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HBO and Showtime are coming together in an unprecedented
joint production of the US heavyweight championship on 8 June
between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.
The pay-per-view event is being shared by bosses AOL Time
Warner and Viacom with the fight promotions giving equal weightage
to logos of both networks. The telecast itself will be non-branded.
The nets, say reports, have declined to specify an ad budget.
The bout has already reaped a rich harvest for the two networks
with the telecast costing an all-time boxing pay-per-view
high of $ 54.95, the reports add. Experts, say reports, expect
the fight to break the $100 million sales record set by the
Tyson-Evander Holyfield fight in 1997. This time round, the
stakes are higher. It's a fight the public has hungered for,
with Lewis having twice lost his title and Tyson's legal problems
delaying the event.
The networks say they will share the pickings 50-50, except
the loser's network gets $3 million extra to cover up for
the fact that the winner's network will later run the bout.
Analysts however, do not expect the camaraderie between the
networks to last long. Four times in the last six weeks, HBO
and Showtime counter-programmed each other's boxing shows,
with fans having to keep shifting channels. The bosses on
both networks however realised that a compromise would have
to be worked out this time when Lewis announced that his legacy
as the best fighter of his era would not be complete without
beating Tyson. Lewis is contractually obligated to fight on
HBO, while Tyson has a similar arrangement with Showtime.
Neither side has so far been willing to let its fighter appear
on the rival network.
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