Awesome Piece on HBO losing Pacquiao to Showtime by Hauser

[Kevin Malone]

Thomas Hauser wrote a piece for Max Boxing called "How HBO Lost Manny Pacquiao". Everyone here should read it.

Some interesting bits I found:

ultimately promised were 1) advertising spots and live cutaways during the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament and other CBS Sports programming in April and the first week of May, 2) a four-part countdown series, with either the first or last episode airing on CBS in prime time on a Saturday night, 3) appearances for pay-per-view undercard fighters (such as Christy Martin) on CBS talk shows 4) a May 1st 60 Minutes segment following up on the Pacquiao feature that aired last March, and 5) hosting the CBS Morning Show in Las Vegas on Monday through Friday of fight week.

Top Rank President Todd DuBoef had made no secret of his interest in exploring options other than HBO for Pacquiao. Indeed, last June, DuBoef stated, “I should have explored making a deal with ESPN for Pacquiao-Clottey. HBO brought nothing to the promotion. They wouldn’t even do a 24/7 series. They did The Road to Dallas as a promo piece. One show. ESPN would have given us four ‘Roads to Dallas’ in 90,000,000 homes. If I had it to do over again, absolutely, I’d discuss Pacquiao-Clottey with ESPN, with CBS, with Showtime. I’m not looking to rock the boat but I am looking to grow the audience.”

On Friday, Arum returned to New York. Early in the afternoon, he telephoned Greenburg and told him that the deal was done and he was taking Pacquiao-Mosley to Showtime and CBS. Greenburg offered a curt response and hung up.

Ross told several staff members about the development. Then he called Al Haymon, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, and a few others, saying that he looked forward to continuing to do business with them in the future.

“Ross was very dejected,” one person said of their conversation. “I felt sorry for him.”

The point person in any overall evaluation of the situation is likely to be Richard Plepler. In all probability, he would work with Michael Lombardo (president of HBO programming and West Coast operations). Ultimately, HBO CEO Bill Nelson could become directly involved.

In recent years, Plepler has been aware of issues within the sports department but he has had more pressing concerns to address.

In November 2010, after a three-part series about HBO was posted on this website, Plepler had separate meetings with New York City Police Department commissioner Ray Kelly (a former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission) and Edwin Torres (a retired New York State Supreme Court judge currently serving as a member of the athletic commission) to solicit their thoughts on how to revive HBO’s boxing program.

People who care about boxing hope that Plepler will now become more deeply involved in the situation and cast a wider net. He and Lombardo rebuilt HBO’s programming staff on the West Coast after Chris Albrecht’s departure in 2007. They might decide do the same thing with HBO Sports.

A television network can get into boxing for a minimal investment. This isn’t the National Football League. Two other premium cable networks are currently in discussions with promoters about adding boxing to their programming. Hopefully, Pacquiao-Mosley will lead to the return of boxing to terrestrial television as well.

Very interesting developments and changes with this move. I'm optomistic about it from a fan's perspective.

It's a very long piece (for an article) but it's worth reading if you are into this type of thing like I am.

http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-bo...manny-pacquiao

[The Gambler1981]

Before I even start reading is it the same song and dance he always does?

[Kevin Malone]

Before I even start reading is it the same song and dance he always does?

I know his name but I'm not that familiar with him. I don know this: There is a ton of information about the Pacquiao-Showtime-CBS-HBO situation I have heard nothing about until reading this. A bunch of behind the scenes information.

[The Gambler1981]

I know his name but I'm not that familiar with him. I don know this: There is a ton of information about the Pacquiao-Showtime-CBS-HBO situation I have heard nothing about until reading this. A bunch of behind the scenes information.

He writes a lot about HBO and pretty much has an agenda against them although reading him once or twice is worthwhile and informative, it just gets old.

[Kagami Taiga]

i doint understand why ppl think that dealing with the networks is the way to fix boxing. for the life of me, i dont uderstand why it isnt clear that the nextworks are only a minor issue in a growing problem. boxing has so much wrong with it, and most of that has nothing to do with hbo or showtime.

[Kevin Malone]

i doint understand why ppl think that dealing with the networks is the way to fix boxing. for the life of me, i dont uderstand why it isnt clear that the nextworks are only a minor issue in a growing problem. boxing has so much wrong with it, and most of that has nothing to do with hbo or showtime.

The networks issue is one that can actually change and have a real effect in a short amount of time. As far as commissions, bad judges, sanctioning bodies/multiple belts, that stuff isn't going anywhere.

[Gino Ros]

If they got CBS Morning Show to do a remote, and got a 2nd 60 Minutes piece, then Arum negotiated very well.

Kudos to Arum.

But I heard that the primetime slot was not secure, nor was it a lock for CBS yet.

[el malo]

thanks for the info, its clear hbo doesn't put the money in promoting fights like they use to. cbs and espn can spend more money if they want to and can reach alot more viewers than hbo. hopefully this means espn and other networks are gonna invest more in boxing. it would be good for the sport and the fans.

[Gino Ros]

He writes a lot about HBO and pretty much has an agenda against them although reading him once or twice is worthwhile and informative, it just gets old.

Yes. Hauser has been consistently critical of HBO FOR A LONG TIME.

[THE_BIG_HURT]

thanks for that. what hes describing sounded very similiar to what the ufc was able to do in getting a lot more mainstream exposure. hopefully this just helps the sport.