ITV confirm no boxing in 2010 - "Boxing is not not economically sustainable"

[robpalmer135]

This is an email sent to someone on another board yesterday when asking about boxing in 2010.

"Since the beginning of the year ITV Sport has broadcast 7 evenings of live boxing. However, given the economic climate, ITV must ensure that its programming is commercially viable and, at the moment, boxing on free to air commercial television is not economically sustainable. As a result ITV has no plans to broadcast boxing in 2010. We keep all programming under review and if in the future the commercial facts change then we’ll be happy to consider broadcasting boxing again
King Regards,
ITV Viewer Services"

[Losfer_Words]

Although it sucks, it's not unexpected. It's only the Hennessy deal anyway so we're not completely missing out. I'm sure someone will pick up the Hennessy contract, but it would be hilarious if no-one wanted one with him:lol:. Pack your bags, Mick:lol:.

[Beeston Brawler]

Based upon the quality of the shows being offered, it is 100% true.

You have to make TV want to televise. Coverage isn't a right after all.

Someone, somewhere along the line is going to have to take a paycut - this might be promoters, fighters or whoever, to boost the quality of shows to make a company other than Sky want to screen it.

With other sports, they know what they are getting when they sign a deal. Six Nations Rugby, Challenge Cup rugby, cricket highlights and so on. Boxing is pretty random, it must be said.

[Mazallan]

ITV even wanted to scrap Primevil so this is not a surprise.

[Mazallan]

Six Nations Rugby, Challenge Cup rugby, cricket highlights and so on. .

Yep boxing is shit compared to those amazing tv specials.

[robpalmer135]

surley there are ways we could make the cards commercially viable.

People on here go nuts everytime there is an advert between rounds, but if thats what we need why not?? How about no Barry McGuigan, only John Rawling on commentary. They only advertise the shows on ITV channels at on the bills so that costs nothing.

I get a feeling Henneseys cards have been so poor recently because ITV are paying him so littler. He hasnt signed a prospect since Fury. But its seems ITV feel they are paying to much.

[SteelTownCobra]

Well they're keeping Harry Hill's TV Burp so I can almost forgive them.

[leighton]

It will mean if Hennessy wants his fights on tv he will have to drop his valueation down to get some station on board. Not the greatest group of fighters to try and market to tv companies but Froch will be the key fighter some tv stations may want so if they work it out right then Froch could be back on SKY getting the push he deserves or even ESPN.

[Mazallan]

surley there are ways we could make the cards commercially viable.

People on here go nuts everytime there is an advert between rounds, but if thats what we need why not?? How about no Barry McGuigan, only John Rawling on commentary. They only advertise the shows on ITV channels at on the bills so that costs nothing.

I get a feeling Henneseys cards have been so poor recently because ITV are paying him so littler. He hasnt signed a prospect since Fury. But its seems ITV feel they are paying to much.


I do not mind the odd advert break. I pop the kettle on or go for a quick loo break.

ITV are making huge cut backs everywhere so I doubt whatever crap Hennesey has done will have anything to do with the decision to drop the sport from the schedule.

[robpalmer135]

Yep boxing is shit compared to those amazing tv specials.

whats the point of saying bullshit like that. just because you dont like something doesnt mean its crap.

Rugby you get 80mins of live action, so that makes a 2 hour show no problem. Cricket you can get 6 hours worth of TV. Its all top quality. Boxing cards you get a decent main event which can end at anytime. so you need competative undercards to make a 2 hour tv slot. This is what UFC has over us. Its obvious that viewing figures is not the problem because boxing gets massive figures, its the demographic that watch it and the bad reputation which it has got over the years.

I think we need to realise what the yanks figured out along time ago, Boxing just doesn't work on free tv. If PPV is done properly, it can work.

[chrisfinch]

surley there are ways we could make the cards commercially viable.

People on here go nuts everytime there is an advert between rounds, but if thats what we need why not?? How about no Barry McGuigan, only John Rawling on commentary. They only advertise the shows on ITV channels at on the bills so that costs nothing.

I get a feeling Henneseys cards have been so poor recently because ITV are paying him so littler. He hasnt signed a prospect since Fury. But its seems ITV feel they are paying to much.

