Newsday, August 23rd 1987 (ABC Sports)

 The heads of sports at the TV networks are Arthur Watson at NBC ,Neal Pilson at CBS and Dennis Swanson at ABC. This is the first of a series of columns off conversations with them. Dennis Swanson is the new kid on the sports network block. He is 49, a native of Wilmar, Calif., a graduate of the University of Illinois. He was active in news and was station manager at ABC affiliate stations before taking over a troubled situation at ABC Sports, in January, 1986.

When I greeted him at his new West 66th Street offices, he was finishing off a letter in which he agreed to join other noted Illinois alumni, including Jesse Jackson and Hugh Hefner, in writing for one of the Illini game programs. Six TV monitors graced one side of the office. On a wall was an Illini football helmet, on a shelf was a horse trophy emblematic of ABC winning racing's Eclipse Award and on his desk was the sign, "Be reasonable, do it my way."

The conversation touched on several subjects:

Corruption in college sports: Swanson did not think that the networks, which lavish money on college sports to obtain rights to televise their games, had to apologize for anything. "The world had corruption before TV; there was scandal in sports long before TV," he said. "People have a moral standard or they don't. The media, us included, emphasize the negative. I don't think all our systems are corrupt. If there were no network money, what happened at SMU would still have happened. There are those, like Penn State and Notre Dame, who have proven you can run an honest program and be successful."

Finances: ABC Sports had a deficit of $80 million when he took over. It ended 1986 with a deficit in the low 60s, but is having such a good 1987, it could wind up in the black if the World Series goes to six games. ABC Sports probably will lose money next year because of the $309 million rights fee paid for the Calgary Winter Olympics. Swanson said, "In February, 1986, we had only four events in the black; now 58 are in the black, and only baseball among the individual events is a losing proposition for us."

Baseball: "We don't worry about who will be in the World Series, but how long it goes. If it goes six games, we will be in the black overall for the year. A four-game series is a disaster. We are not getting any financial rebate for baseball's scheduling Saturday's sixth game in the daytime. The differential between a night and day game telecast can be made up by prime-time programming, and it will help baseball."

Golf: ABC was criticized for poor production efforts on the U.S. Open and British Open tournaments. "We had tough telecasts," Swanson said. "Some of the problems in the British Open stemmed from picking up the BBC feed. Other problems were ours that stemmed from a change of responsibilities. We have tried to deal with them."

Criticism of TV: "We are an easy target. I read what people say, but we have to make decisions in the best interests of ABC Sports. People sit down, tune in and expect a picture. I don't think they understand what it takes in terms of money, equipment and effort to present these telecasts. Americans are spoiled by what they get. If you went overseas and looked at TV there, you'd appreciate the beauty of our system. Remember that most prime-time programs are on tape, sports events are live."

"Sportsnite": The Monday midnight sports show ends a 14-week run tomorrow night. "I am pleased with it and the people who did it," he said. "There is regrettably, no good place for it once Monday Night Football starts because those games run long. It most likely will be put on hiatus in the fourth quarter {of 1987} to resume next year. It would get higher ratings if it got better clearance {only 82 percent of ABC affiliates run "Sportsnite"}, but we can only provide a menu and let the affiliates decide. There are some affiliates that don't run `Nightline.' "

Pro football: ABC gave up the night games not played on Mondays, the specials, in the new three-year contract with the National Football League. "The reality is we had to have relief. Giving up the specials gives us a lot less inventory to sell. Sometimes you are better off with less inventory. The specials package was picked up by ESPN, which is partly owned by ABC." Swanson said, "Where that package went was up to the NFL. We were not a part of it."

Announcers: Swanson said he thinks the ABC talent lineup is stronger through the addition of Bob Griese, Dan Dierdorf and Gary Bender. He made a point of praising Frank Gifford, which was a reaction to the charge that Swanson had demoted Gifford by having him be the analyst on Monday Night Football last year. It is generally agreed Gifford floundered, and that the addition of the personable Dierdorf will help rescue Monday Night Football. The loss of Jim Lampley, who was something of a conscience of ABC Sports, is a major one; Swanson chose not to discuss his disenchantment with Lampley.

The ABC philosophy: "We want to be the best in presentation," he said. "We want the best schedule, to produce in the best way. We want the viewers to be satisfied and, when all is said and done, we want to be in the black because we do have shareholders."

Stan Isaacs' "TV Sports" column will appear in TV Plus beginning next Sunday and in the Sports section on Tuesdays and Fridays. His "Out of Left Field" column will appear whenever the muse moves him.