The Baltimore Sun Baltimore, Maryland Sunday, March 30, 2008 - Page E13
Chess.
MEDIA GROUND zero in the United States for the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match was a small Public Broadcasting Service studio in Albany, N.Y. I was among those helping to televise the match.
As play began, our ambitions were modest, but we were soon to be part of a historical television event.
We posted each move made in Reykjavik, Iceland, on a vertical board and offered commentary and explanation. At the end of the first two hours of the first game, we were prepared to segue into hourly updates.
Abruptly, we were told, there was a change of plans. Channel 13 had received hundreds of enthusiastic calls. Pre-empting Sesame Street, we immediately converted to a full five-hour format.
Two weeks later, we had gathered a million viewers in the New York City area. By mid-summer, we went nationwide under IBM sponsorship.
Late in the summer, a survey of Manhattan bars found the televisions in a large majority tuned into World Championship Chess.
At summer's end, we had the largest audience in PBS history.
Such was the magic that wonderful summer of Bobby Fischer and chess.