Was the Bradley-Rios card the beginning of the end for HBO?

[Rich2123]

I have no idea what was HBO's top 5 rated fights. All I know is that HBO boxing is hardly a money maker for HBO compared to their other programs.

The fact that the heads of HBO don't care much for boxing doesn't bode well either.

They get like a quarter of the cash on PPV and the risk is all on the promoter. It's a money maker for them.

I read something from HBO going on and on about how boxing is in their blood. But we'll see. It may go away at one point or another. It's not going away anytime soon.

[HeroBando]

You don't get it. Kirkland-Canelo was their highest rated fight by far and it still pails incomparison to their top original series viewership.

I have no idea what was HBO's top 5 rated fights. All I know is that HBO boxing is hardly a money maker for HBO compared to their other programs.

The fact that the heads of HBO don't care much for boxing doesn't bode well either.

That all stands. Boxing is not a moneymaker inthe US these days besides a handful of Ppv stars. Hbos got a monopoly here though,only ones proven capable of building a ppv star. And they probably want some variety in their programming, kinda like Spike paying 100x to show Pbc for Cops rerun ratings

[PKing]

"But ratings for HBO’s live fights have been disappointing. And HBO CEO Bill Nelson is said to be particularly troubled by the fact that, in recent years, African-American viewership of HBO Sports programming has dropped significantly beyond the drop for other demographic groups.

Nelson rarely gets involved with the sports department budget; but this year, he has. Sources say that, on September 16, 2010, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg made a presentation to the CEO and outlined a plan to raise ratings among African-American viewers. Greenburg’s suggestions included the idea that HBO spend more money on advertising and promotion targeted at the African-American community. But Nelson is a numbers guy and wary of simply throwing more money at problems.

Sources also say that Greenburg has told Nelson and HBO president Richard Plepler that boxing is struggling because (1) despite HBO’s best efforts, it was unable to consummate a deal for Manny Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr this year; (2) there are no stars because promoters aren’t developing them; and (3) there are no good American heavyweights.

Nelson and Plepler are ambivalent toward boxing. They know there are problems with HBO’s boxing program, but they rely in large part on Greenburg for input regarding the sweet science. Also, in recent years, they’ve had concerns that are more pressing than boxing, such as the need to rebuild HBO’s programming staff on the West Coast after Chris Albrecht’s abrupt departure, replace Sex and the City and The Sopranos, and deal with the challenges posed every day by an ever-changing new media." - Thomas Hauser piece in 2010

[PKing]

They get like a quarter of the cash on PPV and the risk is all on the promoter. It's a money maker for them.

I read something from HBO going on and on about how boxing is in their blood. But we'll see. It may go away at one point or another. It's not going away anytime soon.

Who told you that HBO gets 25% of Pay-Per-View gross?

From this source and others, it appears to be less than 8%.

Domestic Television. As noted above, the domestic television fee is a variable based upon the number of pay-per-view homes for the particular event. Assuming a pay-per-view retail price of $39.95, and following deduction of (a) the percentage of such pay-per-view fee to the cable operator (generally 50% of gross goes to the local cable operator although such percentage differs based upon the marketability of the event and the desire of the cable company to possess the ability to sell the event to its local cable subscribers) and (b) the approximate 7.5% distribution fee remitted to the distributor (SET or HBO PPV as discussed above), resulting in approximately $18.50 from each home purchase received by the promoter and comprising the domestic televison fee.

http://www.secondsout.com/ringside/t...f-pay-per-view

[HeroBando]

"But ratings for HBO’s live fights have been disappointing. And HBO CEO Bill Nelson is said to be particularly troubled by the fact that, in recent years, African-American viewership of HBO Sports programming has dropped significantly beyond the drop for other demographic groups.

Nelson rarely gets involved with the sports department budget; but this year, he has. Sources say that, on September 16, 2010, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg made a presentation to the CEO and outlined a plan to raise ratings among African-American viewers. Greenburg’s suggestions included the idea that HBO spend more money on advertising and promotion targeted at the African-American community. But Nelson is a numbers guy and wary of simply throwing more money at problems.

