

[@ciesaro]

When the Rams played at the Coliseum (despite having competitive teams at the time) they rarely sold out 72 hours before kickoff time.

[@marcus813]

Selling out the LAMC back then was a tall task. That's why the Raiders had tons of blackouts when they started playing there in the '80s.

[@jonrobles1468]

The only time they would sell out was when the Cowboys, Steelers, or Raiders were in town, or they hosted a Monday Night Football game. With a capacity of over 100,000, it was a VERY tall task. If I remember right, they didn't even sell out their playoff game against the then-St. Louis football Cardinals in 1975. From 1973 to 1980 (their final season in the Coliseum before they returned there from 2016-19) they were very competitive, on par with the Cowboys and Vikings in the NFC.

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

Well the stadium held a million people.

[@BigSCTVfan]

I mean to me it makes sense that the state of California would be assigned a game between two California teams. Somebody had to watch it, and Oakland was actually good. I don’t think it was that awful of a decision.

[@davidcobb2693]

Oakland was much better than an "actually good" team, they went on to play in their 3rd consecutive AFC Championship Game that year on their way to playing in 5 straight AFC Championship Games. Buffalo had not defeated Miami since Week 10 of the 1969 AFL season and Miami went on to win ALL 10 games games in between. Can you say zero interest in this game for West coast fans?

[@michaelalbertson7457]

Anytime they put the Oakland, not LA or LV, Raiders on TV, it was a good decision for an Oakland fan. Especially when they shut out the San Diego Chargers, as they did. 🙂

[@chrish931]

@@davidcobb2693 Exactly, he calls the Dolphins the "class" of the AFC, which is funny because they were not as good as Oakland, by 75 Oakland had started owning the Dolphins, they were even the team to end the winning streak and handed them their first loss in 73 after the perfect season in 72. They knocked the Dolphins out of the playoffs in 74 with the seas of hands play and in fact that one loss the Dolphins had going into that Bills game was against Oakland. By 75 the Steelers and Raiders were away more the "class" of the AFC than the Dolphins were.

[@thunderlightning1980]

CBS handled the NFC while NBC handled the AFC. CBS handled their games better than NBC which is why in 1998, CBS grabbed the AFC from NBC.

[@erickennedy8534]

Last Sunday in the Seattle area we got worst game ever. Hawks vs Cards, rest of the country got Cowboys vs Chiefs. My uncle is old that only game he got during four clock games.

[@GR-bn3xj]

So literally they would have had more yards passing if they had spiked the ball in every play lol. Only in the 70s

[@luisreyes1963]

It's a miracle NBC still has Sunday Night Football they way they handled afternoon games decades earlier. 😅

[@propenguin9956]

Not really. They don't choose the games anymore because there is only one of them. Although nbc justed flexed a game and they chose Broncos vs chiefs over chargers vs bengals. Not the worst decision ever but still questionable

[@rigeur071]

Money talks.

[@Lonestarr022]

@@propenguin9956 Broncos vs chiefs is still a well viewed rivalry, plus Pat Mahomes.

[@chrish931]

More a miracle they got broadcasting rights back after letting CBS outbid them for the AFC in the late 90's and then didn't carry the NFL at all for a few years.

[@cablehogue599]

Jake Scott is not in the hall of fame. He belongs in the hall of fame but he's not enshrined in Canton yet.

[@daBEAGLE1017]

That OJ will have a bright future after football i bet.

[@jasonfire3434]

He would’ve made a great Bronco

[@davidcobb2693]

@@jasonfire3434 OJ had taken a career's worth of beatings through '75, almost always leading the NFL in rushing attempts, but always near the top of the list. The Denver Donkeys HOF RB Floyd Little played his last season in '75. OJ had his last Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro season in 1976 and he was done after that, scoring only 4 rushing touchdowns over his final 3 seasons ( 30 games ) in 1977-1979.

[@jasonfire3434]

@@davidcobb2693 I was making a Ford Bronco joke lol

[@davidcobb2693]

@@jasonfire3434 Too bad it wasn't funny, lol!

[@DolFan316]

I heard he had a slashing style of running.

[@Patrick-hm4eg]

This past weekend has just provided this channel a video subject of pulling away from the game.

[@kessel12]

The networks were just preparing Los Angeles for a future life where it had no teams, but were stuck watching the Chargers every week due to that stupid secondary market thing you mentioned. The funny part would occur when the Chargers wouldn’t sell out and their game was blacked out on Sunday ticket, even in cities that were 160 miles away from San Diego.

