Though a pilot was shot in the spring of 1955, the game did not move to television until 1959. As G.E. College Bowl with General Electric as the primary sponsor, the show ran on CBS from 1959 to 1963, and moved back to NBC from 1963 to 1970. Allen Ludden was the original host, but left to do Password (TV series) full-time in 1962. Robert Earle was moderator for the rest of the run. The norm developed in the Ludden-Earle era of undefeated teams retiring after winning five games. Each winning team earned $1,500 in scholarship grants from General Electric with runner-up teams receiving $500. A teams fifth victory awarded $3,000 from General Electric plus $1,500 from Gimbels department stores for a grand total of $10,500. On April 16, 1967, Seventeen (American magazine) magazine matched GEs payouts so that each victory won $3,000 and runners-up earned $1,000. The payouts from Gimbel department stores remained the same so that five-time champions retired with a grand total of $19,500.

Ask a question about this article.
Which network first aired the game, CBS or NBC?