Joe Garagiola was pushed to succeed Curt Gowdy, who by 1978 was reduced to being a roving World Series reporter, as NBC's #1 play-by-play announcer (and team with color commentator Tony Kubek) in . NBC hoped that Garagiola's charm and unorthodox dwelling on the personal would stop a decade-long ratings dive for the "Game of the Week". Instead, the ratings bobbed from 6.7 () via 7.5 () to 6.3 (–). "Saturday had a constituency but it didn't swell" said NBC Sports executive producer Scotty Connal. Some believed that millions missed Dizzy Dean while local-team TV split the audience.