[@OriginalOne1960]

Al Davis copied the Los Angeles Chargers 1960 original shield logo. Al Davis was part of the Los Angeles Chargers coaching staff 1960 birth season through 1962. Al Davis then left the Chargers coaching staff in 1962 to become the manager of the Oakland Raiders in 1963. Al Davis obviously copied the the 1960 L.A.Chargers original shield logo and added it to the Oakland Raiders pirate logo in 1963 because coincidentally the original 1960-1962 Oakland born Raiders pirate team logo didn’t have the shield logo in their original birth year of 1960-1962 until Al Davis joined the Oakland Raiders in 1963 then added the shield logo to the pirate logo. Raiders copy cat shield logo but the true Original L.A.born Shield logo is the Original Los Angeles Chargers battle horse shield logo. Da Da Da Da Charge!!! ⚡️🐴 🏈 Let’s Go Los Angeles Chargers! The true original 1960 L.A. born team now back playing in the original birth city L.A. And the true original Southern California NFL team Rams born in Cleveland Ohio played in Cleveland Ohio 10 years and played ST.Louis Missouri 23 years and Raiders born in Oakland played in Oakland 43 years and now play in Nevada. Da Da Da Da Charge!!!!!⚡️🐴 🏈

[@davidcobb2693]

@@OriginalOne1960 And how many Lombardi trophies do the Chargers have? NONE! LMAO!!! Da Da Da Fail!!!!!

[@OriginalOne1960]

Reality eventually the Los Angeles Chargers will win a Super Bowl in L.A. but Raiders will never ever ever claim anything ever L.A. again besides always been Oakland’s team born in Oakland played in Oakland 43 years that was Oakland’s assembled team and now not even California anymore now Nevada’s team lmao 😂

[@OriginalOne1960]

@@davidcobb2693 Enjoy the Nevada desert lmao 🤣 Let’s Go Los Angeles battle Chargers! Da Da Dah Dah Da Charge!!!! ⚡️🐴🏈 🟦⬜️🟨

[@davidcobb2693]

@@OriginalOne1960 Enjoy remaining THE NUMBER THREE TEAM IN L. A.! But you are used to losing, keep fantasizing about that Lombardi Trophy that pathetic franchise will NEVER win! You're obviously still butthurt over getting knocked out of a playoff spot last year! Da Da Dah Dah Da Fail!!!!

[@iamlsusam]

You really do produce great content. Thanks for the great entertainment.

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

I remember Packers/Patriots in 2014 being a national broadcast on CBS and Dallas got a BUNCH of those single late games on Fox in 2015.

[@propenguin9956]

Single late games are not nationally televised

[@CatsClaw44]

And Network Executives wonder why TV viewers don't respect them.

[@marvinthiessen3454]

Nothing beats the infamous "Hedi" game (1968) between the Jets and Raiders. Narcissistic TV executives defied all logic and common sense choosing to leave a nationally televised game they ASSUMED was over for a run-of-the-mill kiddie show. The flak that ensued after the Raiders beat the Jets (scoring twice in under 2 minutes) still echoes today 53 years later. Not sure if TV elites learned anything from that old fiasco.

[@brianarbenz7206]

The producer of the Heidi movie was on the phone with NBC's executives in the minutes before the movie's scheduled start and many believe he threatened to sue NBC if the network stayed with the game and joined his movie in progress. With seconds to decide, and a pissed off producer bearing down on them, the network said switch to Heidi. The decision was so last second that Curt Gowdy and his crew at the stadium didn't know a thing about the change, which cut Gowdy's call off in mid-sentence. That fiasco created the network policy of delaying post-game programming to let the game end.

[@marvinthiessen3454]

@@brianarbenz7206 Thanks Brian for such a profound insight. I still think NBC should've called the producer's bluff and finished the game. I don't see how "Hedi" rates over an NFL game of that importance, kid shows (back then) were mainly on Saturdays anyway.

[@troyturner173]

@@brianarbenz7206 People always get this flipped around. What ACTUALLY happened w/Heidi was that the execs KNEW they were headed for trouble late in the first half-so there was an emergency roundtable set up in the suburbs to figure out what to do. Late 3rd/Early 4th quarter the decision of "Screw Timex (the show's sponsor), show the game-and we'll let the lawyers battle it out" was reached. Unfortunately, with the NBC switchboard already jammed by parents/football fans demanding an answer, there was no way to get the decision out to Oakland in time to show the game in its entirety (the execs even tried to get the game put back on the air after the switch, but Oakland had already gone dark. You're correct, though-that networks installed "Heidi phones" so that networks/game crews can communicate easier

[@michaelalbertson7457]