To be honest, they probably are paying him too much for the shit he's churned out in recent months. The main events are usually decent,although theres been a few dodgy ones (O'Donnell v Glover and Murray v Lawton-total mismatches) but the undercards have been dogawful. They started off quite well towards the end of last year, I remember they had Danny Williams, Junior Witter and English title fights early on but now its just people I haven't heard of or hugely overrated prospects that come unstuck within their first couple of fights against journeyman.

It's bad for Boxing that itv are pulling out, no doubt but I won't particularly miss his shows-something I never thought I'd say when he was putting on good quality shows from top to bottom earlier in the year.

Hopefully he can get his act together and maybe have some domestic FTA shows on this Primetime channel. I dunno. It's no surprise itv have pulled out, and that email response sums it up really.

[robpalmer135]

i think there is a market fro primtime. Say they get the rights to the Super 6. The fights happening in Europe they can have PPV. The US fights from the Super 6 they can have with a Hennesey card as PPV.

When they is no Super 6, have a henessey card in the UK followed by a US card.

As long as you dont charge a stupid amount which they are currently, say £10 max its not so bad if you do it 6-8 times a year.

[sidthehat]

Think finch and rob are right. Southern area title fights are generally not good undercards (rare exceptions like tony salaam-George groves when this happens). They are too long and too often are between two mediocre fighters who have no business fighting ten rounds, ie mcdonagh-purdy. Would you get two conference south football teams taking u an hour of primetime coverage and costs?

Far better to have competitive six or four round fights and not shit like fury's little brother. A maximum of one contender walkover fight a night.

People trust there to be good fights throughout ufc cards. They don't expect good boxing bills and who can blame them.

Costs could be brought down by having a one-camera set up and even courier tapes to local station to put out within an hour of event going on.

IMO bbbofc could help by allowing people to drink skiffs while watching fights. Does the sport no good having empty crowds. Gives immediate impression fights don't matter.

[nutter]

This is an email sent to someone on another board yesterday when asking about boxing in 2010.

"Since the beginning of the year ITV Sport has broadcast 7 evenings of live boxing. However, given the economic climate, ITV must ensure that its programming is commercially viable and, at the moment, boxing on free to air commercial television is not economically sustainable. As a result ITV has no plans to broadcast boxing in 2010. We keep all programming under review and if in the future the commercial facts change then we’ll be happy to consider broadcasting boxing again
King Regards,
ITV Viewer Services"

Whats changed????. Was it not economically sustainable all them years ago when they were showing Benn, Eubank and co. I think its safe to say that it would cost a lot more then than now. There something not quite right about there reasoning.

[Danny]

That's it ITV, keep showing shit like Coronation St, Emmerdale & other bollock otherwise known as Soaps!

[warrior85]

fuck off itv

[robpalmer135]

That's it ITV, keep showing shit like Coronation St, Emmerdale & other bollock otherwise known as Soaps!

so do you want ITV's 5000 employees to be out of work so they can show boxing for another 2 years??

Boxing needs to look at itself. Its not ITV's fault they dont make money from it.

[Mr Butt]

its a pity c4 are not interesred they show some shit that must get no viewers.

[robpalmer135]

its a pity c4 are not interesred they show some shit that must get no viewers.

yeh but it doesnt COST THEM ALLOT OF MONEY LIKE BOXING DOES.

[Mazallan]

whats the point of saying bullshit like that. just because you dont like something doesnt mean its crap.

Rugby you get 80mins of live action, so that makes a 2 hour show no problem. Cricket you can get 6 hours worth of TV. Its all top quality. Boxing cards you get a decent main event which can end at anytime. so you need competative undercards to make a 2 hour tv slot. This is what UFC has over us. Its obvious that viewing figures is not the problem because boxing gets massive figures, its the demographic that watch it and the bad reputation which it has got over the years.

I think we need to realise what the yanks figured out along time ago, Boxing just doesn't work on free tv. If PPV is done properly, it can work.

So is all televised boxing in America ppv? I thought alot of the boxing shown was on sports channels and only the huge fights went ppv.


I never said rugby or cricket was crap so stop being a dick head.

[Cobbler]

So is all televised boxing in America ppv? I thought alot of the boxing shown was on sports channels and only the huge fights went ppv.


The post you were replying to didn't say it was all on PPV, it said they weren't on free tv.

HBO, Showtime and ESPN are subscription channels. That's not the same as PPV.

