Friday, June 12, 1998 | 9:07 a.m.
On paper, professional bowling and the MTV generation would appear to be as compatible as Dennis Rodman and Salt Lake City.
Not so, says CBS, the Professional Bowlers Association's (PBA) new television home this season after 36 years on ABC.
With a fast-paced, one-hour format featuring innovations like increased crowd noise, gold-colored pins, DJ-style entertainment and arena-style seating, CBS and the PBA are attempting to reach a different, younger audience.
And according to Steve Scheer, producer of CBS's pro bowling telecasts, so far it seems to be working.
"The new format is very viewer friendly," said Scheer, whose network will broadcast nine tournament finals this year, including Saturday's Showboat Invitational here. "It's probably the fastest hour of television I've ever been involved with. The new format helps a younger generation come into the sport."
At the same time, the sport is hoping its new look won't drive away longtime fans. And that, Scheer admits, may be easier said than done.
"There are always going to be purists out there who don't like change," he said. "But most longtime fans will always tune in because they are longtime fans."
Crowd involvement
Above all, most of the changes the PBA and CBS have made this year are aimed at getting fans at the lanes more involved in the show.
"We try to encourage them to have fun, to make it more like a hockey or basketball game," PBA Public Relations Director Dave Schroeder said.
To that end, horseshoe or arena-style seating, in which fans not only sit behind, but also alongside the championship lane, has been adopted by the network.
Now, after making a key strike late in a TV match, bowlers can be seen high-fiving fans as they return to their seats.
"It pumps me up that much more," 1998 PBA Hall of Fame Inductee Pete Weber said. "As long as people aren't up there, waving their arms, it doesn't bother me at all."
Fans also are not only allowed, but even encouraged to cheer for bowlers throughout their approach and delivery. In the past, the crowd was expected to stay silent until the ball had been released.
"Bowling used to be a lot like tennis and golf," Schroeder said. "When the bowler was set, everyone was quiet until he released the ball. We decided that wasn't what real bowling was like."
Pros are split in their reaction to the noisier setting. Some, like Weber and defending Showboat champion Parker Bohn III, say that as long as a bowler knows it's coming, it can only help him.
"Obviously it takes a little getting used to," Bohn said. "But if you do, it can be better in the long run. People are hootin' and hollerin' for who they want -- it gets you motivated in a way you've never been motivated before."
Others, like Tony Hoskins, say that asking fans to make noise when they aren't used to doing so can be a distraction for bowlers.
"It went extremely well in Pittsburgh, which is your typical blue-collar bowling town," said Hoskins, who has been on television twice in the new format. "But you put it in another setting where people don't know a lot about bowling, and it can be tough. I think they'd be better off allowing the crowd to do what they wish."
The use of gold-colored pins, rather than the traditional white ones, along with the addition of a disc jockey (Hall of Fame bowler Wayne Webb) to spin tunes during the telecast, also are intended to create a more exciting atmosphere for fans in attendance and at home.
"If you're home, would you rather watch something where everyone is silent, or where the crowd is screaming?" Scheer asked.
Format change
The PBA's new network also has a new way of determining tournament champions.
Gone is ABC's traditional 90-minute, four-round format, which pits the fifth-place bowler against the fourth-place bowler, then that winner against the third-place bowler and so on.
To accomodate CBS's 60-minute time slot, the new format features just two rounds: a three-way battle between the second, third and fourth seeds and a championship between that winner and the top seed.
And while most of the tour's bowlers have vastly differing opinions about the other changes the PBA has made this season, they seem unified in their opposition to the format switch.
Because PBA contracts feature incentives paying bowlers between $8,000 and $10,000 for an appearance on a Saturday telecast, taking the fifth-place bowler off the show has been an unpopular move, to say the least.
"It's hard enough to make money out here, and now we have one less person on the show," Bohn said.
Some bowlers also claim that the shorter, less grueling format essentially takes away any advantage the top-seeded bowler had earned during qualifying and match play.
"The four-man format gives the leader a disadvantage," said Hoskins, who recently lost a final despite being seeded No. 1. "The leader used to win more than 50 percent of the time. This year, the leader is 1-6 in this format."
On the flip side, one new addition all bowlers support is a $1 million bonus for a perfect (300) game in a tournament final -- an incentive sponsored by the Showboat Hotel Casino and Bowling Center, home of this week's tour site.
Thus far, no one has claimed that prize, although Bohn rolled a 300 in a nationally televised semifinal round earlier this year.
Whether or not anyone makes good on the Showboat's bonus offer this season, the PBA and CBS already have a lot to be excited about. Ratings for the show are similar to those attained last year by ABC, and the telecast has won its time slot more often than not.
Best of all for bowling supporters, the sport seems to be attracting new viewers -- an audience Schroeder and others hope will help take the PBA into the next millenium.
"I'm ecstatic," Schroeder said. "We've been getting a lot of feedback from people who say they saw bowlers running around, pumping their fists and they loved it. We knew we'd ruffle some feathers. But so far, we're happy with the whole scenario."
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