Once upon a time, Saturday night wasn’t a wasteland for television. In fact, it was the best night of the week.
Check out CBS’ lineup for Saturday night in 1973 and say hello to Archie Bunker:
8 p.m. All in the Family
8:30: M*A*S*H
9: Mary Tyler Moore Show
9:30: Bob Newhart Show
10: Carol Burnett Show
Yeah, only five of the best television shows ever, all airing consecutively on Saturday night. Did we ever go out?
However, somewhere along the way, the networks gave up on Saturday nights. It’s there for the taking if anyone wants it.
ABC saw an opening and has done well with its Saturday night prime time football games. Now Fox is looking to up the ante.
Saturday, Fox will begin eight straight weeks of prime time baseball on Saturday night. The slate has the requisite name: Baseball Night in America.
What’s next? Backgammon Night in America?
The baseball games come on the heels of Fox already airing four NASCAR and two UFC events on Saturday night this year.
All told, Fox plans to have 32 primetime Saturdays with sports this year. The package includes 12 regular-season college football games, the Big Ten Championship game, and Game 4 of the World Series.
Package is the key word here, according to Fox Sports Media co-president and COO Eric Shanks. Here’s my Q/A with him.
Why the move to Saturday night?
We were looking to put the puzzle together. We saw the picture and said, ‘Wow, we actually have 32 weeks of prime time sports here.’ There’s a story there. Things always look better when they’re put in a package. Now all of the sudden we have a Saturday strategy. We have a message to sell to our customers.
‘Check Fox out on Saturday night.’ It makes us look smarter than we actually are.
What does this mean for baseball?
The prime time (viewing levels) are much higher. You’re not only going to see your game, but we’ll also be checking into other games. It’ll be an exciting night for fans.
What happened to television on Saturday night?
Saturday night didn’t used to be perceived the way it is now. It’s a chicken-and-egg thing. Is Saturday night being perceived this way because nobody is putting the effort into it? We’re going to try to put something together and find out what people think.
What’s the real reason behind the move?
I’ve got three young kids. What am I doing on Saturday night? I’m not going out. I’m home.
You are SO correct! The Saturday night CBS shows in the 1973 season and even after CBS moved MASH to other nights were the best in my lifetime, although you gave the Eastern times, not the Central!
The 1973 CBS schedule was the best EVER for a Saturday night. However, even though CBS moved MASH back to Sundays and other nights, the MTM shows were always what we watched BEFORE going out to the discos in the 1970s to dance the night away! Ah the memories indeed.