The Road Back to Broadcast TV
Kevin Iole has a must-read at Yahoo on how Top Rank head honchos Bob Arum and Todd duBoef got boxing back on network television at CBS:
Moonves looked at Arum and duBoef and, referring to the May 7 pay-per-view card, said, “We’ll make this work.” And then, in words that boxing fans in the U.S. have been dying to hear for more than two decades, he added, “I want you guys to figure out how to help me get boxing back [on network television] on Saturday night.”
DuBoef had cut the deal with Moonves a few days earlier, but its genesis was at least 10 years prior, when duBoef began to question why boxing was so willingly pushing its product onto premium cable television channels such as HBO and Showtime.
From the advent of television through the mid-1980s, boxing was one of network TV’s staples. But then HBO and Showtime came along and, desperate for programming to supplement their movie offerings, began to broadcast boxing.
They began to wave large license fees at promoters for the rights to broadcast their fights. And promoters eagerly accepted the inflated fees. But to duBoef, it didn’t feel right.
A great look behind the scenes from one of the best working fight writers. We touched on this in our piece for The Atlantic; the move away from network television has negatively impacted the public’s ability to follow the sport, much like initially television was criticized for reducing live audiences for local and regional fight cards.
No one begrudges HBO and Showtime for investing their money to stage the biggest fights, but there is a potential return out there for a network interested in building up a following for the sport. It would be possible to stage a couple entertaining Saturday night cards for a fraction of what the networks shell out to carry so-called major sporting events.
Our guess is the ratings would more than justify the investment, provided adequate notice and promotion. Hopefully there’s a network executive or even a cable channel with the guts and knowledge necessary to make it happen in the near future.