New Year's Day 1965: '12 hours of color' on KIFI

NBC Sportscaster Jim Simpson

Some of you are probably aware that I write the Looking Back column that runs every Thursday in the Post Register. Examining the papers from late 1964, I was intrigued by an ad posted by KIFI. What different times we lived in! All the bowl games were played on the same day, and none of them had corporate sponsorships. Color TV was still a novelty. In fact, I'd be curious to know if there's any way of finding out how many homes in Idaho Falls actually had color TVs.

Anyway, here is what ran in today's column:

50 years ago
KIFI Channel 8 was advertising "12 Hours of Color" on New Year's Day 1965. The fun on the NBC affiliate was to start at 9 a.m. in Miami with the Orange Bowl parade, hosted by Dennis Weaver. At 9:30 a.m. came the 76th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade, hosted by Lorne Greene and Betty White. At 11:45 a.m. came the conclusion of the Sugar Bowl (Syracuse vs. Louisiana State), followed at 2:45 p.m by the conclusion of the Rose Bowl (Michigan vs. Oregon State), then at 5:45 p.m. the conclusion of the Orange Bowl (Alabama vs. Texas), then a sports roundup at 8:30 p.m. featuring host Jim Simpson.