[Mr Butt]

yeh but it doesnt COST THEM ALLOT OF MONEY LIKE BOXING DOES.


i know what your getting at about it being cost effective and i agree that perhaps the promoters and boxers should ask for a bit less money ,if your sevices are in demand you can ask for more but as they are not you have to settle for less ,some work is better than fuck all:good

[Mr Butt]

perhaps the way forward for boxing on tv is mixed pro and am shows

[UndisputedUK]

But rip off programmes like celebrity jungle and those that get you to phone in are economically viable. Bastards!:patsch

[Carnage]

Personally I believe, if boxing is on TV, people will watch it, any sport at that. This fucking sailing programme was on the other day, I watched the whole thing...it was shit!!I think broadcasters should just back boxing, use it as an investment, the more boxing they show the more people will start to watch, just for the sake of it being on! But true, the last few fight on ITV have been awful.

[rooq]

surley there are ways we could make the cards commercially viable.


they could get more sponsorship i suppose - like in ufc where each round is sponsored by a company, as are the replays and the commentators actually have to say the companys name. it would make me cringe as a boxing fan but i could live with that for more boxing on free tv.

i think eventually domestic promoters and boxers will have to take pay cuts to get their product on tv. i wonder if the cash generated by primetime ppv will be any more than what hennessey would have got from itv or sky.

[Bodysnatcher]

Well they said the ratings on ITV4 were exceptional, so it must simply be the case that the ad revenue doesn't cover the cost of the cards.

There's not much you can do about that.

If that's not actually the case, though, and it's being dumped for some non-financial reason, that's a big pile of shit.

[Little Tyson]

Well they said the ratings on ITV4 were exceptional, so it must simply be the case that the ad revenue doesn't cover the cost of the cards.

There's not much you can do about that.

If that's not actually the case, though, and it's being dumped for some non-financial reason, that's a big pile of shit.

That is what i fear.

[leighton]

I beleive with Setanta going tits up ITV are given rights to show England football games. For the first time in years a England international wont be show on British tv the only way you can watch it is on PPV on a internet site. It really shows how stuck for money ITV are. A international match is a ratings hit no matter what but they wont show it.

[tamsim]

The only hope is Espn picks up some live boxing nexy year i am not holding my breath though!!

[slip&counter]

what i don't understand is if boxing shows have become "economically unviable" and its apparently bleeding them dry, then why the heck do they have 2 separate commentators, sometimes 2 analysts (if the Cobra, disco darren or jono are available) a presenter and a clown walking around behind the scenes asking cringeworthy questions.

surely they could save a bit of change by having one person presenting as well commentating (ala HBO) and only one analyst.

rowling presenting and commentating along with Duke
Barry analysing pre and post fight, simple!

Don't get the point in having that reporter who walks around looking lost, don't forget its not only him, he has a camera man fellowing him with other people accompanying that cameraman. However insignicant it may look, it all adds up!

I just think there's deeper reasons to them pulling the plug then just "economic sustainability"

[AndrewFFC]

Personally I believe, if boxing is on TV, people will watch it, any sport at that. This fucking sailing programme was on the other day, I watched the whole thing...it was shit!!I think broadcasters should just back boxing, use it as an investment, the more boxing they show the more people will start to watch, just for the sake of it being on! But true, the last few fight on ITV have been awful.


Yeah how much do you think the sailing club or whoever the flip runs it charged the TV company?

Rob's spot on.

Its not televisions fault boxing is a mess. If the sport got itself a governing body who could negotiate a good deal then we might have a point bitching about ITV.

ITV is the most commercial of channels anyway and geenrally just makes stuff that will get ratings.

[TFFP]

Whats changed????. Was it not economically sustainable all them years ago when they were showing Benn, Eubank and co. I think its safe to say that it would cost a lot more then than now. There something not quite right about there reasoning.
It's exactly right. When Benn and Eubank were fighting everybody was tuning in. Hence ITV can demand big money for advertising rights during such a fight.

The simple formula is boxing is costing them more than is coming in, or making such a small profit that it is neglible. Not enough people are tuning into the cards and the costs are outweighing the benefits. Boxing needs to explore the reasons as to why that is, because Benn and Eubank if anything proved it can be done.

[Cobbler]

I beleive with Setanta going tits up ITV are given rights to show England football games. For the first time in years a England international wont be show on British tv the only way you can watch it is on PPV on a internet site. It really shows how stuck for money ITV are. A international match is a ratings hit no matter what but they wont show it.

The Ukraine FA wanted a fee to match the well over the odds offer that Setanta made them and no-one was interested. Not just ITV.

