TV Nielsen Media Ratings for HBO... Martinez-Williams II, Marquez-Katsidis

TV Nielsen Media Ratings for HBO... Martinez-Williams II, Marquez-Katsidis by John Chavez Nov 30, 2010 - The ratings have finally arrived and will anybody care? Last week it was reported by various media outlets that the rematch between Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams garnered the second highest ratings of the year barely trailing those drawn by the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman fight this past June on HBO. It was a joyous occasion as the e-ticket tape parade was in full effect within the boxing media. Slow down. 1.6 million live viewers was the number for Foreman-Cotto by far the leader of the year. After having been provided the figures by the Nielsen Media company for the most recent HBO boxing programming, the figures are as follows: 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 What to make of all these strange figures...? Well, it always amuses me that HBO would publicly tout certain ratings figures as "elevated" while attempting to mask the truth. Following Cotto-Foreman, HBO would release a public figure touting 1.9 million total viewers for the bout which included the replay of the fight which is something I've never seen done before. Somebody needs to tell them we aren't living in 1965 and the power of information rests firmly at "The Boxing Truth's" fingertips. PLUG: Remember to visit www.theboxingtruth.com every Sunday at 6pm PST/9pm EST for The Boxing Truth Radio. We enjoy being cursed out so call in boxing fans! Now for the Martinez-Williams rematch we see a figure of 1.3 million viewers which isn't exactly "just under" the 1.6 million garnered by the live showing of Cotto-Foreman. The most interesting figure in all of this is the fact that the week-delayed replay of Manny Pacquiao's destruction of Antonio Margarito garnered... exactly the same figure that Martinez-Williams II garnered. While this isn't horrible being that it is a significantly higher figure than say... Gamboa-Salido which did 744,000 live viewers, comparing it to merely a few years back the trend is definitely disturbing. How much the Pacquiao-Margarito replay played a role in this elevated figure for the 2-round demotion is difficult to decipher. Now for the Marquez-Katsidis triple-header also featuring Celestino Caballero vs. Jason Litzau and Andre Berto vs. Freddy Hernandez, I really don't know what the hell to think. 998,000 live viewers for a card that probably cost somewhere in the region of at least $3 million for HBO doesn't bode to well if you're crunching the stats per viewer. Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that a boxing card as such belongs nowhere near a casino wherever it might be located. Yes, I understand that it might take for the MGM Grand to expand it's tentacles to Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, or San Francisco before a boxing promoter dare set foot regularly into these locales but goddamn! Over the next several weeks, I will be providing a statistical analysis of Nielsen television ratings for HBO and it's correlation with bouts being located in major metropolitan areas compared to the good ol' site fee casino. Yes, I understand that most U.S. boxing promoters are horribly inept at selling tickets and doing much else other than looking for a casino handout but I will provide the factual evidence that there is indeed a correlation between piss poor ratings per dollar and casino-based fights. It does exist my friends. Real simple stuff... you go to the media and people's backyard, they help distribute the product. Unfortunately the powers that be at HBO and the power brokers within the boxing world will continue doing what they do while shriveling up the sport here in America until it reaches the shrinkage of Michael Marley's dehydrated brain. Have a great day my friends! http://www.theboxingtruth.com/article.php?id=1923 Horrible numbers for Marquez vs. Katsidis. Really a huge bust there.