They made the right decision about the Heidi game. I didn't like it at the time, but many liked the movie, and I'd rather know my team won, and not watch the end, rather than watch my team lose. Did it too many times in Super Bowls and conference championships with the Cowboys (in the early years), Oakland (you can have LA and LV) Raiders (mainly championship games), and Vikings (nuff said). Many great games, but I like to have my teams win. Oakland won this one. 🙂

[@marvinthiessen3454]

@@michaelalbertson7457 Sorry, Mike, millions of Raider and Jet fans would heartily disagree. Sure, Hedi had a fan base of sorts, but kid movies can be shown on Saturdays. Think TV execs would make the same bone-headed decision today? Not if they wanted to keep their fat contract with the NFL. Much more money involved now but the product has been watered-down. The league's off-season "Rules Committee" have all but destroyed the game as it was meant to be played. The Hall of Fame would be empty if former players had to abide by today's sissy rules. I quit following the "No Fun League" years ago.

[@hooflungpoo275]

OJ was a killer running back !

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

His peak years

[@jwp1002steel]

Interesting video. Ironically, the Bills and Dolphins both failed to make the playoffs in '75.

[@jwp1002steel]

The AFC was tough at the top. The Dolphins and Oilers finished 10-4 in 1975 and didn't make the playoffs.

[@TheSonicsean]

And one of the teams from this game did (because the Raiders were you know, not atrocious)

[@davidcobb2693]

If Dolphins owner Joe Robbie hadn't been so damn cheap, Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield never would have signed those "huge" WFL contracts and the Dolphins likely would have kept their making the playoffs streak alive. Miami made 5 straight playoff appearances from 1970 until 1974 and they wouldn't see postseason play again until 1978.

[@DolFan316]

@@davidcobb2693 Midway through the season the '75 team was actually better than they'd been in '74 with the three of them there. But then they gave up a TD with under a minute left in Houston to lose by a point, then they lost to a Colts team that started 1-4 and won out, then they lost 13th game to the Colts again 10-7 and that was that. BTW Miami finished with 10-4 twice in a 3-year span and missed the playoffs both times, which is why I never want to see broncos and Pats fans complain about missing the playoffs at 11-5 which is actually worse than 10-4 from a winning percentage standpoint.

[@davidcobb2693]

@@DolFan316 Had they frozen the standings midway through the '75 season Miami's 6-1 record gave them a 3 game lead over the 3-4 Colts, a 1 game lead over the 5-2 Bills and a 4 game lead over both the Jets and Patriots who both sat at 2-5 midway through the '75 season. The playoff scenario for the AFC midseason would have the #1 seed AFC Central division champion Pittsburgh Steelers host the #3 seed AFC Western division champion Oakland Raiders and the #2 seed AFC Eastern division champion Miami Dolphins would have hosted the #4 seed Wild Card Houston Oilers. Under existing NFL rules 2 teams from the same division were prohibited from playing against each other in the Divisional playoff round. The #1 seeded Steelers would not have been allowed to host the #4 seeded Oilers. The 3 division winners were seeded 1, 2 and 3 and the Wild card was the team with the best record among the non division winning teams and they were the #4 seeded team. There were only two ways your '75 Dolphins could have made the playoffs, first if the season ended at the halfway point of the season or second, win a game against Baltimore. Those '75 Dolphins were so much better than the '74 team that they carried that "success" into the '76 season where the defense ranked 26th of the 28 teams in total yards allowed, the 0-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers ranked 24th, the expansion Seattle Seahawks were dead last and the Kansas City Chiefs defense was 27th in yards allowed.

[@docadams7099]

I remember "The Heidi Game" from 1968. The New York Jets played at Oakland in an AFL game on Nov. 17. The game was tied late in the 4th quarter, when NBC pulled the plug on it in the East, so "Heidi" could start on time (7 PM). Viewers in the East jammed the NBC switchboard in New York, upset that they couldn't see the ending of a thrilling game. The Raiders scored two quick TDs to win it. The Jets would avenge their loss in "The Heidi Game", beating the Raiders in the AFL Championship Game, on the way to their only Super Bowl win (also their only Super Bowl berth).

[@johnhammond9962]

O. J. was even more fun to watch in 1994.

[@aaronholcomb237]

Ray Guy, the Raiders punter, passed for 22 yards in that game. I caught the highlight of that pass in this video.

[@DolFan316]

I had no idea Bobby Douglass played for the Chargers until I saw this video. And apparently neither did he. (Rim shot.)

[@okolo22000]

9:50-10:03 Nice! 👍 I wonder how many occasions where a presumably iconic clash sucked while a seemingly dud ended up being a much better game? Wait! Don’t you have any info on the aftermath of that “Dumb Decision” see what I did there? Like future TV broadcasting decisions or if anybody got fired?