[slip&counter]

the lead sports story a few weeks back was some kid sailing the world lol Everything is a "story" with all the media outlets we have. My point is the sport is not being showcased as it once was. People mentioned Benn/Eubank era but do you know in America some of Sweet Pea's biggest fights came on Terestrial tv? do you know Micheal Watson fought on US terestrial TV?...ITS ALL ABOUT BEING VISIBLE!...The big problem that boxing has is that most sports are backed by corporate sponsors boxing is backed by cons and casinos which is why their hosted their and not stadiums. Its fucking sad FFS fishing is on more. lol

Promoters are only concerned with lining their pockets networks turn down my fight (cool) I'll have my fighter fight a bum put it on my own PPV station stack it with some names charge X amount of quid and I'm good! Until boxing gets a governing body (which could never happen) the sport will always have scars. but it's still the best!

Some people have even said to me that its better that the sport is niche as you'll get better, more knowledgable fans to converse with, I see where they're coming from and I want my sport to be a fraternity kind of like how we all are here. But at the end of the day it helps us all by letting the sport grow but these pea brained "promoters" are either too stupid to realise it or too wicked to care.

[achillesthegreat]

Boxers should earn less, fight more and in more competative match ups. It's much easier for MMA orgs to make fights cos their fighters have a different mentality as to how much they can earn etc

[slip&counter]

i was wondering how long it would take before someone brought up gay porn

[Cobbler]

Boxers should earn less, fight more and in more competative match ups.

So many people seem to be failing to grasp this. If you're a boxer you fight once every four or five months and a crowd of 7 or 8 thousand is considered very good. A Professional darts player is playing in 50 or 60 tournaments a year and those events can also pack in seven or eight thousand people per session.

The darts is attracting way more people through the gate, but the boxer still wants paying on the same level as the darts player. You could have a ton of boxing on tv if bills were spectator friendly in the same way as the darts (competitive match-ups) and the price per hour was the same. But pricing it at that level doesn't make a lot of money for the particpants when your only performing three days a year.

[TBooze]

Well they said the ratings on ITV4 were exceptional, so it must simply be the case that the ad revenue doesn't cover the cost of the cards.

There's not much you can do about that.

If that's not actually the case, though, and it's being dumped for some non-financial reason, that's a big pile of shit.


It is financial; and you cannot blame them. Look at all the fuss many on this forum put up when they found gulp.... that may have to pay £13 to watch Froch....

We both know a boxing event is a huge cost, the only way I see it working is if a promoter takes a hit and offers to pay production costs and fights for free to the channel in the hope of getting publicity, but realistically that is not happening.

[robpalmer135]

So is all televised boxing in America ppv? I thought alot of the boxing shown was on sports channels and only the huge fights went ppv.


I never said rugby or cricket was crap so stop being a dick head.

no boxing is shown on free tv, only subscription channels.

Americans see allot more fights becuase the public are more open to advertising and product placment. you always here people on here having a go about adverts inbetween rounds, but thats what we need.

[mcguirpa]

So many people seem to be failing to grasp this. If you're a boxer you fight once every four or five months and a crowd of 7 or 8 thousand is considered very good. A Professional darts player is playing in 50 or 60 tournaments a year and those events can also pack in seven or eight thousand people per session.

The darts is attracting way more people through the gate, but the boxer still wants paying on the same level as the darts player. You could have a ton of boxing on tv if bills were spectator friendly in the same way as the darts (competitive match-ups) and the price per hour was the same. But pricing it at that level doesn't make a lot of money for the particpants when your only performing three days a year.

This is spot on.

The fighters want more money than the market has decided they're worth.

[Kid Lucky]

ITV won't show boxing because they don't get the advertising revenue from it and they are a commercial channel. The ratings that they get and the quality of the fights might make the advertisers pay more but the sad truth is that advertising revenue has been declining for years on commercial TV and the recession has made that even worse.

Most fights aren't on telly and most never have been. The trick for the game is going to be to have shows that make money on the gate or with sponsorship or with limited internet PPV other than the big big fights

[Bodysnatcher]

What about those reports that the boxing ratings were about 10 times higher than ITV4's average ratings?

Was that just bullshit?

[Cobbler]

What about those reports that the boxing ratings were about 10 times higher than ITV4's average ratings?


Considering if they don't have live boxing they are usually running something along the lines of reruns of The Sweeney in that slot, that wouldn't be particularly suprising?

