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Article: At 20, HBO boxing fights to find identity. (Home Box Office Inc.)
- Article from:
- Multichannel News
- Article date:
- November 30, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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NEW YORK -- Boxing helped put Home Box Office on the map, but entering its 20th year in the fight business, the premium service is still struggling with how to deal with the upstart pay-per-view.
"The big boxing events have now shifted from pay-TV and closed-circuit to PPV," said John Clark, senior vice president of marketing and programming for Crown Media Inc.
Due to poor buy-rates, HBO's efforts to exploit PPV in the form of monthly TVKO fight cards have been scaled back. Fighters who used to garner strong ratings on HBO have a negligible draw when people are asked to pay $20 a throw.
Ironically, HBO has showcased a number of up-and-coming fighters ...