[@MrCHITOWN247]

I never get tired of that "which is worse if he did nothing but spike the ball down on every single play" 😂😂

[@brianarbenz7206]

You mean I could spike the ball on every play and be better that some NFL quarterbacks? Sign me up, NFL. I'll spike it all season for what the Lions QB is paid!

[@nickkaning7616]

33-33 at the end of regulation yesterday in Raiders vs Cowboys. I am not saying its fixed, but I am starting to think that the simulation theory is more plausible.

[@deansch6089]

In the end, though, the right team won and that's all that matters.

[@Davepool-hs7vr]

I agree, a battle between two 4-1 teams is a better matchup than a game where one of the teams are winless.

[@davesimms8825]

This reminds me of when CTV took over the package and decided at the beginning that all the fans in Canada wanted to see the at that time, circa 2017, were the then awful Buffalo Bills. CTV’s offices are in Toronto.

[@brettpatterson404]

It was 2007 not 2017.

[@pullt]

Wilson and Rogers had a lot of pull....is why that Toronto Bills experiment was even tried.

[@marcus813]

Not a wise decision considering that Bills Mafia's influence doesn't cover Canada like a blanket.

[@davesimms8825]

@@brettpatterson404 I just remember thinking what a stupid tunnel vision idea

[@ronaldwayne7092]

Global was doing that long before CTV got the rights. It's VIKING Country over here.

[@Patrick-tx9rh]

I’m also wondering did Seattle picked up the Chargers at the Raiders too? Before the Seahawks existed we would get the Raiders on KING 5 (NBC) or the Niners on KIRO 7 (CBS). The Bay Area were the teams that we mostly watched at that time.

[@marcus813]

I hope an exception was made in this case. Seattleites didn't deserve to be subjected to that dreck game.

[@kevinramsey417]

Not the Broncos?

[@mgb4692]

Speaking of Seahawks, one would also note NBC ran this back eight years later with Raiders vs 6-9 Chargers as their main game in Week 16 (the Raiders obliterated them on a Thursday night two weeks earlier) while relegating Hawks vs Patriots win-and-in to backup status

[@stevep8445]

Wait, I thought the "Heidi game" was NBC's worst decision ever?

[@Rockhound6165]

The Heidi debacle was all on NBC. This was all on the league.

[@Bruce12867]

@@Rockhound6165 NBC was forced to pull the Jets/Raiders game by Timex, who wholly sponsored the Heidi telecast. Had NBC not done that, Timex would have had NBC by the you-know-what's.

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made another video about the time another big market was forced to see a Raiders game on NBC and couldn’t see a game involving the eventual Super Bowl Champions.

[@Bruce12867]

1981 (and I believe that was mainly because CBS had the doubleheader that weekend).

[@PAGoTribe1963]

You forgot to say, "click the card in the upper right for more".

[@CTubeMan]

@@PAGoTribe1963 If people did so on this video they wouldn’t see the game I’m referencing.

[@chrish931]

Yeah but in 75 the Raiders made the AFC title game, the Dolphins didnt even go to playoffs.

[@mgb4692]

This was the last year a game wasn't televised, also involving the Chargers: vs Giants on a Saturday at Shea (yes during the year four teams played at Shea cause of renovation/construction). Might be a good vid to do later on

[@Suarez05]

Where did you get this at 0:29?

[@mrmoose6619]

Rogers is a Canadian cable company. I assume he found that there.

[@Joseph-cu8lg]

I remember those dark days. I lived 10minutes north of MD just over the PA border and had Colts games then Ravens games forced on me. I have lived in several cities, Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, Baltimore:NYC, and Tampa at times and consistently hate the home team bc living alongside the goons that many fans are had always been off-putting

[@DaveKostka]

Of course a network affiliate within the state of California should televise a game between two in-state teams. The idea of televising a game between two teams from the opposite coast makes no sense to me.

[@kurttoy5035]

Like that slow NBC Peacock opening.

[@arrowdave646]

I like the plugs to other videos during the new video

[@lauradaly8020]

The NFL was, at one time, in a conflict with NBC; that was the "Heidi" Bowl.

[@Fireyninjadog]

The raiders shut out the chargers both games in 1975. 25-0 in Oakland, and 6-0 in san diego

[@klax001]

Your voice sounds so much better in this video. The echo is finally gone!

[@Thor-Orion]

He might have had 823 rushing yards through five games, but how many waiters had he stabbed so far?

[@GeekGameCulture]

These days, if a game is THAT much of a blowout by that point, and I'm not sure of how the rules are in this case, a network can have the option to switch the game to a more competitive matchup (CBS has done this a few times if a game looks like it's decided by the third quarter). So if this happened today, that could have been an option to take: "Hey, perhaps this is going to get out of hand, let's switch these stations to a game that they will want to see." Highly doubt they were allowed to do that in those days, though.

