I agree with the writer's feelings toward the cable channels, but I'm not sure how he can dismiss the importance of DVR and what it means for the relevance of live-showing ratings. It's very possible (probable) that a given fight broadcast on HBO these days is seen by more viewers than ever, given they need not conform to HBO's live broadcast schedule and can watch it later. Does HBO care if 50% of the people who watch their fights don't watch them live? I doubt it.
Also, he's completely discounting the production value of shows like 24/7. The show isn't just internet news - it's a well produced show.
Yeah, it's hard to know what the real impact is of all of HBO's replays, and the availability of fights On Demand, but I do think it says something that there's such a small number of people that are making HBO's live boxing events "appointment" viewing. Oh well, at least Bradley-Alexander and Donaire-Montiel qualify as such.
Agreed, but i'm guessing there must be some reasons behind it. There's probably a lot of things they don't own outright, and if they started making them available they'd have to pay a lot of other parties.
Yeah, I think Thomas Hauser was the one who wrote that the story behind the abysmal Margarito-Kyvelos/Marquez-Frissina BAD double-header (and some other TR fights on HBO) was HBO airing some clips of TR fights without getting authorization....I think that was for their Legendary Nights series.
Where are you TFK? PS. For no reason at all, here are the purse amounts of this past weekend's card featured on Showtime. Alllan Green - $262,000 Glen Johnson - $150,000 Juan Manuel Lopez - $700,000 Rafael Marquez - $700,000 UFC has to bring in $100,000,000 over two events to pay out that kind of loot. The boxing/dvr effect has to be huge. I hate having fights spoiled more than anyone I know, but the risk of finding out a boxing result before I get home on a Saturday night is minimal for all but a couple of fights each year...we're talking dlh/floyd/pacq type fights. That's not the case with UFC these days...ESPN does spoil those results regularly.
Like royalties to the boxers? That would be a good thing. If that's the sole reason they are holding out on doing it, then I hope they go bankrupt.
It's well-produced, but not particularly informative. I think that was his point. For Mayweather-DLH, it served as a nice guided tour for those they were trying to draw back into the sport. But given the numbers for the show now, I no longer believe the argument can be made that those watching the show are really learning anything new from any particular episode. On the flip side, I find Showtime's Fight Camp 360 to be superb for the simple fact that they dare go places HBO is unwilling. HBO had to be shamed into promising in-depth coverage of Margarito's handwrap scandal, just for public fear that they'd gloss over or outright ignore it like they did with so many issues in Pac-DLH (like DLH trying to steal Pac from TR two years prior, which was a big part of the storyline for the fight and the history between the two companies). Showtime, OTOH, goes way behind the scenes for the S6 tourney, plus the added advantage of offering footage of the fight itself as well as the aftermath, whereas HBO merely focuses on the lead-in part. Plus, Showtime isn't scared to ruffle any feathers, or remind its participants when they're not holding up their end in terms of commitment to the series (Goossen counterprogramming against his own product; Dirrell's bullshit excuses; Green falling ridiculously short of his boasts; etc.). That's the difference between the two: HBO only portrays the bad for the sake of creating a villain to pit against a hero - it's either good v. good or good v. bad, whereas Showtime simply presents the facts and allows the story to tell itself.
I think that was his point, it's more of an infomercial than a documentary. I haven't watched an episode of it since Mayweather-Marquez, or any of their non-boxing 24/7's...though I'm interested whether those are more informative since they're not trying to sell their own product (HBO pay per views).
The writer is claiming that because 24/7 isn't up to the minute with news-worthy information, that it's somehow a failure. My point is, it's purpose isn't to keep people up to date on the facts, it's to entertain viewers and create anticipation around the upcoming fight. It's possible the writer views 24/7 as trying to compete with his own medium. And that that's where this is coming from. But 24/7 is not intended as a news outlet and shouldn't be evaluated as one.
I was talking about Jake's point, not Chavez's. I thought Chavez was trying to explain why the ratings weren't that strong for the Pac-Marg 24/7 by saying it's because that there was nothing new in it because the media circus that follows Pacquiao already covered the same topics 24/7 did...which, perhaps to Jake's point, is the problem with the show, they're showing things that have already been coverd in the media instead of using the access they have to really go in-depth with actual news and reporting. But then, it's the promoters that have to pay for 24/7, so it's understandable that they'd want more of an infomercial. I guess the question is whether that's the best way for the show to continue, if the ratings continue to decline. On the other hand, perhaps Pacquiao-Margarito was just a fight that a lot of fans didn't want to get anticipated for, given the handwrap scandal. I didn't watch the 24/7's, or the fight, so what do I know...I don't even subscribe to HBO anymore.
That's the show's biggest problem. Having the promoter pick up the cost immediately compromises the show's integrity. Not sure what the arrangement is with Showtime, but I'm pretty sure that they have complete production, editorial and content control. Hence, the overwhelming difference between the two series.
Some of the latest HBO ratings: http://www.theboxingtruth.com/article.php?id=1923 November 12, 2010 - HBO - 6:30pm PST- 24/7 Part IV - Pacquiao-Margarito – 316,000 viewers November 20, 2010 - HBO - 7:00pm PST - Pacquiao-Margarito replay – 1.3 million viewers November 20, 2010 - HBO - 8:00pm PST - Martinez-Williams – 1.3 million viewers November 27, 2010 - HBO - 7:00pm PST - Marquez-Katsidis – 998,000 viewers Chavez also had this teaser at the end of his article:
I have to say, 1.3 million viewers for Pac-Margarito replay is fairly underwhelming, especially since it was packaged with the Martinez-Williams rematch. And if I'm reading the stat correctly, that total isn't even the number of viewers for the initial 11/20 broadcast, but total viewers for all telecast showtimes.
One way to test how much of an impact On Demand has would be if HBO came up with a 7-day delay before fights are available OD. I think they usually appear the Monday after the fight occurs and last for about a month.
From my reading of it, Martinez-Williams II did 1.3 million live according to Nielsen. HBO was the one that was adding in the .3 to their live 1.6 Cotto-Foreman ratings to get the 1.9 number...and for that they were using their HBO replays (which I believe are just the replays on HBO and HBO2 in the days after the fight, and not the On Demand number).
Chavez uses his latest article, The Nielsen Media Television Ratings and the Pulse of U.S. Boxing..., to offer his take on the slumping HBO boxing ratings. He also provides the Nielsen numbers for the Khan-Maidana card, which weren't bad considering some of HBO's other broadcasts this year. http://theboxingtruth.com/article.php?id=1931 Some of the numbers he provides in his article:
Schaefers says he wants four fights at Staples Center...although, I wonder, when I read Schaefer comments (both here and in previous articles) talk about venues, if he and G have become too tied to AEG facilties? From Steve Kim: http://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-lead/so-which-rematch-for-pascal
Boxing's importance to HBO isn't really x viewers for any given fight, it's how many viewers would quit subscribing if HBO gave up boxing altogether. Boxing's importance is even more important because movies are becoming far easier to get and far cheaper than they have been in the past. Right now it's boxing and HBO's original programming that justify the cost, not the movies. So people leaving isn't boxing's fault. At least that's my guess. Of course, 2010 didn't really have the banner fight like pacq/floyd that could have single-handedly made the stats look different.