[slip&counter]

not sure about 10 times that i suspect is BS, but it IS true that the figures are very healthy which just goes to show the potential of boxing as a massive TV sport, because these henny cards are most of time atrocious and ITV do a piss poor job of promoting and advertising it, sometimes even die hards don't know its on just a couple days before...thanks for the internet hey

[Carnage]

Yeah how much do you think the sailing club or whoever the flip runs it charged the TV company?

Rob's spot on.

Its not televisions fault boxing is a mess. If the sport got itself a governing body who could negotiate a good deal then we might have a point bitching about ITV.

ITV is the most commercial of channels anyway and geenrally just makes stuff that will get ratings.
Yeah but, if they started by showing some repeats or something and build up the fan base, it could definatly happen, come on, we all know F1 is crap yet we all watch it.

[slip&counter]

carnage is right, people will watch anything thats sold to them right, its all about the marketing of it, the stinker that was audley vs Danny got something like 10 million viewers, why? because the casual were sold it, they plugged and advertised it on coronation street breaks and all sorts. and made it a big event.

[bux112]

what i don't understand is if boxing shows have become "economically unviable"

I recently worked with a production company recording a non televised boxing event in Newport South Wales (you can guess who).

The whole event was filmed with 3 cameras (+ one extra mini cam to capture a certain colourful trainer in action between rounds). The pictures were "vision mixed" and streamed live to plasma screens dotted around the areana.

Commentary was done for nothing by three guys willing to help out and they did a pretty good job.

After the event, a DVD was produced. The result was a pretty successful couple of hours entertainment with acceptable production values.

The cost for this was well under £10k (Closer to £5K). Unfortunately that was considered too much and no thought was put into the promotion and distribution of the DVD or its content. Therefore boxing fans and people who might have wanted to see the fights after the event have missed out...again.

[brown bomber]

I'd just like to say - Darts is shit. Worse then MMA.

[ricardoparker93]

Think finch and rob are right. Southern area title fights are generally not good undercards (rare exceptions like tony salaam-George groves when this happens). They are too long and too often are between two mediocre fighters who have no business fighting ten rounds, ie mcdonagh-purdy. Would you get two conference south football teams taking u an hour of primetime coverage and costs?

Far better to have competitive six or four round fights and not shit like fury's little brother. A maximum of one contender walkover fight a night.

People trust there to be good fights throughout ufc cards. They don't expect good boxing bills and who can blame them.

Costs could be brought down by having a one-camera set up and even courier tapes to local station to put out within an hour of event going on.

IMO bbbofc could help by allowing people to drink skiffs while watching fights. Does the sport no good having empty crowds. Gives immediate impression fights don't matter.

Are people seriously not allowed to drink when watching boxing?
Its all about fucking promotion!!!

Big crowds, great atmospheres add to the fight! If David Haye for example beat Valueve on prime time ITV he would be absolutely huge over night.. endorsements etc etc plus a much bigger gate for his next fight.

But boxers and promoters take the easy option and fuck over the sport! Why do we get the shitty southern area cards and miss out on Froch???????

The guy is fighting in England with no tv deal! What i dont understand is that boxing got really good ratings for the Pascal and Khan vs bums fight and then they drop boxing!!!! If they got a few adverts going saying about the super six. some newspaper coverage, get carl froch on breakfast on the bbc or gmtv or joe calzaghe mentioning it on strictly you could get some fucking hype going! Whats wrong with these people? :patsch

[robpalmer135]

Are people seriously not allowed to drink when watching boxing?
Its all about fucking promotion!!!

Big crowds, great atmospheres add to the fight! If David Haye for example beat Valueve on prime time ITV he would be absolutely huge over night.. endorsements etc etc plus a much bigger gate for his next fight.

But boxers and promoters take the easy option and fuck over the sport! Why do we get the shitty southern area cards and miss out on Froch???????

The guy is fighting in England with no tv deal! What i dont understand is that boxing got really good ratings for the Pascal and Khan vs bums fight and then they drop boxing!!!! If they got a few adverts going saying about the super six. some newspaper coverage, get carl froch on breakfast on the bbc or gmtv or joe calzaghe mentioning it on strictly you could get some fucking hype going! Whats wrong with these people? :patsch

Froch beat Pascal and he didnt become big over night.

If you go to the betting odds online for sports personality of the year, Froch is not even on the list.