[@chrisrifkin3670]

Daym Charger qbs would have been better off spiking the ball into the ground on every play for both games

[@cjcolehour2778]

"17 yards passing" hey improvement! 39 more yards than their last game.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

No, I think the Heidi Bowl is still the all timer for bad broadcasting decisions-especially by NBC.

[@NillyNilly546]

Those cups are peaking my interest.

[@luisvaldes1568]

Great sky shot of San Diego stadium. Gone Dec 2020.

[@luisvaldes1568]

Everybody, and I mean everybody loved OJ in that era.

[@Sirharryflash82]

Bob Griese was not the best quarterback in football.

[@chrish931]

Yeah and by 75 the Dolphins were not the "class" of the AFC either. That would be the Steelers and the team knocking on the door for that title would be the Raiders not the Dolphins. In fact the one loss the Dolphins had going into the Bills game was the Raiders, and the Dolphins wouldnt make the playoffs and the Raiders and Steelers would play in the AFC title game.

[@stevensmith7439]

For some reason, there was a San Diego blackout that also effected Los Angeles back then as well, when it concerned Chargers home games. When the Rams played in San Diego that season, CBS could not air the game in LA, even though it was a road game; it wasn’t a sell-out, and LA was considered part of San Diego’s “territory” back then.

[@jcb4tube]

For the record, the 49ers played, and lost, at the Patriots in the early slot.

[@epet9396]

The nonsense regarding NFL broadcasts has reared its ugly head since then. The most amazingly stupid season was 1999 when the networks were jamming down division rival games to be broadcast when the home teams were not playing, even when the rival teams in question were not very good and even boring. I live in Mpls and throughout the 1999 season, we did not have a single broadcast of a St Louis Rams game during the regular season since they did not have a Sunday night or Monday night game throughout the season, were coming off a poor year from 1998, and did not have a game against the Vikings. The Rams, of course, went on to win the Super Bowl and were very entertaining and located only 530 from Mpls. What games were broadcast instead? Numerous Bears games (Chicago is located over 400 miles away) that had very little entertainment value due to their 6-10 performance and dull makeup, even after it was clear that the Rams were must-see TV. The most ridiculous situation tied to this was broadcasting the 10/31 Bears-Redskins game in our market (a game that ended 48-22 and was 45-0 at one point in the 3rd Quarter) instead of a Super Bowl preview matchup of the Rams and the Titans which was a close 24-21 Tennessee victory; what was even more crazy is that when the Bears-Redskins game was at 45-0, FOX refused to do a switch to a more interesting matchup and just stayed with the debacle that they gave us in the first place right down to the final gun. The stupidity of this decision-making resulted in the eventual world champions not having a game broadcast in MN until the divisional round of the playoffs (against, interestingly, the Vikings). I am sure that there are other examples of awful reasoning for broadcasting games, but 1999 takes the cake.

[@curtismcneil8695]

Back then QB'S had a chance to develop. Dan Fouts is a Hall of Fame QB but even he struggled with a bad team around him.

[@DolFan316]

Fouts was pretty much just a guy until '79.

[@PAGoTribe1963]

The Bills need to bring back the people in the bison costume.

[@AdamJ617]

10:48 made me wait for the catchphrase. Poor KNBC had to SUFFER at the dirty hands of NBC. If I was at KNBC back in the day or If I were a die-hard NFL fan living in LA back in 1975, I’d have been Agitated, but then again, I Also wasn’t alive in 1975. Poor KNBC.

[@billtooke6642]

JG Time

[@jaylong4705]

OJ was one killer dude

[@DolFan316]

He absolutely murdered teams on the ground.

[@morghenmurdochlundgren8640]

I cant believe I had more passing yards that year against the Raiders than San Diego in combined games & I was only 5 years old.What an accomplishment,I'm so proud of myself looking back,which I cant remember, but I bet it was great.Brings a tear to me eye,I'm gonna go celebrate with my family and have that engraved on my tombstone.Thanx SD Chargers for making my life worthwhile and giving me the courage,strength and capacity to live out my other dream.................SPIKING THE BALL ON EVERY DOWN & still having a higher QB rating than both your QBs combined,glorious!

[@andrewschultz6608]

Man. Dan Fouts sure paid his dues before he got great.

[@stingrey1571]

i grew up in nyc prior to redzone, streaming etc. no matter what we got jets vs_______ at 1pm , gaints vs______ at 4pm or vice versa.

