CBS to Televise Live.....

Cap · 02-29-2008, 11:56 AM

....MMA events. Read a blurb in the paper today that CBS will televise two hour live specials four times a year on Saturday Nights.

Cap

zyberianwarrior · 02-29-2008, 02:56 PM

writers strike only reason why.....MMA is too viloent for broadcast tv. FCC will be raising hell on this soon enough.

Calis · 02-29-2008, 03:05 PM

Why would they wait until the strike was over to do this then? I'm sure it'll be a decent amount of time before the first one is televised anyway so I don't think that's the reason. I think it might've been the reason this started, because the talks first started with the UFC after the strike was starting to hurt, but that fell through and there'd been nothing since.

The real reason I think is because CBS has been known as the station for senior citizens for years and years. It is far and away the worst of the national networks at bringing in a younger audience. I'm really shocked to see them addressing this by going to MMA, while I'm happy to see it getting exposure I think there will be a pretty big backlash against this. Curious to see how CBS deals with it.

I'm also not sure about Elite XC being the company to bring MMA to a national audience. It's a lower tier organization that has very very few legit contenders. Now maybe it can bring in some big names with this deal, but that remains to be seen.

I'm interested in seeing how this pans out. Bring it on I say, it's time we got some combat sports back on national television.

EDIT: Actually as I look now the talks with the UFC and national networks predated the strike, they just couldn't come to an agreement. It's definitely something that's been in the works for quite some time.

Syd Thrift · 02-29-2008, 03:12 PM

Actually, it's right now when the writers are actually doing the writing that the strike is really going to be eating into what the networks have to offer. It takes some time to write good scripts, and even a pretty good amount of time to write bad ones. When the writers struck, you'll notice that most shows had several episodes in the can and another chunk of the strike took place during the midseason hiatus period where you get little else but re-runs anyway. The problem is, that hiatus period is when the scriptwriters get together to write new stuff. Now they're basically working back from the latter first stage/hiatus point and many probably won't have finished copy for weeks. Then it's got to be rehearsed and filmed, which takes a lot longer than 23 minutes.

So it's quite apropos that CBS is bringing in a live sporting event, even one that probably won't be that popular and that could get them in dutch with the FCC. As noted in another thread, it's really hard for them to sign this kind of deal with "boxing" because there is no "boxing" the way there is MMA or Tapout.

mh2365 · 02-29-2008, 03:23 PM

I would imagine it would be shown at 11 pm or later

Calis · 02-29-2008, 03:29 PM

Right, most of the big time shows have already been off the air for a couple months though, they've basically just been shoving out pilots and shows they were planning to air later. They've been hurting for a while now.

I'm just saying this isn't some kneejerk reaction to the writer's strike, I think this is a legitimate shot they are taking at reaching a younger audience and would've happened regardless of the strike. They're showing it on Saturday night anyway, so it's not like they're forcing out some quality programming..there is NOTHING on Saturday nights. Even if it did do well it'd still be terrible overall, that's a tough time.

I don't see it doing well though, unless they can bring in some big name guys and really hype something up, but I think they'll try and keep it lowkey like you mentioned to try and lessen the uproar.

Calis · 02-29-2008, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mh2365

I would imagine it would be shown at 11 pm or later

From reading Yahoo sports due to affiliate deals with news and such it'd have to be pre-11. They've also said several places that it was a primetime so it can't be later.

"They haven’t agreed to a time slot, although with affiliate news commitments, it would have to be either 8-10 p.m. or 9-11 p.m. The broadcast team hasn’t been agreed to, but both sides will have input into the decision. Shaw said that once the date and the venue are finalized, they would begin finalizing the matches."

I think the 9-11 is a lot more likely than 8-10.

mh2365 · 02-29-2008, 03:34 PM

Interesting ... hopefully it works ... IMO if it works then they may not be so afraid to put boxing back on the air.

Although boxing costs considerably more to put on than an MMA event.

Calis · 02-29-2008, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mh2365

Interesting ... hopefully it works ... IMO if it works then they may not be so afraid to put boxing back on the air.

Although boxing costs considerably more to put on than an MMA event.

Yeah who knows, I don't see how it's a bad deal for someone who's not a fan of MMA. It's not ruining other programming, and I think it does open doors for boxing.

