National Collegiate Athletic Association News
Nov. 1, 1976
Teamwork produces success in athletic competition more perhaps than any other single ingredient, and, likewise, it is this same essence which contributes most to the production of the weekly NCAA College Football Highlights Show.
Just as no superior football team ever won a championship solely on the talent of one superstar, the College Football Highlights Show never could exist without the network of people who form a “team” for the NCAA Film Service, which produces it for ABC Sports. Highlights of each action-packed week of NCAA College Football arc captured by NCAA Films, and within hours, the excitement and drama arc reproduced for the viewing public’s enjoyment over 78 percent of the stations on the ABC television network.
Perhaps never contemplated by the Sunday morning armchair quarterback, who settles back into his easy-chair to review the clashes staged on the nation’s college football battlefields virtually hours before, is the hectic story of one of the most unique film presentations aired on television today.
Now in its ninth year, the NCAA College Football Highlights Show was developed by Dick Snider, former director of NCAA Films, now director of public relations and advertising for Vickers Petroleum. Snider began operations in New York City, but after one year the Highlights Show moved to Chicago for a central location to which film could move more quickly, according to Richard C. Giannini, who became director of NCAA marketing and productions in July.
Preparations for each week’s show begin early Monday morning when ABC Sports executives confer with Giannini to select which games to film. “Five games are selected each week which we feel will show typical NCAA football excitement and represent most regions of the United States,” Giannini said. “However, two additional games may get selected depending on our conference highlight film commitments.”
In addition to the weekly NCAA College Football Highlights Show, NCAA Films produces season-end highlights films for the Big Ten, Pacific-& Atlantic Coast, Southeastern and Western Athletic Conferences. The Film Service also produces other shows, including nine NCAA championships each year.