[@bronxsportsfan]

A question: did it apply in the 1970s NFL television where NBC could've went to another game if a game was lopsided? In other words, could NBC affiliates (not including Oakland and San Diego), at the discretion of the network, get out of a blowout game (Raiders-Chargers in this case) and televise bonus coverage of a more competitive game (Dolphins-Bills)?

[@rjflesher]

That's what I'm wondering. NBC should have had that option

[@deacongowan117]

Thank God the Raiders bailed out the Dolphins Bills game and gave people better options. No one wanted to watch the bills dolphins.

[@rogerhuggettjr.7675]

Maybe it wasn't a broadcast choice, but the worst thing I ever saw was the Jets game they decided to do without announcers; just extra stats. I almost shut it off, not understanding why they didn't fix the tech mistake and only being marginally interested in the AFC (I was a kid and a Viking fan.)

[@ricknibert6417]

That was a nationally-televised Saturday afternoon game in Miami and the gimmick was an intent to boost otherwise awful ratings.

[@Lawomenshoops]

Griese the best QB in football? What are you smoking! In 74 he was 8th in passer rating, 7th in TD's, and 10th completions. Hardly the best QB. In 75 he was 6th in passing, the only category he was in the Top 10. I know this is a Week 6 game, but only a fool would say Griese was the best QB in the NFL!

[@davidcobb2693]

Snake Stabler was the reigning NFL MVP and with Griese you got a QB who would throw the ball 15-20 times a game and hand the ball off 40-58 times every game, BO-RING!

[@chrish931]

Yep and the one loss the Dolphins had going into that Bills game, the Oakland Raiders.

[@jackjohnson5714]

Tarkenton was clearly the best QB in '75. I'd have Griese behind at least Staubach, Stabler, Anderson, Jones, and Bradshaw.

[@charlesmak534]

East Coast West Coast beef from the 70s!

[@DolFan316]

The east VS west coast disco feud was real.

[@deacongowan117]

Stabler was better than Griese.

[@deacongowan117]

A lot better

[@chrish931]

Yes, Kenny knew how to do something other than hand it off. Also calling the Dolphins the class of the AFC in 75 is a joke, Raiders had a better claim but as much as I hate to say it in 75 you would have to give that title to the Steelers. Raiders would play in their third straight AFC title game that year, had handed the Dolphins their one loss going into the Bills game, plus the Bills and Dolphins didnt even make the playoffs that year. The issue was just how out matched the Chargers were.

[@michaellee4276]

"In 1975 the Network had no say, the Network executives at the top made the decision regardless of the interests of the television network in question." This makes no sense and contradicts itself. Same with other lines in this video. The decision was made by the NBC network which was run by executives in New York. The NBC affiliate, KNBC was complaining. Maybe you are using the word "network" instead of "affiliate" or "station" in a way no one has ever used it. Network is the national company that provides programming for dozens of stations many of which they own and operate themself (including KNBC in LA.)

[@brianoneill7186]

Michael Lee FAR too many people these days are clueless about terminology of 'network' vs. 'affiliate'

[@marcus813]

WNBC in NYC/Newark wouldn't have anything to do with what KNBC does. With that said, I'll take it a step further. Both of those stations are owned by NBC Owned Television Stations, making them NBC owned-and-operated stations. It appears that KNBC was screwed over by its parent company due to ad rates.

[@shaughnziech2193]

Could part of it have been NBC broadcast the AFC? Also, fun fact, Buffalo was 0-20 vs Miami in the 70’s

[@jayblake682]

This is what I and many others rail against here in GA. When the Jaguars and Falcons are both on CBS at the same time, we almost invariably get the Jags (no offense). We are well beyond the 75 mile radius (about double). There is negligible support here for the Jags. Despite the horrendous history of the Falcons, that’s who people here want to watch. Our local affiliate gets bombarded with calls and emails every time to the point that they now preemptively announce that they have no control over it.

[@deacongowan117]

Everyone wanted to watch the Raiders over the sorry dolphins bills.

[@dgendvil]

At least the internet helps.

[@charleswilliamsjr6149]

Now the New Orleans saints game vs the rams in 1985 was blacked out in New Orleans!!!!

[@rickarnold7778]

Great video. This is definitely *one* of the worst programming decisions ever made, but for me, the "Heidi Game" is by far the worst.

[@Musicradio77Network]

Remember when the “Wonderful World Of Disney” was on at 7:30PM right after the game, or if they were on overtime, they decided to throw in a Disney TV show like “Heidi” did.

