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BYU coach LaVell Edwards holding conference championship trophy with punter Lee Johnson (No. 10) on Nov. 24, 1984. | Mark Philbrick, BYU Photo
In 1953, the population of the United States was 158 million and on Nov. 26, that year, Thanksgiving Day, the BYU-Utah football game televised nationally on NBC, drawing 60 million viewers.
That’s more than last year’s No. 1 college football televised game, Ohio State vs. Michigan (19 million), the highest-rated SEC game Auburn-Alabama (9 million), and any World Series game (11.4 million). This past year’s CFP championship game between Michigan and Washington drew 25 million viewers on TV.
Of course, it was a different era. There were only 13 college games on TV in all of 1953. Now TV audiences are split among countless streaming services, networks and other platforms. We have a full day of choices, a glut of programming.
What circumstances led to that game being on TV in 1953? How did Skyline Conference champion Utah, a four-touchdown favorite, survive?
Legendary New York Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen did the broadcast with future New York Mets broadcaster Lindsey Nelson. What did their press pass look like that day, the first live TV broadcast of a game in the Rocky Mountains?
This is just one of hundreds of historical nuggets found in a new book, “100 Years of BYU Football,” published by Deseret Book this summer.
It’s a regular encyclopedia of well-researched stories and behind-the-scenes glimpses of players, games, coaches and events, and includes a massive collection of 450 photographs, many of which few have seen.
Authors Duff Tittle and Brett Pyne had access to the Rolodex, microfilm, clips and a myriad of anecdotes for more than four years of research and 18 months of intense writing. It will fast become a go-to book of knowledge and reference for everything BYU…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/book-chronicles-historic-moments-examining-040101321.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2024-12-09 04:01:00
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