[Risque Reward]

No Boxing on tv is due to the current financial climate and the promoters not adapting to it. Boxings reputation needs to be rebuilt on terrestial tv, a new start shall we say.
New ways of presenting shows and marketing the boxers themselves are needed. But to even get on tv again the promoters need to lower their demands and realise that the boxers they control are not david beckhams but more like a chris hoy or philips idowu level of fame. Only repeated world level success should see PPV and big tv money demands for fights. Not fighting tomatoe cans, shot legends, fighting for worthless new IBO WBO and IBF Belts. Khan anyone??

It's all great lobbying tv and going off at them. But the promoters are the problem.
Us who appreciate boxing acknowledge boxers should be paid as much as prem footballers for the demands they put their body through, the punishment they take, their incredible physical condition and most of all the sheer entertainment that a big fight can deliver which i feel is second to none when it comes to sport.

But to the general public boxers don't deserve it. Its a shame but thats the way it is.
Promoters need to realise this.
They arn't managers of film stars, they are managers of working class people who have strived to get where, beginning from the very bottom with only sheer determination and guts. People need to relate to that fact that they came from the same place as the very people who watch the shows.

The promoters demands need to reflect this. Boxing needs to get off its pedestal and realise it has been knocked down a couple of steps of the popularity heirachy.

Prime example being Hennessey, he has fucked froch up completely. He should be mainstream by now. Easily.
Take one for the team now mick and it'll help you and your fighters in the future.
Maybe he doesnt believe in Carl and is looking to get paid as much as possible for any super six fights before he is destroyed by an Abraham or Kessler??

Boxing needs to lower it's financial demands and the promoters need to realise this or it will be in the doldrums for a long time coming.

[ricardoparker93]

Froch beat Pascal and he didnt become big over night.

If you go to the betting odds online for sports personality of the year, Froch is not even on the list.

Carl Froch for one is not David Haye. Froch does nothing on tv apart from the occasional interview! And to be honest his personality does not scream potential superstar.

NOBODY other than the hardcore will watch his fight with Dirrell and a victory for him does nothing for british boxing, although im sure it will up Mick fucking Henneseys bank balance.

I bet you ITV will end up doing the fight the next day if Carl wins though.

[Pug1list]

Purses are tightening, Sky almost lost the NFL, La Liga this year.

[chrisfinch]

What about those reports that the boxing ratings were about 10 times higher than ITV4's average ratings?

Was that just bullshit?

Here we go...

for the week ending 6th September on itv4, O'Donnell v Glover got 330,000 viewers, the channel's 10th highest for the week. This was behind the Death Wish films, Cops with Cameras, Ultimate Force and some Freddie Mercury thing.

for the week ending 19th July on itv4, McIntosh v Cleverly got 406,000 viewers, the channel's 8th highest for the week. Behind Rambo 2 and the Tour de France.

for the week ending 14th June on itv4, Murray v Lawton got 231,000 viewers, the channel's 10th highest for the week. Behind a few films and the Isle of Man TT.

Barker v McDermott (w/e 24th May) 204,000 10th highest that week behind the UEFA Cup final and films

Watson v O'Donnell (w/e 12th April) 260,000 10th highest that week behind films and Football

Elcock v Macklin (w/e 15th March) didn't make the top 10 that week, but top 10 filled with Football and films

Thaxton v Mezache (w/e 1st March) 369,000 7th highest that week behind films and Football

Murray v McAllister 9w/e 18th January) 405,000 2nd highest that week.
------------------------------------------------------------

Sheet that was hard work, you lot had best be grateful, and that info comes courtesy of the wonderful BARB.

Basically from that we can gather that the Boxing on itv4 does get decent ratings, but that "10 times the average" quote is probably utter bullshit. The audience figure varies considerably, and it doesn't seem to be dependent on who is fighting. Boxing tends to be beaten in the ratings only by films and Football (usually)

Now from itv4's point of view, films cost pittance in relation to what Boxing costs. With it getting higher ratings, and in turn higher advertising, it would make more sense to show a film on a Saturday night than Boxing.

Football is obvious, it is the only sport itv have ploughed a lot of money in to, and they would expect the ratings it gets.

The rest of these cop shows and stuff which occasionally beats Boxing in the ratings, and cheapo old stuff like The Sweeney etc are obviously much cheaper than Boxing, and while they may not produce the ratings, the costs involved are ridiculously lower. No need to pay money for Hennessy, no need to set up an outside broadcast, no need to pay Rosenthal and co., no need to pay the behind the scenes stuff.