[@kyletucker3811]

The actual customers in markets should have a say in what games they get. I'm not talking week to week necessarily, but definitely in the off-season you could conduct surveys to gauge the interest in various teams. For example, this week about 75 percent of Oregon where I live is getting the Patriots game as opposed to the Chargers vs Broncos game. A lot of people I've talked to don't understand why they'd think a matchup of east coast teams would be preferred over western teams. Especially with a large portion of the state being Duck fans and Justin Herbert being the star for the Chargers. The logic is sort of head scratching. It makes me really wonder about that "Cowboys are the most watched team" thing. Are they ACTUALLY a team most people want to see or want to see lose? Or is it just that their games are forced on a bunch of markets that don't have any real option from consumers whether they get it?

[@victorspurioii2212]

YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO HOOK THE CUSTOMER. I GAVE YOU 3 TIMES 30 SECONDS AND YOU FAILED !!!

[@chrish931]

It was a shit matchup your right, but to call the Dolphins the class of the AFC in 75 is inaccurate, in fact by 75 the Raiders owned Miami, the Raiders were the first team to beat Miami after the perfect season in 72 handing them a regular season loss in 73, they knocked them out in the 74 divisional round with the "seas of hands play" to go to the AFC title game and had beat them already earlier in the 75 season. Not only that but the Raiders would go on to play in the AFC title game in 75 against the Steelers and again made the AFC title in 76 and won the Super Bowl in 76. By 75 the Raiders and Steelers were the class of the AFC, Miami was becoming an after thought.

[@chrish931]

Oh and the one loss the Dolphins had going into the Bills game, the Oakland Raiders.

[@OriginalOne1960]

In 1960 the Los Angeles Chargers win 52-28 vs The Oakland Raiders at the L.A.Coliseum. Then again in 1960 the L.A.Chargers beat the Oakland Raiders at Candlestick stadium in San Francisco. Los Angeles Chargers 41 Oakland Raiders 17 Let’s Go Los Angeles battle Chargers The true original L.A. born team now back playing in the original birthplace L.A. Da Da Dah Dah Da Charge!!!!!⚡️🐴 🏈

[@OriginalOne1960]

The Chargers name and logo was created and originated in Los Angeles it’s a Horse charging into battle with a USC L.A.Memorial Coliseum historical connection and Tommy Walker aka”Tommy Trojan”and then owner Barron Hilton. The Chargers name originated from the USC football games and Tommy Walker aka (Tommy Trojan) famous historical Charge chant he created “Da Dah Dah Da“ Charge! “Da Dah Dah Da Trojans Warriors Charge! Tommy Walker then musician /team kicker helped inspire then owner Barron Hilton “R.I.P.” to name the Chargers football team from the famous Charge chant he created as a USC musician band member /team kicker. When Barron Hilton attended the USC football games the previous years as a football fan at the L.A.Coliseum he would hear the Tommy Walker Charge chant. When Tommy Walker would run out to the football field to attempt the extra point kicks as the team kicker the USC team music band would play Tommy’s Charge chant he created as the team musician and the football fans that attended the games would yell out his Charge chant “Da Dah Dah Dah Da” Charge! “Da Dah Dah Da “Trojan Warriors Charge! to motivate him to score the extra point kicks. So that’s where Barron Hilton got inspired and got the idea to name the Los Angeles Chargers football team. The proof is in the Chargers 1960 original shield logo with the horse charging into battle. The Charger is a horse charging into battle. very similar to the USC Trojan Warrior with shield and sword and horse mascot charging on to the field to battle. Hence the horse in the Chargers 1960 original shield logo. The lightning bolt idea came from Barron Hilton liking the Air Force College football team lightning bolt logo as a College football fan. Till this day that famous Charge chant is heard at the game’s and through out many other sporting game events. The Los Angeles Chargers r the true original L.A. born team now back playing in the original birthplace and not too many team’s can claim that fact. Rams were born in Cleveland 1936 and Raiders were born in Oakland 1960 And that’s a fact these other teams can’t ever claim. And also the Chargers r the true Southern California NFL team because they have never left Southern California unlike the Cleveland/ST.Louis Rams and the Oakland/Las Vegas Nevada Raiders. Let’s Go Los Angeles Chargers The true original L.A. born team now back playing in the original birthplace L.A. Da Da Dah Dah Da Charge!!! ⚡️🐴 🏈 Born in L.A. in 1960 and played their first season ever in Chargers history at the L.A.memorial Coliseum finishing the season with a 10-4 record. Da Da Dah Dah Da Charge!!!!!⚡️🐴 🏈

[@thisappisbs]

You want to talk dumb decisions? Try my local fox provider KPTV in week 2 of the 2022 season. They decide to air NHRA over the Tompa Bay Gronkaneers vs the Jamis Winston led saints. Granted, they did air the game I wanted to see, Geno Smith led seahawks vs the niners, and I chose not to watch the saints suffer and instead watched Mitch Trubisky and the steelers vs Mac Jones and the struggling pats, but it was still a dumb decision for KPTV

[@xxxxmattxxxx69]

Ah New Yorkers thinking they know what’s best for everyone

[@deacongowan117]

The bills and dolphins were harder to watch than the chargers. No one liked the bills and dolphins.

