An idea for SKY to consider

[chad]

Noticed on Twitter today that the undercard for this weeks Brook Vs. Senchenko event has been moved from red button onto SKY Sports 3. That's great news 'cause now I can watch the undercard in glorious HD.

The move got me thinking about other things that SKY could be doing to raise the profile of boxing, and the undercard shows.

Now that SKY has moved back into PPV boxing I was thinking about their other PPV mainstay, WWE wrestling. SKY show RAW and Smackdown exclusively on SKY Sports. SKY show roughly 50% of the big WWE events each year on SKY Sports and the other 50% on SKY Box Office for £14.95. SKY however also show WWE Superstars and WWE Experience, highlight shows of RAW and Smackdown, on SKY One each week. I find this interesting as it means people at various subscription levels can follow the WWE each week. This allows them to follow story line and may persuade some to upgrade their package to watch full shows on SKY Sports or to order the PPV events on SKY Box Office.

Similar to the above SKY do the same kind of thing for football. People who don't have SKY Sports can pretty much watch all the goals from a Saturday on Goals Express on SKY Sports News. On a Saturday morning viewers can watch Soccer AM on SKY One which is appealing to those who like football news and a bit of banter.

Anyway the point of this is maybe it would be a good idea for SKY to put these "red button" undercards on SKY One or even Pick TV, rather than SKY Sports 3. This would give guys lower down on the card massive exposure. After all these fighters will be the next big stars in the Matchroom stable. Why not give them an early boost and open them up to a wider audience. It would also act as an advert for the quality of the boxing, and boxing coverage you'd get if you upgraded your package to include SKY Sports. Alternatively why not produce a weekly highlight show for SKY One? Again this would help raise the profile for those who box for Matchroom and might help get more casual fans interested in the live shows on SKY Sports.

I suppose they could always put Ringside on SKY One.

[Omerta]

Ditch they're own commentary for the big American fights and just broadcast the hbo/showtime commentators!!!

[chad]

Maybe when this channel launches on SKY it will be the perfect home for some boxing content?

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/a ... -itv4-dave

[lefty]

Ringside being on SKY One also is a very good idea!

Get Ed Robinson to steal the idea, good shout!

Cant see that happening. I cant see it appealing to enough of the people who watch that channel on a consistent basis.

[chad]

Ringside being on SKY One also is a very good idea!

Get Ed Robinson to steal the idea, good shout!

Cant see that happening. I cant see it appealing to enough of the people who watch that channel on a consistent basis.

Saturday morning on SKY One has a sports theme. Between 8am and 1pm SKY show The Fantasy Football Club, Game Changers, Soccer AM and WWE Superstars. Ringside could nudge its way into the schedule should a program like The Fantasy Football Club or Game Changers fail to achieve decent viewing figures.

Alternatively if a linear channel outwith SKY Sports is a no go then open Ringside up on demand, on both SKY and Virgin Media, for those who already subscribe to SKY One, SKY Sports News, SKY Living etc... SKY keep a close eye on the on demand views. Should Ringside perform well, they could then consider moving it to one of their linear channels away from SKY Sports.

[funso banjo baby]

all you dumb sky subscribers killed boxing !!!

stone dead !

we used to settle down to our lunch and watch larry holmes and marvin hagler fights on terrestrial saturday afternoons.

shhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

[chad]

all you dumb sky subscribers killed boxing !!!

stone dead !

we used to settle down to our lunch and watch larry holmes and marvin hagler fights on terrestrial saturday afternoons.

shhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

The BBC then ITV dropping boxing from their schedule, even when drawing impressive viewing figures, certainly didn't help. If it wasn't for SKY Sports and allegedly we'd be going without. Ricky Hatton and Frank Maloney went to the terrestrial channels with cap in hand, when SKY dumped both last summer, without any success. There was a period of about 12 months, shortly after Setanta went bust, that even SKY turned a blind eye to big fights from the States. Again none of the terrestrial channels rode in to save the day for boxing fans.

To blame SKY / SKY Sports subscribers for the demise of boxing on British TV is pretty blinkered and simply wrong. If SKY dropped boxing from their schedule it wouldn't turn up on the BBC or ITV. Both have made it clear they are finished with professional boxing.

[WelshJack]

I'm just glad that they are even showing the undercard red button or sky sports 3.