Boxing isn't that expensive of a sport to show in these times, particularly as promoters are so desperate to get on TV. However, when compared with the "cheap tat" that gets similar ratings figures, it doesn't take a genius to work out what will be shown.

Thanks you, and goodnight:nut

[griff]

Froch beat Pascal and he didnt become big over night.

If you go to the betting odds online for sports personality of the year, Froch is not even on the list.

If the Taylor fight was shown live on TV or repeated in a prime-time TV slot then I'm sure he would have received more credit and had a chance for SPOTY. Anyway, I think all boxers shouldn't even bother attending that show because the BBC treat Boxing like dirt.

[chrisfinch]

Of course, my previous post makes no excuse for why the BBC can't show Boxing.:good

[Cobbler]

Of course, my previous post makes no excuse for why the BBC can't show Boxing.:good

You think BBC sport doesn't have cost/viewers pressures?

[Cobbler]

If the Taylor fight was shown live on TV or repeated in a prime-time TV slot then I'm sure he would have received more credit and had a chance for SPOTY. Anyway, I think all boxers shouldn't even bother attending that show because the BBC treat Boxing like dirt.

Taylor/Froch was repeated at primetime.

[AndrewFFC]

carnage is right, people will watch anything thats sold to them right, its all about the marketing of it, the stinker that was audley vs Danny got something like 10 million viewers, why? because the casual were sold it, they plugged and advertised it on coronation street breaks and all sorts. and made it a big event.


Yes but theres no certanty is there. Which promoter do you sign with?

You can tcontrol the fights, you might not get a big fight all year, its all up to the promoters.
If you were dealing with one body, there is a set of fights you could obtain.

[ed7890]

God theres more and more bad news about boxing on tv

[slip&counter]

I'd just like to say - Darts is shit. Worse then MMA.

well they maybe obese lumps of lard, but better then being a arse bandit.

[griff]

Taylor/Froch was repeated at primetime.

I wouldn't call 11pm on ITV1 primetime? I know ITV2 or ITV4 showed the fight at 8pm.

[Cobbler]

I wouldn't call 11pm on ITV1 primetime? I know ITV2 or ITV4 showed the fight at 8pm.

8pm is primetime...

[doug.ie]

I wouldn't call 11pm on ITV1 primetime? I know ITV2 or ITV4 showed the fight at 8pm.

griff....off topic..
would you consider opening a thread here and posting your dailymotion videos on it ?...be a great addition to the british forum.

[Kid Lucky]

I've no doubt ITV will show the Froch v Dirrell fight on delay.

They were seriously pushing the fight on their show last week, borderline advertising the Prime Time channel and they've got a Big Fight Review show on next week where Rosenthal said they'd be talking about the fight.

Does anyone else think that they would have the fight on live if it wasn't on in the middle of the night for Showtime - which is fair enough as they've put the tournament together?

[Carnage]

I've no doubt ITV will show the Froch v Dirrell fight on delay.

They were seriously pushing the fight on their show last week, borderline advertising the Prime Time channel and they've got a Big Fight Review show on next week where Rosenthal said they'd be talking about the fight.

Does anyone else think that they would have the fight on live if it wasn't on in the middle of the night for Showtime - which is fair enough as they've put the tournament together?
In short...no!
Griff, just wanted to add, still loving your vids mate!!

[Cobbler]

I'm sure ITV would be happy to show the fight live in it's current timeslot if it was priced realistically.

[El Cepillo]

ITV bumping boxing for quality programmes like....erm.....anyone? :think:huh

[griff]

griff....off topic..
would you consider opening a thread here and posting your dailymotion videos on it ?...be a great addition to the british forum.

Thanks Carnage. I don't have a problem with that doug but I've tried to embled Dailymotion videos on this forum and it hasn't worked for me yet.

[sinner78]

Back in the day they would screen the Nigel Benn fights..
Then Sky came along and pretty much claimed most of the coverage.
Nobody watches ITV anyway ,apart from the occasional football game.

[AndrewFFC]

Back in the day they would screen the Nigel Benn fights..
Then Sky came along and pretty much claimed most of the coverage.
Nobody watches ITV anyway ,apart from the occasional football game.

Err. Think youll find Coronation Street and X Factor are pretty much the most popular shows on the box.

[essexboy]

Wankers.