[@gregcrane4953]

"They lead it 13-0 at the end of the first half..." Think you meant to say "first quarter".

[@royveteto4134]

did the same person make this decision who also made the choice to air heidi

[@ronpeacock9939]

KNBC did have one other choice... SHOW NO GAME AT ALL!. The local affiliates still had the right of total refusal of programming.. yeah, no choice on game shown.. but could have played some old time movie in its place too... .. but even the poorer game was probably a better option than whatever they could have put in it's place.. but it would have sent a message...

[@johncate9541]

A 25-0 score in a pro football game is all you need to know. There's no way to have that score without some very shitty play.

[@davidcobb2693]

3 TD's and 2 Safeties against a team that didn't dent a blade of grass in their opponent's end zone! Teams that get shutout are usually guilty of very shitty play but you rarely see a team get 2 Safeties in a game and that usually requires some exceptional play, first by the Raiders Special teams in the 1st quarter and secondly by the Raiders Defense, mainly Ted Hendricks in the 4th quarter.

[@Lonestarr022]

Scorigami!!

[@chrish931]

On one side, Raiders would make their third of five straight AFC title games that year and were a far better team than either Miami or Buffalo in 75. In fact the Raiders had already beat the Dolphins that year. The Bills and Dolphins sat home that year and neither made the playoffs. Rather see one good team then two mediocre ones.

[@davidcobb2693]

@@chrish931 The Raiders beat the Dolphins in Miami to open the season on Monday Night Football, the game was hyped locally as a "revenge" game, they even displaced Flipper in the East end zone by putting up temporary bleachers that could accommodate 5,000 fans raising the Orange Bowl capacity to 80,000.

[@deansch6089]

There's only one piece of information that matters and this video doesn't even mention it. Ratings. Which game is going to put more asses in front of TV screens? Two semi-local teams with a great rivalry? Or two teams from the other side of the country? I have no idea what the ratings were that day and we'll never know what the ratings for the Bills/Dolphins game would have been. But presumably the network has some information they can draw upon to make projections. THAT is the data that matters, and it's precisely what's not mentioned here. I do love the irony of la-la-land being told what to do by the rest of the country and being upset about it. Sure doesn't stop them from looking down at the rest of the country and telling everyone how to live their lives. Zero sympathy.

[@stevep8445]

Agree. I guarantee most of the fans in California could care less about a Buffalo Miami game.

[@marcus813]

KNBC wanted the Dolphins/Bills game and I guess the NBC O&O thought that game would be more attractive than airing what many people knew would be a rubbish game. If the Chargers weren't dreck at that point (this was the 2nd time the Raiders shut them out in 21 days and they were well on their way to their worst season ever at the time), I don't think that KNBC puts up a fight.

[@chrish931]

@@marcus813 Yeah, I hate the way the video is narrated, he makes it sound like the Bills and Dolphins were the powers of the AFC that year and the Chargers Raiders sucked. The Chargers sucked, the Dolphins and Bills were mediocre and the Raiders were one of the best teams in football. Only one team made the playoffs of the four and it was their 3rd straight AFC title game on they way to what would be five straight and that was the Oakland Raiders. Calling the Dolphins the "class" of the AFC in 75 is a joke and Kenny Stabler was closer to being the best QB in the league then Brian "which back do I hand it off to next" Greise. The issue was just how out matched the Chargers were in this game, everyone knew they stood no chance.

[@deacongowan117]

Miami and Buffalo sucked

[@blazer79]

No they didn’t. However, your comment certainly sucked.

[@chrish931]

@@blazer79 While its a bit hyperbolic he isn't totally wrong though, mediocre would be a better term, what this video doesn't point out is that neither the Bills or Dolphins would make the playoffs that year, the Raiders however would play in their third of five straight AFC title games that year and were much closer to being the "class" of the AFC than the Dolphins were, although you really got to give that title to the Steelers. Dolphins had been on the decline since 73 and the Bills were basically OJ Simpson and not much else. Another interesting note about that week, the Dolphins one loss going into that game was against the Raiders.

[@blazer79]

@@chrish931 That was week 6 from 1975. The Bills started 4-0, then had a brutal loss to the Giants on the Monday Night before. The Dolphins were in the playoffs the previous five seasons. Miami lost twice to Baltimore, including a week 13 game in overtime. Miami was far from mediocre. The Chargers were just downright horrible.