BoxRec

i have just been looking up viewing figures for sky on barb.

the only boxing in the top ten for the week so far this year is the fw wembley card on feb 13th with 220,000 viewers. that was the average.

the last friday fight night to appear is the oct 30th (smith - quigley) last year with 257,000.

the last heavyweight prizefighter which audley won got 314,000 viewers however the most recent one which gavin rees won did not get in the top 10 for its week. the 10th entry that week was live rugby union with 190,000.

also one of the haye valuev countdown shows got 212,000. one of the haye valuev repeats on the following saturday after the fight got 140,000.

a friday fight night last october (9th) got 118,000 while the 25 sept one got 139,000. klitschko v johnson got 149,000.

so what does the fact that the fw saturday show got the best viewers so far this year tell us. is it down to the quality of the card , is it down to it being on a saturday night or the earlier start time or a maybe a combination of all three.

the other thing to mention is the fw show was advertised on sky all over the place (nearly every time they had an ad break) in the week leading up to it. like prizefighter this week , you cant miss it. in contrast i dont remember seeing a single ad for any of the other friday fight nights so far this year.

so will sky take any notice that a 3 hour bill with an earlier start time did good numbers and that sometimes we would like to see more than 2 hours of a friday fight night. the hatton undercards have been very good and sometimes the 2 hour show does not do it justice.

i've said it a few times before, the FNF's start and end too late, ITV4 had the right formula in a 7:30/8pm start and a 10:30/11pm finish, 10-12 is just too late for my liking, they need to change the format so it just doesn't jump in the main event within 10 mins, needs the main undercard fight first, then some build up, then the main event.

I believe this is probably the reason the FW card was the most watch, being on a saturday may have had some bearing too.

jspain wrote:so will sky take any notice that a 3 hour bill with an earlier start time did good numbers and that sometimes we would like to see more than 2 hours of a friday fight night. the hatton undercards have been very good and sometimes the 2 hour show does not do it justice.

Two words; Super League.

Alas, egg chasing prevents us from getting 3 hours.

Effing Northerners.

Good research J Spain. (it was only this morning I heard you mentioned on the Bunce Will Hill podcast!)

I think it got decent figures because of the ads and the fact that Saturday night is a natural for boxing.

Live Boxing was only shifted to Friday when Sky started showing premier league highlights. The FW show only crept in because it was FA Cup weekend which Sky don't have. I can't see Sky making Saturday' a regular thing but lets hope so

A surprise that the 140 lbs prizefighter didn't make the top 10

jspain wrote:i have just been looking up viewing figures for sky on barb.

the only boxing in the top ten for the week so far this year is the fw wembley card on feb 13th with 220,000 viewers. that was the average.

the last friday fight night to appear is the oct 30th (smith - quigley) last year with 257,000.

the last heavyweight prizefighter which audley won got 314,000 viewers however the most recent one which gavin rees won did not get in the top 10 for its week. the 10th entry that week was live rugby union with 190,000.

also one of the haye valuev countdown shows got 212,000. one of the haye valuev repeats on the following saturday after the fight got 140,000.

a friday fight night last october (9th) got 118,000 while the 25 sept one got 139,000. klitschko v johnson got 149,000.

so what does the fact that the fw saturday show got the best viewers so far this year tell us. is it down to the quality of the card , is it down to it being on a saturday night or the earlier start time or a maybe a combination of all three.

the other thing to mention is the fw show was advertised on sky all over the place (nearly every time they had an ad break) in the week leading up to it. like prizefighter this week , you cant miss it. in contrast i dont remember seeing a single ad for any of the other friday fight nights so far this year.

so will sky take any notice that a 3 hour bill with an earlier start time did good numbers and that sometimes we would like to see more than 2 hours of a friday fight night. the hatton undercards have been very good and sometimes the 2 hour show does not do it justice.