Sources also say that Greenburg has told Nelson and HBO president Richard Plepler that boxing is struggling because (1) despite HBO’s best efforts, it was unable to consummate a deal for Manny Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr this year; (2) there are no stars because promoters aren’t developing them; and (3) there are no good American heavyweights.

Nelson and Plepler are ambivalent toward boxing. They know there are problems with HBO’s boxing program, but they rely in large part on Greenburg for input regarding the sweet science. Also, in recent years, they’ve had concerns that are more pressing than boxing, such as the need to rebuild HBO’s programming staff on the West Coast after Chris Albrecht’s abrupt departure, replace Sex and the City and The Sopranos, and deal with the challenges posed every day by an ever-changing new media." - Thomas Hauser piece in 2010

Yeah that was way back when Haymon was milking them dry for Berto mismatches etc.

[PKing]

Yeah that was way back when Haymon was milking them dry for Berto mismatches etc.

"But ratings for HBO’s live fights have been disappointing. And HBO CEO Bill Nelson is said to be particularly troubled by the fact that, in recent years, African-American viewership of HBO Sports programming has dropped significantly beyond the drop for other demographic groups." -2009-2010

So... if ratings were disappointing back in 2009/2010... what does that say about ratings last year?

Have they gone up or down as a whole since 2009/2010?

With Bradley-Rios/Matthysse-Postol BOMBING, and Canelo-Kirkland/Klitschko hovering around 1.8M, it looks like ratings have remained the exact same or worse than 2009-2010.

[PKing]

2009 HBO Ratings

HBO - World Championship Boxing - Shane Mosley-Antonio Margarito - 1.9 million live viewers

3-07-2009 HBO - BAD - James Kirkland-Joel Julio - 1.4 million live viewers

4-11-09 HBO – World Championship Boxing – Paul Williams-Winky Wright – 1.5 million live viewers.

6-13-2009 - HBO World Championship Boxing - Cotto vs. Clottey - 1.68 million viewers

6-27-09 - HBO - Victor Ortiz-Marcos Maidana - 1.1 million viewers

9-26-2009 - Vitali Klitschko vs. Chris Arreola (live) - 2.124 million viewers


Maybe it's just me but these numbers DEFINITELY look higher than what HBO has gotten in the past year.

[HeroBando]

"But ratings for HBO’s live fights have been disappointing. And HBO CEO Bill Nelson is said to be particularly troubled by the fact that, in recent years, African-American viewership of HBO Sports programming has dropped significantly beyond the drop for other demographic groups." -2009-2010

So... if ratings were disappointing back in 2009/2010... what does that say about ratings last year?

Have they gone up or down as a whole since 2009/2010?

With Bradley-Rios/Matthysse-Postol BOMBING, and Canelo-Kirkland/Klitschko hovering around 1.8M, it looks like ratings have remained the exact same or worse than 2009-2010.

You'll notice the ratings were on the upswing till the huge Floyd Pac flop which soured most casuals on boxing, see plummeting Pbc/Sho ratings. And also Hbos spending is at a low point, so they're still getting pretty good **** for their buck, far better than Sho or Spike lol.

[PKing]

You'll notice the ratings were on the upswing till the huge Floyd Pac flop which soured most casuals on boxing, see plummeting Pbc/Sho ratings. And also Hbos spending is at a low point, so they're still getting pretty good **** for their buck, far better than Sho or Spike lol.

What upswing?

I know Kirkland-Canelo took place a week AFTER May-Pac. What are these "upswing" events you refer to?

[PKing]

Rios-Alvarado 3 had less than 1.3M average for the program. Same with Matthysse-Provodnikov.

If 1.6M to 1.8M is considered low viewership in 2009... how can sub 1.3M be considered an "upswing" in 2016? LOL

Especially "**** for your buck" with $3M pricetag for LESS than 750k average for Bradley-Rios. That's REALLY bad.