By Ronnie Nathanielsz

 

Television ratings for the Mano-A-Mano showdown carried by the giant television network ABS-CBN last Sunday registered an unbelievable 64.7 percent in Mega Manila which was even higher than the Pacquiao rematch with Erik "El Terrible" Morales which registered a rating of about 58 percent when the network partnered with Solar Sports.

 

In an interview with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, ABS-CBN vice president for sports Peter Musngi said that in Metro Manila the fight rated 63.7 and in the suburbs 68.6. Musngi said in the different regions with "overnight ratings like Dagupan, Cebu and Davao we were doing anywhere from 88 to 92 percent ratings translated into 99 percent audience share which is almost unheard of. It was staggering. We didn't expect it to be that good. "

 

The figures are even more impressive considering the modern technology whereby ratings are measured through meters installed in selected television homes chosen on a scientific basis.

 

The previous highest TV rating for a championship bout was the heavyweight battle between Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes on October 2, 1980 which was telecast over the Maharlika Broadcasting System now NBN 4 which rated over 64 percent under the telephone recall system in operation at that time.

 

Musngi attributed the unprecedented ratings to the promotional effort by the nationwide reach of the ABS-CBNn TV and Radio networks as well as the publishing arm and the fact they had enough time to build up interest.

 

While they did have problems with the Comcast pay-per-view signal in some areas of California as gleaned from posts by angry Filipino-Americans on the Manny Pacquiao website, Musgni said "there was no problem with the distribution from the Philippines" and that top people at The Filipino Channel were looking into the complaints. Musngi also said there were no figures as yet on the number of PPV buys