THINKER'S ALMANAC - July 8

How did a 29-year-old television executive change the way sports were televised in 1960?

Subject: Framing 

Event:  Birthday of television producer Roone Arledge (1931-2002)

Heretofore, television has done a remarkable job of bringing the game to the viewer -- now we are going to take the viewer to the game! -Roone Arledge

In 1960, the American Broadcasting Corporation signed a contract with the NCAA to broadcast college football games.  ABC was faced with the challenge of making the few regional games that they broadcasted each week appealing to a nation-wide audience.  If, for example, you are a viewer in New York, why would you care about a game between Georgia and Alabama?  The answer came in the form of a status quo busting memo from a twenty-nine-year-old television executive named Roone Arledge, who was born on this day in 1931.

Arledge’s idea was to do more than just bring the game to the viewer via television; his idea was to bring the viewer to the game.  What this meant was to frame each game for the viewer, giving them the context for the rivalry between the two schools.  Prior to 1960, television cameras focused solely on the game on the field; Arledge’s counterintuitive idea was to focus more on what was happening off the field.

Arledge understood the Framing Effect, which basically means that you must think about WHAT you are presenting, but you must also think about HOW you are presenting it.  For example, imagine you work in a grocery store and your job is to sell steaks.  You might put a label on a steak that says “20% Fat,” but a better way to present it to the buying public is to label it “80% Lean Beef.”  The steak has not changed, but the “Lean Beef” label changes the frame so that it is perceived in a more positive light.

Arledge’s memo captured the imagination of ABC’s executives so much that Roone was tasked with putting his ideas into practice by producing the upcoming telecast of a game between Georgia and Alabama. More than just broadcasting a football game, Arledge’s plan was to package it as a viewing experience.

                                                         Image by Keith Johnston from Pixabay

On September 17, 1960, the broadcast began not with a shot of the football field, but with a pregame scene of enthusiastic fans on the University of Georgia campus.  Furthermore, Arledge oriented all viewers by giving them the emotional backstory of the game:  One year before Alabama had been humiliated by the Georgia Bulldogs, and the team, lead by their fiery coach Bear Bryant, was out for revenge. Arledge’s framing made this more than just a game; it became a must-see spectacle.  The camera operators were instructed to get close-ups of the game’s personalities, such as Georgia’s wiry quarterback Fran Tarkenton.  And once the game began, the camera didn’t focus exclusively on the game; instead, they panned up to the fans in the stands, the coaches on the sidelines, and, of course, the cheerleaders.

Today, we take it for granted that a televised sporting event will follow Arledge’s framing approach.  In 1960, however, it was a radical change from the way sports was covered.  After working on college football, Arledge took his framing template to international sports on a show called the Wide World of Sports.  There he continued his tried and true formula of getting viewers to care about the sporting contest by giving them the context and the backstory.  Before he died in 2002, Arledge had won thirty-six Emmys.  Rather than just assuming his audience would tune in to see a sporting contest, Arledge primed his viewers’ curiosity, creating interest and a desire to be a part of the action.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is Framing, and how did the change in how football games were broadcast by ABC and Roone Arledge change televised sports?

Challenge:  Frame Game

What are some other examples of Framing in the real world?  Research this psychological effect to discover other ways it is used to influence the perception in government, marketing, entertainment, and other areas of society. 

Sources:

1-Heath, Chip and Dan Heath.  Made To Stick:  Why Some Ideas Die and Others Survive.  New York:  Random House, 2007: 90-92.