Bowling on Prime Network is the de facto name for ten-pin bowling events broadcast on the now defunct Prime Network. In particular, Prime Network televised tournaments from the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour (now the Professional Women's Bowling Association) in 1993. The official name of the telecasts was The Bud Light LPBT Spring Tour. Leandra Riley [1] [2] (play-by-play) and Leila Wagner [3] (analysis) provided the commentary.
On July 3, 1996, News Corporation and Liberty Media announced that the Prime Sports networks would be relaunched as part of the new Fox Sports Net group, with the eight Prime Sports owned-and-operated networks adopting brands that combined the "Fox Sports" name with the state or region served by the respective network. [4] the Prime Sports-branded affiliates were officially relaunched as Fox Sports Net on November 1, 1996. [5] [6] [7]
Bowling events continued to air on what would become Fox Sports Net. Michelle Feldman of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) became the first female to score a 300 [8] on American national television, when she accomplished the feat in a July 10, 1997 broadcast. [9] Fred Borden and Jan Schmidt provided the commentary. [10]
Fox Sports Net would broadcast bowling tournaments up until around 2000. [11] [12] Ron Thulin [13] (play-by-play) and Randy Pedersen (analysis) [14] [15] were the commentators by this point.
A perfect game is the highest score possible in a game of bowling, achieved by scoring a strike in every frame. In bowling games that use 10 pins, such as ten-pin bowling, candlepin bowling, and duckpin bowling, the highest possible score is 300, achieved by bowling 12 strikes in a row in a traditional single game: one strike in each of the first nine frames, and three more in the tenth frame.
The Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) organizes and oversees a series of annual tournaments for the top competitive women ten-pin bowlers. The series is often referred to as the "women's tour" of bowling.
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional professionals, a small percentage of the bowling membership competes at the national and international level, forming the PBA Tour. Founded in 1958, the PBA Tour has been in continuous operation since the inaugural 1959 season.
William Joseph Welu was an American professional bowler, executive for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), bowling broadcaster, and ambassador for the sport. A founding member of the PBA in 1958, he won four PBA titles, including two USBC Masters championships. He was only the second bowler in history to successfully defend a United States Bowling Congress Masters title, winning the event in 1964 and 1965 to join Dick Hoover (1956–57). The feat was not matched again until Jason Belmonte won back-to-back Masters titles in 2013–14.
Marshall Holman is an American sports broadcaster and retired professional ten-pin bowler. He was known for his flamboyant, fiery demeanor and his success on the PBA Tour from the mid-1970s to the end of the 1980s. He is one of only 17 players in history to reach at least 20 career PBA Tour titles. Holman was sponsored by Columbia 300 and Nike.
Dave Ryan is a play-by-play announcer and reporter for CBS, who has worked a wide variety of sports programming including NFL, college basketball, lacrosse, bowling, baseball and hockey.
The Professional Bowlers Tour, also known as Pro Bowlers Tour, is a broadcast of the Professional Bowlers Association that aired on ABC from 1962 to 1997. In the telecasts, sportscaster Chris Schenkel and the graphics displayed during the show would refer to the show as "The Professional Bowlers Tour", possibly to disambiguate from the NFL's use of the term "pro bowler" when referring to players who were selected for the Pro Bowl—an event also televised on ABC for many years.
Randy Pedersen is an American sportscaster and former professional bowler. He is currently a color analyst for Fox Sports' coverage of the PBA Tour, formerly filling that same role on ESPN and CBS Sports Network telecasts of the PBA Tour in previous seasons. During the most recent season, he worked alongside play-by-play announcers Rob Stone and Dave Ryan, having previously worked with Dave LaMont, Lon McEachern and Mike Jakubowski. Pedersen grew up in Southern California, but relocated to Clermont, Florida in the early 1990s. He has resided in Florida ever since. He and his ex-wife Becky have two children: a son, Chad and a daughter, Savannah.
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the PBA membership consists of over 3,000 members worldwide. Members include "pro shop" owners and workers, teaching professionals and bowlers who compete in the various events put on by the Association.
Rob Stone is a sports commentator for Fox Sports, covering various sports including Major League Soccer (MLS), NCAA and NFL football, and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Stone previously covered sports for ESPN. A WWE fan, Stone briefly won the WWE 24/7 Championship during a Fox promotional event, becoming the first non-WWE Superstar to win the championship.
Michelle Feldman is an American right-handed female professional ten-pin bowler and former member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA). A native of Skaneateles, New York, she resides in nearby Auburn, New York.
Bowling on NBC is a presentation of professional ten-pin bowling matches from the PBA Tour formerly produced by NBC Sports, the sports division of the NBC television network in the United States.
The 2018 PBA Tour season, the 59th season of play of the U.S. Professional Bowlers Association's (PBA) ten-pin bowling tour, began on January 26, 2018. The season included 21 singles title events, two doubles title events, and a non-title team event. The 2018 season was used to mark the PBA's 60th year of operations, which included a 148-player PBA 60th Anniversary Classic in Indianapolis, and the unveiling of the Tour's top 60 moments.
The 2019 PBA Tour season, the 60th season of play for the U.S. Professional Bowlers Association's ten-pin bowling tour, began in January 2019 with the PBA Hall of Fame Classic in Arlington, Texas. The season schedule had 27 singles title events, two doubles title events, and two non-title team events.
PBA on Fox is the branding used for Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) broadcasts produced by Fox Sports and airing on the Fox broadcast network and Fox Sports 1 (FS1). On March 21, 2018, the PBA announced that Fox Sports signed a multi-year agreement to acquire the television rights to its events beginning in 2019 and running through at least 2022. Most events will be carried by FS1, but at least four events per season will air on the Fox broadcast network.
PBA on USA is a presentation of professional ten-pin bowling matches from the Professional Bowlers Association Tour formerly produced by the USA cable television in the United States from 1982 to 1984.
Bowling on CBS is the de facto title for CBS Sports' professional ten-pin bowling television coverage.
HBO Sports Bowling is the branding used for Professional Bowlers Association broadcasts on the HBO premium cable and satellite television network. Bowling was one of HBO's earliest programs, back when it debuted in the early 1970s. HBO's first bowling telecast was the Winston-Salem Open on June 10, 1973. About 21 PBA TV finals aired on HBO from June 1973 through July 1975.
PBA on ESPN is the branding used for Professional Bowlers Association broadcasts on the ESPN cable television network. ESPN's relationship with bowling began in 1985, when the network aired the 12 Summer Tour events. By 2001, ESPN provided exclusive coverage of 20 regular-season events and four to six summer telecasts, all on Sundays or Tuesdays.
Aleta Sill is a retired American professional ten-pin bowler and current bowling coach from Dearborn Heights, Michigan. She competed nationally on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour from 1980 through 2001. In her career, the left-handed Sill won 31 titles, including six major championships. She was the first female bowler to eclipse $1 million in career earnings. Aleta is a 1996 inductee into both the PWBA Hall of Fame and the USBC Hall of Fame.