Networks of record.

[PYLdude]

So I was watching Frank Spangenberg lay waste to the one day and five day records on Jeopardy from way back when and became curious of something.

The rules back then dictated that they had a cap of $75,000 for champions (I’ll assume tournaments didn’t count toward that total) and the overages went to charity. Alex mentions the show does this at the request of their “network of record”.

The only other times I can remember this coming into effect where on The Joker’s Wild when Joe Dunn was retired in 1983 and when Brian Hunt (?) was retired on Card Sharks in 1986 after they started allowing multiple car wins in the Money Cards (they hadn’t yet established the rule at 2; that I wanna say came after AMC replaced GM as the provider). Barry mentions the network (not by name), but Rafferty doesn’t.

While I would figure this to be a common practice back in those days, who exactly was the network of record in these cases? I would assume in all three cases it was CBS, largely because a) when Frank won, I don’t think their limit for network shows was done away with and it was still $75K at the time; b) Joker was on a lot of CBS stations including O&Os around that time, and c)CS recorded at Television City.

Also, were there other shows that fell under these kinds of rules?

[calliaume]

My memory is, up until some point in the 1980s, CBS had a $25,000 winnings cap, and ABC had a $20,000 winnings cap.

Joker and Tic Tac Dough ran on the CBS O&Os for a couple of years in the 1980s, so they had to obey the CBS cap.

[Bryce L.]

I would've assumed ABC was the network of record for J!, mainly because of ABC S&P overseeing their tapings.

[rebelwrest]

I have an additional question.  Did networks have different caps for programs that aired on their network and syndicated programs that they were the "network of record" for?

[Chief-O]

I would've assumed ABC was the network of record for J!, mainly because of ABC S&P overseeing their tapings.

I believe ABC *was* J!'s (and WOF's) network of record at the time. (Despite previous versions of this post, I can't seem to find direct reference in the Eisenberg book. I may have seen this in the Trebek/Barsocchini book.) I'm not sure if they still are these days.

[tpirfan28]

My memory is, up until some point in the 1980s, CBS had a $25,000 winnings cap, and ABC had a $20,000 winnings cap.

CBS upped to $50k shortly after Michael Larson’s win, and I’m pretty sure it was $75k before Pyramid ended.

Were there any SYN NBC games that got to go by wins in nighttime instead of a money cap?

[Bryce L.]

Were there any SYN NBC games that got to go by wins in nighttime instead of a money cap?

Sale of the Century, once it switched over to the Winner's Board.

[That Don Guy]

I have an additional question.  Did networks have different caps for programs that aired on their network and syndicated programs that they were the "network of record" for?

I "think" syndicated Feud had NBC as its network of record, as I vaguely recall Dawson mentioning on one episode that they "conferred with NBC" (or words to that effect) involving a decision concerning a Fast Money answer. Then again, for all I know, it was an ABC episode - wasn't there some rule that S&P couldn't be from the same network as the show itself?

[PYLdude]

I have an additional question.  Did networks have different caps for programs that aired on their network and syndicated programs that they were the "network of record" for?

I "think" syndicated Feud had NBC as its network of record, as I vaguely recall Dawson mentioning on one episode that they "conferred with NBC" (or words to that effect) involving a decision concerning a Fast Money answer. Then again, for all I know, it was an ABC episode - wasn't there some rule that S&P couldn't be from the same network as the show itself?

That’s a curiosity I had. The show originated on ABC, taped at ABC, but NBC signed to air the show on their O&O’s, so I figured they’d at least have a little say.

[TLEberle]

Would a winnings limit affect The Price is Right? I recall a woman from October 1981 (as seen on Youtube) winning $27k in loot, mostly a Cadillac, but would it be that she exceeded the limit so she can no longer be a returning champion?

I recall that Wheel of Fortune had a winnings limit of what seems like an absurd $125,000 for that period in 1989-199x where you could win three days on the trot and Bonusland had the big loot.

I think it's interesting that Jeopardy had just one person max out over $175,000--and Chuck Forrest was almost in a position to be the first for a long time. I don't recall Lezsek P. nor Dan Melia getting to donate a few hundred bucks of their take (plus Dan took a Corvette home to Berkley.) It did seem odd to have a winnings limit that seemed reasonable but would be surpassed by the year's grand champion.

[Casey Buck]

Would a winnings limit affect The Price is Right? I recall a woman from October 1981 (as seen on Youtube) winning $27k in loot, mostly a Cadillac, but would it be that she exceeded the limit so she can no longer be a returning champion

TPiR had a $125K winnings limit as late as 2006, but nobody broke it until a Vickyann won over $147K in prizes on the Season 35 premiere. Apparently, CBS said "screw it", and got rid of it, paving the way for the Big Money Week shows in years to come.

[tomobrien]

I'm going to toss in a very hazy memory here about S&P for the early days of Jeopardy!. I challenged an answer on my first-season episode and I seem to recall the S&P letter that came back was from NBC. I can remember there was a colored logo on the corner of the envelope and thinking it odd that NBC was involved at all.
As I said, my memory could be wrong here (it's 35+ years, after all)...but I'm reasonably sure it wasn't from ABC.

[PYLdude]

I'm going to toss in a very hazy memory here about S&P for the early days of Jeopardy!. I challenged an answer on my first-season episode and I seem to recall the S&P letter that came back was from NBC. I can remember there was a colored logo on the corner of the envelope and thinking it odd that NBC was involved at all.
As I said, my memory could be wrong here (it's 35+ years, after all)...but I'm reasonably sure it wasn't from ABC.

See, I was always under the impression that the network of record was NBC, largely because of how many of its affiliates carry the show. (Wasn’t until later that, to my surprise, the affiliate count leader is actually CBS.)

[calliaume]

See, I was always under the impression that the network of record was NBC, largely because of how many of its affiliates carry the show. (Wasn’t until later that, to my surprise, the affiliate count leader is actually CBS.)

The five NBC O&Os in 1984 were (according to Wikipedia):

WNBC, New York
WKYC, Cleveland
KNBC, Los Angeles
WMAQ, Chicago
WRC, Washington, D.C.

Of those five, only WNBC and WRC bought Jeopardy! for year one, and WNBC let it go partway through the year when WABC's 4 PM time period opened up.



Maybe it was easier to keep NBC as the network of record for both Wheel and Jeopardy.

[Otm Shank]

See, I was always under the impression that the network of record was NBC, largely because of how many of its affiliates carry the show. (Wasn’t until later that, to my surprise, the affiliate count leader is actually CBS.)

Without any specific example to prop it up, I was always thought the O&Os were the determining factor, or at the very least that the NY, LA, and maybe Chicago markets made the determination. A larger sum total of affiliates airing a particular show really doesn't motivate the network to assign their expensive legal resources. But, if they are airing a syndicated game show on their O&Os, then the network would have a great deal of interest, since they have skin in the game.