Is Garry Shaw still in the boxing promotion business? I don't know if he's solely focused on Elite XC now or not. (He's running that show for anyone who didn't know), but maybe he could do some work towards getting boxing on there. Guy seems like a complete tool, but then again he's a promoter so I guess that's par for the course.

mh2365 · 02-29-2008, 03:50 PM

Yeah I don't care for MMA at all but I don't care that it is on. Can't hurt boxing IMO. Worst thing it does is over power boxing in the ratings and force boxing to make better matchups, which in some respect it did last year.

02-29-2008, 11:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
Cap Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Large Province in God's Country Posts: 4,004	CBS to Televise Live..... ....MMA events. Read a blurb in the paper today that CBS will televise two hour live specials four times a year on Saturday Nights. Cap __________________ "...There were Giants in Those Days.."

02-29-2008, 03:05 PM	#3 (permalink)
Calis Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 47	Why would they wait until the strike was over to do this then? I'm sure it'll be a decent amount of time before the first one is televised anyway so I don't think that's the reason. I think it might've been the reason this started, because the talks first started with the UFC after the strike was starting to hurt, but that fell through and there'd been nothing since. The real reason I think is because CBS has been known as the station for senior citizens for years and years. It is far and away the worst of the national networks at bringing in a younger audience. I'm really shocked to see them addressing this by going to MMA, while I'm happy to see it getting exposure I think there will be a pretty big backlash against this. Curious to see how CBS deals with it. I'm also not sure about Elite XC being the company to bring MMA to a national audience. It's a lower tier organization that has very very few legit contenders. Now maybe it can bring in some big names with this deal, but that remains to be seen. I'm interested in seeing how this pans out. Bring it on I say, it's time we got some combat sports back on national television. EDIT: Actually as I look now the talks with the UFC and national networks predated the strike, they just couldn't come to an agreement. It's definitely something that's been in the works for quite some time. Last edited by Calis : 02-29-2008 at 03:10 PM.

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02-29-2008, 02:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
zyberianwarrior Minors (Single A) Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 85	writers strike only reason why.....MMA is too viloent for broadcast tv. FCC will be raising hell on this soon enough.

02-29-2008, 03:12 PM	#4 (permalink)
Syd Thrift Banned Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 3,113	Actually, it's right now when the writers are actually doing the writing that the strike is really going to be eating into what the networks have to offer. It takes some time to write good scripts, and even a pretty good amount of time to write bad ones. When the writers struck, you'll notice that most shows had several episodes in the can and another chunk of the strike took place during the midseason hiatus period where you get little else but re-runs anyway. The problem is, that hiatus period is when the scriptwriters get together to write new stuff. Now they're basically working back from the latter first stage/hiatus point and many probably won't have finished copy for weeks. Then it's got to be rehearsed and filmed, which takes a lot longer than 23 minutes. So it's quite apropos that CBS is bringing in a live sporting event, even one that probably won't be that popular and that could get them in dutch with the FCC. As noted in another thread, it's really hard for them to sign this kind of deal with "boxing" because there is no "boxing" the way there is MMA or Tapout.

02-29-2008, 03:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
mh2365 Banned Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: louisville Posts: 14,963 Warnings: 2	I would imagine it would be shown at 11 pm or later

02-29-2008, 03:29 PM	#6 (permalink)
Calis Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 47	Right, most of the big time shows have already been off the air for a couple months though, they've basically just been shoving out pilots and shows they were planning to air later. They've been hurting for a while now. I'm just saying this isn't some kneejerk reaction to the writer's strike, I think this is a legitimate shot they are taking at reaching a younger audience and would've happened regardless of the strike. They're showing it on Saturday night anyway, so it's not like they're forcing out some quality programming..there is NOTHING on Saturday nights. Even if it did do well it'd still be terrible overall, that's a tough time. I don't see it doing well though, unless they can bring in some big name guys and really hype something up, but I think they'll try and keep it lowkey like you mentioned to try and lessen the uproar.

02-29-2008, 03:34 PM	#8 (permalink)
mh2365 Banned Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: louisville Posts: 14,963 Warnings: 2	Interesting ... hopefully it works ... IMO if it works then they may not be so afraid to put boxing back on the air. Although boxing costs considerably more to put on than an MMA event.

02-29-2008, 03:50 PM	#10 (permalink)
mh2365 Banned Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: louisville Posts: 14,963 Warnings: 2	Yeah I don't care for MMA at all but I don't care that it is on. Can't hurt boxing IMO. Worst thing it does is over power boxing in the ratings and force boxing to make better matchups, which in some respect it did last year.