Jesus dont remind us of that fight

the FFN bills have been bad for the last 5 months....im not surprised in the slightest

jspain wrote:so what does the fact that the fw saturday show got the best viewers so far this year tell us. is it down to the quality of the card , is it down to it being on a saturday night or the earlier start time or a maybe a combination of all three.

the other thing to mention is the fw show was advertised on sky all over the place (nearly every time they had an ad break)

Yeah, the day (Saturday evening s a good night for telly) the fact that it was a show with live bouts BEFORE the main event, the fact that it didn't just show a single boring live fight, and advertising I'd say all play their part.

Any statistics from when people turn off Friday Fight night? IE how many viewers stick around after the main event?

By the end highlights of the show, I'd doubt that many people are still tuned in.

whicker wrote:

jspain wrote:so what does the fact that the fw saturday show got the best viewers so far this year tell us. is it down to the quality of the card , is it down to it being on a saturday night or the earlier start time or a maybe a combination of all three.

the other thing to mention is the fw show was advertised on sky all over the place (nearly every time they had an ad break)

Yeah, the day (Saturday evening s a good night for telly) the fact that it was a show with live bouts BEFORE the main event, the fact that it didn't just show a single boring live fight, and advertising I'd say all play their part.

Any statistics from when people turn off Friday Fight night? IE how many viewers stick around after the main event?

By the end highlights of the show, I'd doubt that many people are still tuned in.

Boxing not as popular as it used to be. We lucky sky still show it.

leforge wrote:
Boxing not as popular as it used to be. We lucky sky still show it.

Well, it's still popular enough, though. Given that Sky sports is one of several dedicated sports channels, then it seems reasonable that the show boxing.

Even allowing for a decline in general popularity, I'd still say it's well in the top ten popular spectator sports.

Football will always be the "master" ,

Then there is rugby, cricket, (horse racing, motorsports if they are included)

But after that, I'd still boxing is the next popular (or around there) -surely it's still as much of a draw as golf, snooker, tennis (Wimbeldong excepted.)

You've missed off darts and fishing !

Darts gets massive viewing figures. Almost 900,000 for for the world championships. The Premier League darts on the Thursday prior to the FW Wembley card had more viewers than the boxing.

states wrote:Darts gets massive viewing figures. Almost 900,000 for for the world championships. The Premier League darts on the Thursday prior to the FW Wembley card had more viewers than the boxing.

Darts is very well watched sport on sky.

And what athletes they are.

states wrote:Darts gets massive viewing figures. Almost 900,000 for for the world championships. The Premier League darts on the Thursday prior to the FW Wembley card had more viewers than the boxing.

Thats depressing.

That said, I think darts might be "good TV" (does anyone go to watch darts live at the venue????)

Maybe thats what Sky need to do- put on a boxing show that appeals as a television broadcast- add a bit of something. ITV were trying to do that last year, and thats pretty much exactly what "the contender" was.

It's the personalities that make sport. And the personalities need air-time.

My Nan would watch boxing because she knew who the boxers were. She knew Cooper, Bugner, Bruno because she'd seen them on TV. The casual fan needs to see the fighters on their way up. They need to feel something one way or another. They can either like them (McGuigan) or dislike them (Bugner), either way boxing is a winner.

The missus used to go mental when Benn, Eubank, Watson, Collins fought because she knew them. It meant something. Now she's bored because she doesn't know who they are and she doesn't care for the technicak aspect of the sport. But she'll watch Khan because she knows something about him.

Ezzard wrote:It's the personalities that make sport. And the personalities need air-time.

My Nan would watch boxing because she knew who the boxers were. She knew Cooper, Bugner, Bruno because she'd seen them on TV. The casual fan needs to see the fighters on their way up. They need to feel something one way or another. They can either like them (McGuigan) or dislike them (Bugner), either way boxing is a winner.

The missus used to go mental when Benn, Eubank, Watson, Collins fought because she knew them. It meant something. Now she's bored because she doesn't know who they are and she doesn't care for the technicak aspect of the sport. But she'll watch Khan because she knows something about him.

