Bowling on CBS is the de facto title forCBS Sports' professionalten-pin bowling television coverage.
In1964, theProfessional Bowlers Association held 31 tournaments worth$1,200,000. Along the way, the PBA put another telecast on the air (after the Winter Tour finals went on the air for the first time onABC justtwo years prior), the two-man bestball on CBS.[1][2] Baseball legendPee Wee Reese served as the play-by-play announcer while the color analyst was bowling greatBilly Welu.
In1979,[3]CBS Sports Spectacular broadcast a ten match tournament[4] during the PBA's Summer[5] schedule.Frank Glieber[6] andKen Squier[7] served as the play-by-play announcers withDave Davis working on color commentary.
After ABC televised their finalProfessional Bowlers Tour event on June 21,1997, CBS started airing a few events during the1998 and1999 seasons.[8][9] The new network contract with CBS Sports guaranteed nine one-hour telecasts. It was reported in newspapers thatChris Schenkel did not intend to retire after the series ended, even though he was in his seventies by 1997, as he wanted to earn more money to pay for his grandchildren to go to college.
When CBS picked up the PBA Tour in 1998, there was talk of Schenkel moving to that network, but it never materialized. Gary Seibel[10][11] (play-by-play) andMarshall Holman (color) got the jobs instead. When the PBA Tour moved to CBS in 1998, a two-match format was adopted. Again going to four bowlers, the #2, #3, and #4 players bowled in one "shootout" match, with the winner facing the tournament's #1 qualifier for the championship. From 1998 to 2000, also, the PBA used gold-colored pins with black stripes or crowns (depending on if Brunswick or AMF was involved in the alley) for their televised finals. The pins returned to regular white in 2001.
In2008,Bo Burton served as an analyst alongsideBill Macatee, Michelle Hunter andLynn Swann for theBowling's Clash of Champions,[12][13][14] a contest that pitted men against women. In this event, a historic first time that a woman ever beat a man in a TV final occurred in the $50,000 title match, whenLynda Barnes, wife of professional bowlerChris Barnes, defeatedSean Rash to take the title.
CBS would broadcast theBowling's Clash of Champions again in2009.[15]
ESPN featured bowling from2000 to2018 on Sunday afternoons, withCBS Sports Network[16][17][18][19] also airing a smaller number of bowling tournaments by2013.[20][21][22][23][24]
Dave Ryan calledPBAbowling events on the network alongside color analystRandy Pedersen[25] from2002–2007. TheMotel 6 Roll To Riches event marked Ryan's final PBA event. Ryan would be replaced the following season byRob Stone. Ryan returned to PBA bowling broadcasts in June–July, 2013, when CBS Sports Network covered five events in the PBA Tour's "Summer Swing."[26][27]
Other announcers that CBS Sports Network have utilized includeDave LaMont[28] (play-by-play) andChris Barnes (color commentary). From 2016 to 2018, LaMont was the lead play-by-play broadcaster forPBA Tour events on ESPN.[29] Since the PBA's move toFox Sports in 2019, LaMont has occasionally filled in for the current lead broadcaster Rob Stone when he is not available. Starting in 2016,Kelly Kulick has provided color commentary for CBS Sports Network broadcasts of the PWBA Tour, except in tournaments where she qualifies for the televised finals.
In April 2017, the PBA announced the first-ever Main Event PBA Finals, held May 18–20 inOrlando, Florida and broadcast for five consecutive Tuesdays on CBS Sports Network, starting May 30. This is an invitational event that serves as a type of bowling "playoffs", similar toThe Chase for the Cup in NASCAR or theFedEx Cup in PGA golf. The event featured the top eight players in PBA Tour earnings, from the start of the 2015 season through this year's USBC Masters. Players were seeded 1–8 based on earnings, and split into Group 1 (1, 4, 5 and 8 seeds) and Group 2 (2, 3, 6 and 7 seeds). The groups bowled a mixed roundrobin match play session of four matches each, which made up the first two broadcasts. Players were then re-seeded within their groups, based on total pinfall plus a 50 pin bonus for every match win. Group 1 and Group 2 stepladder matches were held next, and were broadcast in the third and fourth weeks. The Group 1 and Group 2 winners then faced off in the fifth and final broadcast in a three-game, total pinfall head-to-head match to determine the PBA Finals champion.[30]
Also beginning in2017, CBS Sports Network carried the PBA Tour Finals. The2019 edition took place July 20 and 21 inLas Vegas. (PBA Commissioner Tom Clark later announced an agreement with CBS Sports Network to cover the PBA Tour finals through the 2022 PBA season.[31]) The tournament retained a similar format as in 2018, with eight top players seeded into two groups of four. The main difference for 2019 is that the eight players were determined based on Tour points ranking since the beginning of the 2018 season. (In previous PBA Tour Finals, the eight bowlers were chosen and seeded based on Tour earnings, not points.)[32] CBS Sports Network broadcast an unprecedented nine hours of live coverage over the two days.[33]
Back when CBS Sports Network was known asCollege Sports Television, they showcased theUnited States Bowling CongressIntercollegiate Team Championships.[34] Beginning in 2004,[35] CSTV aired the women's and men's national championship matches in early June.Chris Lincoln, Brian Webber,[36] and Mike Jakubowski served as the play-by-play announcers with Chris andLynda Barnes, and Kelly Kulick[37] on color commentary. CBS would air the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships through 2009,[38] whenESPN[39] took over the rights for the next two years.
In2015, the U.S. Women's open finals (September 6) and PWBA Tour Championship finals (September 13) were broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.[40]
In2016 however, CBS Sports Network aired the final round of all standard PWBA Tour events this season on a tape-delay basis. The final round for the major tournaments aired live or on same-day delay. TV tapings of the non-major stepladder finals were conducted in conjunction with first three major tournaments on May 26 (USBC Queens), June 26 (PWBA Players Championship) and August 7 (U.S. Women's Open). This was also the case ayear later as TV tapings of the non-major stepladder finals were conducted in conjunction with first three major tournaments on May 23 (USBC Queens), June 25 (PWBA Players Championship) and August 6 (U.S. Women's Open).
Beginning in2018, CBS Sports Network aired the final round of the three Elite Field standard tournaments and all major tournaments live.[41]