[url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/14/itv.television[/url] To be honest all they cared about was Khan. Maybe the bbc will get involved but i doubt it. At least if Khan goes to Setanta he will ge tthe chance to fight in the states.
I just posted about this article in your Sky thread. Its a shame but you are right about ITV and Khan though - has become just a one man show really and unbelievably biased presentation.
The Audley freakshow ended things for the BBC and warren chasing the money will end it for ITV. I think they have a point, they screen and build up fighters the warren comes along and says "thanks for the exposure but now my best fighters, the one's that are the reason people are mainly watching for, are going on satallite as they offer more money. But feel free to build up a few more for me!!" I'd feel pissed off too. Loyalty and principle go out the window when the money goes up.
Be intresting to see what Warren does when he signs Frankie Gavin, of he does well at the games that is, along with others.
I can see ITV's point.. the reality is that the biggest fights are on between 3am - 5am and ppv is necessary to make the money.
//////its a vicious circle and the only way to stop a vicious circle is for someone to make a sacrafice and neither ITV nor Warren love boxing enough to do anything like that. FW is a businessman at the end of the day.
Grew up watching the fights on iTV as a youngster and I imagine like me that coverage got alot of people into boxing in the first place. It would be great if that could continue for younger generations to get into the sport
I hope they do, TK. It was bound to happen really. For some reason I see Warren dumping Setanta at some stage and getting back into bed with Sky.
ITV are a joke as a channel. They will have no football from 2009 either. Thankfully, we now have setanta a channel that cares about the greatest sport in the world. Come on Setanta.:hi: :happy :happy
i have said this over and over. having fights at 2 am to 4am in the morning on warren bills is bound to kill the popularity of the sport. also i have said homegrown talent should stay in the uk if commercially possible. the fewer people that watch boxing the more marginalised it becomes until the talent pool drys up for a few years /less kids go to gyms and then warren will find it very hard to recruit and promote top class talent and will have to import it. think i have gone overboard , see america. anybody in my age group 40 + would have been brought up in an era of american huge strengh in depth, with perhaps 6 or 7 top fighters in every division from lightweight upwards. look at boxing monthly rankings now and they ahve a sprinking of 35 to 40 year olds , a few young stars and not much else. this IMO is because american boxing revolves around ppv as opposed to ABC/CBS/ there equivelent of bbc and itv that used to show american boxing..
When did boxing become pretty much exclusive to the weekend schedules? I remember watching fights mid-week, nowadays you have to stay in at a weekend to watch it, so it shouldn't be that surprising that viewing figures are a fraction of what they once were. If people could tune in on a wednesday night and catch a good domestic fight, maybe they'd be more inclined to take an interest in the sport. Big fights used to be big events for all sports fans, now they're just for the hardcore.
Fact is it is short-termism. The average Joe on the street in the UK hasnt heard of David Haye or Junior Witter. If I were a talented fighter coming up or a newish alphabet champ I'd be happy taking a big pay cut to get my face on normal telly and my name known. In just a few fights the exposure is immense and the payback over a career and after is immesurable. It the difference between having your last fights in football stadiums or sports centres.
frank warren was on talksport earlier, and he rubbised this story. said he has complained to the guardian about the article, made comments about the viewing figures being too low (amir khans last fight pulled in just under 7 mill according to frank), also said he hasnt been involved with a pay per view in years, so thats not a problem. apparently he talked to the guy at itv who said that the article wasnt true to how it was actually said in an interview