I agree,and this makes what Ricky Hatton has done even more remarkable.He has boxed exclusively on satelite television and became one of the nations best known and loved stars in ANY sport.We all moan(rightly)about his same old,crap jokes but the guy has really sold himself to the country.Imagine going from scratch(no Olympic medal) to national treasure.It will be hard to repeat

I think that what makes good TV is the element of competition.

World Cup- 10/10 .

Nothing finer. Sheer, knockout sport action at the highest level.

A well matched world title fight come close, too. Thats why Benn V Eubank was so class.

But equally, stuff like Come Dancing, E Factor, etc- these ARE competitions- and importantly- YOU DON'T KNOW WHO WILL WIN. It's interesting, it's keen, and it's exciting. My mum is mad keen to see who gets knocked out on Dancing on Ice every week.

And watching, it, you WANT someone to win- and want to see a loser too.

Bloody Hell, even WWE has a "winner" and twists and turns.

Boxing, espeically Friday fight night, hasn't had much of that lately.

Ezzard wrote:It's the personalities that make sport. And the personalities need air-time.

My Nan would watch boxing because she knew who the boxers were. She knew Cooper, Bugner, Bruno because she'd seen them on TV. The casual fan needs to see the fighters on their way up. They need to feel something one way or another. They can either like them (McGuigan) or dislike them (Bugner), either way boxing is a winner.

The missus used to go mental when Benn, Eubank, Watson, Collins fought because she knew them. It meant something. Now she's bored because she doesn't know who they are and she doesn't care for the technicak aspect of the sport. But she'll watch Khan because she knows something about him.

Very true. In the days when there was Ringside on a Thursday night and Saturday Fight Night, there was much more chance to develop characters and also to catch up on decent undercard fights. It also works well as a decent preview show, thus bringing more viewers to the live show. The Wembley show, Macklin's fight on April 16 and the Audley show could all benefit hugely from a preview show. That means more media coverage, more viewers and more advertisers. Such a preview show would also be very cheap, as it could all be done in house using footage they already own.

It would be great if Sky brought back Ringside show's on Thursday. The only similar thing they do is a Countdown show prior to a Box Office event.

They need to build characters in boxing and this would be a good a way to introduce new stars like say Ronnie Heffron who wouldn't get much coverage on the night of Sky fight night.

I reckon they good viewing figures for the wembley and Liverpool shows because they promoted it well during the final week with features in the Mirror and Times plus other papers on DeGale, Gavin and Mitchell. Whatever people say about Warren he knows how to promote his boxers.

Samuel Brooks wrote:It would be great if Sky brought back Ringside show's on Thursday. The only similar thing they do is a Countdown show prior to a Box Office event.

They need to build characters in boxing and this would be a good a way to introduce new stars like say Ronnie Heffron who wouldn't get much coverage on the night of Sky fight night.

I reckon they good viewing figures for the wembley and Liverpool shows because they promoted it well during the final week with features in the Mirror and Times plus other papers on DeGale, Gavin and Mitchell. Whatever people say about Warren he knows how to promote his boxers.

Hello Fwank.

Not that long ago... it was only Football and the WWF that beat Boxing in the ratings..... I think Advertising has alot to do with it also.

Boxing, when marketed well still has a BIG audience....... you only need to look at some of the ITV ratings when they first dipped their toes back in the sport.

However, when is the last time you saw a Friday night fight advertised? When is the last time you've seen a boxer or fight advertised when Sky advertise whats on Sky sports next month..... ages is the answer.

The ones that get more hype, get more ratings - irrespective of the quality. Haye and Audley's prizefighter..... only 2 that have recieved alot of advertising.

I think Sky have come to the conclusion that boxing will always have a "core" audience... and what they get extra with advertising...... isn't worth the cost. And this is shown by the "lazy" presentation of late.