Bowling Headliners, 1948–1950: The Creation of a Spectator Sport in Television’s Emergent Years

Abstract

Bowling Headliners, a television series broadcast from 1948 to 1950, played a significant role in earning the game’s acceptance as a spectator sport in the United States. Premiering in the pivotal year when television arrived as a mass medium, the program showcased the skills of top bowlers while also encouraging novel forms of audience participation and complementing the sometimes dull activity on the lanes with appearances by famous announcers and attractive models. Its host, a quick-witted New York City journalist named Al Cirillo, combined sports and entertainment in a trailblazing format that became a blueprint for selling bowling to the masses. The series embodied the enterprising spirits of three of the most notable media organizations of the twentieth century: its host networks, ABC in the first season and DuMont in the second, and Cirillo’s employer, the New York Daily News, America’s most widely read newspaper at the time.