Should HBO/Showtime have Boxing news shows?

I think the poor matchmaking was one of the causes. Eventually people just got tired of being fed all the BS that HBO was trying to sell. BUT I do think HBO has been doing better this year with the fights they've been putting on. Even the 2 fights people were skeptical about (Maida-Morales and Ortiz-Berto) turned out to be great competitve fights. Don't get me wrong though, they still have work to do because they did overpay for the Hopkins-Pascal fight and they still overpay certain fighters, but I think they are improving. I just think if they made a show where they do things like Interview fighters, make their own P4P list, discuss possible fights, show Face offs, etc. It would generate a lot more interest for HBO fights. As for the MMA thing, I don't really think it effects ratings too much. Most young people would just watch both sports if there was any interest in it. The 2 sports are very different.

I agree that the state of boxing would be better if it was on Network TV. But I wasn't talking about the state of boxing as a whole. The ratings for HBO/Showtime fights have been steadily decreasing for the last 5 years. I was just wondering why the 2 biggest spenders in boxing don't do a damn thing to try and create interest in the sport they invest in. Having these face offs show at 9:45 PM on random Tuesday night isn't going to create buzz for the fight. An established weekly boxing show will help create more hype, IMO. My bad. Poor ratings due to largely: 1) poor matchmaking. (top rank/ gbp feud) 2) mma taking some of the younger demos. mma is on Sp1ketv alot. It helps somewhat. 3) sheer myopic/arrogance/ossification in top management in HBO Boxing who keeps doing the same sh1t that doesn't work. 4) lack of penetration to the general public led to perception that sport is "dying" worldwide.

Having some boxing news show might improve boxing in CABLE network but does not provide critical exposure for boxing to the general public. I agree that the state of boxing would be better if it was on Network TV. But I wasn't talking about the state of boxing as a whole. The ratings for HBO/Showtime fights have been steadily decreasing for the last 5 years. I was just wondering why the 2 biggest spenders in boxing don't do a damn thing to try and create interest in the sport they invest in. Having these face offs show at 9:45 PM on random Tuesday night isn't going to create buzz for the fight. An established weekly boxing show will help create more hype, IMO.

I don't think so, there is enough talking already, give me more fights!

Is that really the only problem though? In '07 I remember people talking about how the Calzaghe-Kessler fight got 1.59 live viewer rating and it was the worst ratings ever for WCB...Now in 2011 and Ortiz-Berto does 1.5 and that's the HIGHEST rating this year. What's the problem with that? Boxing wasn't on Network TV back in '07 either... I never said that is the ONLY problem. Not having boxing in major non-cable networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox) hurts boxing. That is my point. Why NFL does not have playoff games in PPV format or only in cable networks? Having some boxing news show might improve boxing in CABLE network but does not provide critical exposure for boxing to the general public.

You are missing the point here. The state of boxing would remain relatively the same whether Showtime/HBO has a weekly boxing show. NASCAR and NFL are regularly showed on....network TV. What will "revive" boxing is regular boxing matches on network TV. Want NFL to decline? Do PPVs on regular season games. Is that really the only problem though? In '07 I remember people talking about how the Calzaghe-Kessler fight got 1.59 live viewer rating and it was the worst ratings ever for WCB...Now in 2011 and Ortiz-Berto does 1.5 and that's the HIGHEST rating this year. What's the problem with that? Boxing wasn't on Network TV back in '07 either...

ESPN has a show called MMA LIVE. Its a show they do every week to discuss all the fights in MMA and so on. I don't see how they can't do that with boxing? Put it on right after Friday Night Fights. I think it's a good idea.

HBO is owned by an entirely separate entity than Showtime is, but HBO did used to have an "Inside Boxing" show years ago IIRC...I guess the demand just wasn't there...also Inside the NFL and the NASCAR show have horrible numbers compared to the HBO "Hard Knocks" series. I do not get why they do NASCAR on Showtime...That show makes no sense, IMO. The NFL one I don't really care for either. It's just that Showtime and HBO actually show Boxing on their network. I don't get why they don't try to establish a weekly Boxing show to help hype up their fights. I get why they do mini series like Hard Knocks and 24/7...Those shows actually get to show you a different side of their respective sports. But look at the Pascal-Hopkins fight. HBO is going to show a 15 minute face off at like 9:45 on some random Tuesday night... No one is going watch that. If they had an established Boxing news show they would probably get more people to watch it and the hype for the fight would increase, IMO.

Showtime has Inside NASCAR and Inside the NFL...Why don't they have a weekly Boxing show to try and drive up interest in the sport? HBO dedicates almost all of their sports budget to boxing...A weekly boxing series would do wonder for their ratings, IMO. They should do it FNF style and just discuss all the major news in boxing...Not just the HBO fights. You are missing the point here. The state of boxing would remain relatively the same whether Showtime/HBO has a weekly boxing show. NASCAR and NFL are regularly showed on....network TV. What will "revive" boxing is regular boxing matches on network TV. Want NFL to decline? Do PPVs on regular season games.

this is a good idea but back in the day they would have pre or post shows for certain fights, the last one i can remember was post holyfield-lewis 1(Jim and Larry puting the title belts in the trashcan is a highlight), and another one was post foreman-holyfield