November 17, 1968…’Heidi’ Trumps The Jets – Raiders Finale On NBC
I remember watching this…I had just turned 18. Did you see this?
For all intents and purposes, it looked like the Jets had won and with only a minute left, there was no way for an Oakland comeback…BUT, comeback they DID! Here’s a great video recap of what happened and how it happened. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
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I was a little kid when this came on and I wasn’t aware at all about the time difference with the game. Only that it started when it was suppose to start. Heidi that is
Anytime I hear my friends gripe about the Fox Sunday lineup running late……my sole words are simply “Blame Heidi.” 😀
Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet been born when this happened, but I’m well aware of the story and its place in the histories of both the NFL and TV production. Bobby, please keep doing what you do 🙂
“Heidi” ad. Yes, this was a very big deal.
I was watching it as I was turning 8 during my birthday party.
I was 16 then. Watched the game, then the abrupt cut off. Then heard about the uproar that caused the switchboard at NBC-NY to blow fuses. When Brinkley showed it on the News the next day, that was something.
saw it…still sick !!!
Unfortunately I was on military leave of absence from NBC when this took place. AND that’s the way NBC was managed–don’t make a decision yourself, just follow the programming list.
I will never forget this day! I was a child and was watching the game with my father, a very stoic, quiet man…we were living in Miami and you could hear him yell all the up to Ft. Lauderdale!
I was 8 years old at that time and that was my first pro football game I was watching.. The kids in school was making a big deal about the NY Jets & Joe Namath… It was going back & forth until that Heidi came on… It made great playground fodder the next day.. as well as becoming a long suffering Jets fan.. lol
Watched this go down first hand.
I was a little kid watching with my Dad and Grandfather-neither one thought it was a bid deal as what could possibly happen in the last minute of a football game?
Just proves that anyone can beat the Jets
What’s sad is that the Heidi telecast, although I’ve never seen it, was probably a beautiful show. But the network’s incredibly crappy timing and unconscious and highly unintelligent programming seems to have made the show somewhat of a pariah and forever infamous. And it wasn’t the fault of the talented people that produced the show.
Last game Raiders won?
I was 13. Remember it vividly. Where I was and even the old TV it was on.
I remember watching the game at my Grandmother’s house. There was no warning….one minute the game….and then instantly Heidi.
BOY do I remember it!!! Neighbors were pissed off over it.
Sometimes other programming has to trump sports. Nowadays it seems like the games s-t-r-e-t-c-h their time just to get more airtime. I enjoy games, but other programming too.
One of the legendary “gaffes” in the history of broadcasting!
It changed everything about sports TV and how programing decisions were made.
Veteran game show host Bill Cullen once described Heidi as that little girl who was interrupted by a football game.
I heard a lot about this!
In my house, we CHEERED THE DECISION. We were sick of football preempting promised programing. This was one of the finest productions of Heidi ever produced.
My dad was in the control room when this happened and was one of the engineers (if not THE engineer) who told management they couldn’t go back to the game once the west coast feed was severed. The phone company link was established in advance, and once severed, there was no way reestablish it. The west coast could still see the local feed, but NY was dark. Heidi was a good example of management not listening to the engineers who were actually doing the work. An excellent learning experience!