By Jake Donovan
The message was sent loud and clear when Top Rank took its business – and along with it pound-for-pound Manny Pacquiao – across the street earlier this year. HBO needs to change up the way it provides its boxing coverage.
It began with the way its buildup to Floyd Mayweather’s fourth round knockout of Victor Ortiz this past September. For the first time, HBO utilized the resources of its sister companies, such as CNN and TBS.
Also making its debut was “24/7 Overdrive” which offered an up-to-date look at what was going on in Las Vegas in the moments after the weigh-in, as well as a special post-fight airing following the exclusive replay of Mayweather-Ortiz, providing footage of the post-fight press conference and what took place in both locker rooms in the moments after the fight.
Saturday’s pay-per-view event at the MGM Grand, headlined by Pacquiao’s third fight with longtime rival Juan Manuel Marquez, goes above and beyond any coverage previously provided by HBO. The biggest change comes when both fighters hit the scales on Friday.
“I’m very proud of the resources that HBO and Time Warner have provided in promoting this event,” stated Mark Taffet, who heads HBO’s pay-per-view division. “From 6:00PM for the first time for us, we will be televising the weigh-in live on HBO.”
The network has previously utilized its website (HBO.com) to provide live weigh-in coverage for major events, but for the first time specifically sets aside programming time on its flagship station to bring the festivities to the living rooms of its subscribers.
Friday’s live weigh-in coverage merely kicks off what is a fully loaded weekend dedicated to bringing attention to Saturday’s pay-per-view event.
“We’ve got an incredible closing few days and weekend leading up to the PPV event Saturday night, “Taffet notes. “Friday night from 6:00PM-9:30PM, we have some outstanding programming. The weigh-in will be followed at 6:30pm by Face off and Ring Life Series. From 7:00-8:30pm, we will have replays of the first three episodes of 24/7.
“Following that will be the premiere of the final episode, and then at 9:00 PM we will have a special edition of “24/7 Overtime” which will be followed by a showing of the most up-to-date coverage of the event. We’re proud of it and looking forward to it.”
It’s a shame that it took for Arum to bring Pacquiao to rival network Showtime for his pay-per-view headliner against Shane Mosley to cause HBO to rethink the way it does things. Showtime’s own unprecedented coverage – including extensive cross-promotion on CBS during the height of NCAA basketball’s March Madness – proved to be a game changer.
HBO has since reached out to other networks under the Time Warner umbrella, in the wake of the resignation of previous head honcho Ross Greenburg earlier this year.
Pacquiao-Marquez promos were frequently shown through the Major League Baseball playoffs on TBS, and a one-hour interview with Pacquiao, Arum and trainer Freddie Roach is scheduled to air Friday on CNN’s Piers Morgan Show.
Then comes fight night, which is no longer limited to the occasional replay of past fights featuring the main event fighters on one of its affiliate networks. Instead, HBO gives its PPV broadcast the Super Bowl treatment, providing all-day coverage leading into the evening.
“Saturday we have another great line up,” Taffet reveals. “We have our HBO Zone Road Block. From 12:00P-6:00PM ET/PT we will have complete, exclusive programming leading up to the telecast, including “Fight Day Now” which takes place from the MGM Grand lobby.
“We want to show the pageantry of the event right to your living rooms across America, and that will take place Saturday on HBO Zone. Fans will get to feel the electricity from the living rooms of what it will be like to be here in Las Vegas for this event.”
Nobody is more pleased than the man responsible for shaking things up at the top level of the one-time unrivaled source for big time boxing.
“After a one-time hiatus this past spring, we are back with HBO PPV, who is distributing this fight,” Arum proudly declared during Wednesday’s press conference. “One thing we did is shake things up, because HBO is now promoting this event on platforms never used before. Utilizing sister companies like CNN. They’ve done a terrific job in this new world and new technology of promoting this event.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com
