Our mission at HBO Sports is to elevate the brand. We look for television projects that are high-profile, high-access, and highly ambitious in the stories they seek to tell and the quality of production in telling them. Boxing has been part of our heritage for decades. During that time, the sport has undergone a transformation. It is now widely available on a host of networks and streaming services. There is more boxing than ever being televised and distributed. In some cases, this programming is very good. But from an entertainment point of view, it’s not unique. Going forward in 2019, we will be pivoting away from programming live boxing on HBO. As always, we will remain open to looking at events that fit our programming mix. This could include boxing, just not for the foreseeable future. We’re deeply indebted to the many courageous fighters whose careers we were privileged to cover. There have been hundreds of dedicated and remarkably creative men and women who have delivered the best in television production for HBO’s coverage of boxing and we are so grateful for their contributions. It has been a wonderful journey chronicling the careers and backstories of so many spectacularly talented prizefighters. We are a storytelling platform. The future will see unscripted series, long-form documentary films, reality programming, sports journalism, event specials and more unique standout content from HBO Sports. We are constantly evaluating our programming to determine what resonates with our subscribers. Our audience research clearly shows the type of programming our subscribers embrace. For HBO Sports, it’s programming that viewers can’t find elsewhere. In keeping with this mission, we’ve accelerated our commitment to storytelling. This has produced landmark shows like “Andre the Giant,” which is the most viewed sports documentary ever on HBO; the acclaimed NFL reality franchise “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns,” which delivered double-digit viewership gains from a year ago; “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel,” the gold standard in sports journalism on television; the powerful docu-series “Being Serena” that chronicled the comeback of tennis icon Serena Williams; and the acclaimed unfiltered talk series “The Shop” featuring LeBron James. This fall, HBO Sports will present an edition of “24/7” highlighting the upcoming Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson match play plus engaging documentary films like “Student Athlete” and “Momentum Generation” brought to us by accomplished filmmakers. In 2019, we will have the innovative multi-part documentary presentation “What’s My Name|Muhammad Ali” from director Antoine Fuqua in conjunction with executive producers LeBron James and Maverick Carter of SpringHill Entertainment. Other new ventures will be announced in the weeks ahead as HBO Sports continues to explore new frontiers in sports programming.<doc-sep>HBO’s increasingly detached relationship with boxing culminated Thursday in the premium cable network announcing it will broadcast its final bout next month. The move, following a separation from powerful boxing promoter Top Rank last year and the end of contracts with popular middleweights Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin following their Sept. 15 pay-per-view clash, allows HBO to compete more directly with the streaming services Netflix and Hulu on a wider range of entertainment options. HBO plans on moving more toward storytelling and less on live events. “This decision has been a shift, not a result of where we stand in other places in boxing, but directionally where we feel the direction is in HBO Sports,” said Peter Nelson, HBO Sports’ senior vice president. “We had the fight of the year -- the No. 1 pay-per-view event, eight of the top 10 highest rated premium-cable fights. You could say our vibrancy in the sport is as strong as ever.” Yet, since the departure of Floyd Mayweather Jr. from HBO to rival Showtime in 2013 and the loss of ties to powerful manager Al Haymon’s impressive stable, HBO’s role as the sport’s king broadcaster has sharply waned as competitors have risen. Advertisement Veteran promoter Bob Arum sensed the end and moved his stable last year to ESPN and its streaming service ESPN Plus, and Haymon recently announced a deal that will place 11 fight cards on Fox, with pre- and post-fight shows, starting in 2019. “It’s a shame to see a brand so synonymous with the sport of boxing leave,” said English promoter Eddie Hearn, whose former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs will meet Russia’s Sergiy Derevyanchenko Oct. 27 at the Madison Square Garden theater in HBO’s final card. “Ultimately, they lost their desire to fight on in a marketplace that is going to be ferocious in the next 12 months. If you don’t have the pockets or the appetite in this climate, then you can’t be a major player and I can understand their decision. They have done an amazing job for the sport.” At HBO, audience research revealed declining interest in boxing, Nelson said, including a notably low ratings figure for the Sept. 8 “SuperFly 3” card at the Forum. “We’re proud of our legacy in boxing. The sport is in a better place because of HBO’s presence in it. We have a tremendous heritage to point to in regard to the road map we provided on how to humanize these fighters and their communities … that aspect of storytelling is one we look to continue,” Nelson said. “There’s more ample opportunity for fighters across different platforms than ever before. As a fan of the sport, I think that’s great.” Nelson didn’t slam the door on a future return to boxing if a bout generates widespread appeal among casual sports fans, but in moving toward projects like a new Muhammad Ali documentary, LeBron James’ “The ‘Shop,” and the NFL reality series, “Hard Knocks,” he closed a 43-year live-boxing era that opened with the George Foreman-Joe Frazier 1973 heavyweight fight. He informed his HBO talent of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman, Harold Lederman, Roy Jones Jr. and Andre Ward in a Thursday morning meeting. Advertisement Lampley will continue to work for HBO, saying, “I am motivated and prepared to support storytelling initiatives in the sports department,” while the others are expected to pursue other opportunities. Arum hailed HBO’s unbelievable contribution to boxing,” but called its exit “inevitable.” He said he anticipates that ESPN will stage bouts with other promoters, including Golovkin’s, Tom Loeffler, who could bring his “SuperFly” series to the network. “Our mission is to put the best fights on, whoever the promoter is,” Arum said. With access to 120 million viewers on network television, Fox Sports’ Mark Silverman, president of national networks, said his company “is excited to be investing in boxing and the PBC at this time and we see an extremely bright future.” Advertisement lance.pugmire@latimes.com Twitter: @latimespugmire<doc-sep>From George Foreman's upset of Joe Frazier to Buster Douglas' shocking knockout of Mike Tyson, HBO has broadcast many memorable moments in boxing history. That will all come to an end next month, ending the network's 45 years of covering the sport. "Going forward in 2019, we will be pivoting away from programming live boxing on HBO," according to an HBO statement published by Yahoo. "As always, we will remain open to looking at events that fit our programming mix. This could include boxing, just not for the foreseeable future." The network's rich boxing history — which began with Foreman's knockout of heavyweight champion Frazier in 1973 — will come to an end with a middleweight title bout at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27. “This is not a subjective decision,” Peter Nelson, the executive vice president of HBO Sports, said, according to The New York Times, which was the first to report the news. “Our audience research informs us that boxing is no longer a determinant factor for subscribing to HBO.” More:Alvarez's non-controversial win over Golovkin a bigger victory for boxing While HBO's absence in televising boxing will create a sizable void, other broadcast entities have been more than willing to fill it. Showtime has been televising championship bouts since 1986, emerging as a major player with a 2013 deal it struck with Floyd Mayweather. Last month, the network announced a three-year extension with Premier Boxing Champions, which represents several of the top current boxers. Meanwhile, British boxing promoter Eddie Hearn's company, Matchroom Boxing, recently signed a $1 billion deal to televise pay-per-view bouts over the next eight years. ESPN reached a seven-year deal with promoter Top Rank to televise boxing on its various outlets. And Fox Sports also just signed a deal with PBC.<doc-sep>HBO is leaving the world of professional boxing after 45 years in the business. The premium cable and satellite provider announced that it will stop televising boxing matches, after more than 1,000 fights including some of the most hyped up and lucrative matches the game has ever seen. The cable provider will stop broadcasting the matches at the end of 2018, ending a service that started in 1973 when George Foreman shocked the world by knocking out the reining heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. Recommended Hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno gets HBO special The only remaining boxing match scheduled to be broadcast before the end of the year is a middleweight title fight that will be held on 27 October in Madison Square. “Going forward into 2019, we will be pivoting away from programming live boxing on HBO,” a statement from the company reads. “As always, we will remain open to looking at events that fit our programming mix. This could include boxing, just not for the foreseeable future”. Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Show all 11 1 /11 Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Beric Dondarrion (played by Richard Dormer) Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Cersei and Jaime in the newly decorated map room Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Tyrion and Daenerys have landed in Westeros Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Cersei and Jaime, ruling the Seven Kingdoms Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Davos in Winterfell Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Jon Snow and Sansa in Winterfell Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Tormund Giantsbane (played by Kristofer Hivju) Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Jon Snow (played by Kit Harrington) Helen Sloan/HBO Game of Thrones season 7 - photos from HBO Arya Stark (played by Maisie Williams) Helen Sloan/HBO Peter Nelson, the executive vice president of HBO Sports, told The New York Times that they have made the decision after researching what makes people subscribe to the services — which has offered hit television shows like Game of Thrones, among others. “This is not a subjective decision,” Mr Nelson told that newspaper, which first reported the and of HBO’s boxing programming. “Our audience research informs us that boxing is no longer a determinant factor for subscribing to HBO”. Other television providers are likely to fill the void that HBO is about to leave behind, and other entities have already been looking to sign their places into boxing history. That includes Matchroom Boxing, a company owned by British boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, which recently signed a $1 billion deal for pay-per-view fights over the next eight years. ESPN has has also sought deals, with a seven-year deal with the promoter Top Rank for promotion across outlets.<doc-sep>
Photo : Minas Panagiotakis ( Getty Images ) Starting in 2019, HBO won’t be in the boxing business anymore. That’ll mean fights in the future will be up for grabs by a bevy of competing services. The New York Times reported that HBO Executive Vice President Peter Nelson met with the HBO Boxing production staff today to inform them of the decision. The only person expected to be retained is play-by-play man Jim Lampley. Nelson recently said there wasn’t a significant audience for the sport anymore, at least on HBO. The press release echoed that sentiment in expectedly vague terms: Boxing has been part of our heritage for decades. During that time, the sport has undergone a transformation. It is now widely available on a host of networks and streaming services. There is more boxing than ever being televised and distributed. In some cases, this programming is very good. But from an entertainment point of view, it’s not unique. Going forward in 2019, we will be pivoting away from programming live boxing on HBO. As always, we will remain open to looking at events that fit our programming mix. This could include boxing, just not for the foreseeable future. A slew of competitors, primarily streaming services, will vie for matches in the future . DAZN, owned by Perform Group, costs $9.99 a month and was just introduced to the United States earlier this month. More familiar names, like ESPN’s ESPN+ and Showtime, will also look to host fights, and Fox Sports this month signed a four-year deal with Premier Boxing Champions. For HBO, which broadcast its first fight way back in 1973 (George Foreman TKOing Joe Frazier in the second round; it was only on the ABC rebroadcast of that fight where Howard Cosell would give his famous call), boxing just doesn’t do big business anymore. According to the Times, at its height, big HBO fights could draw 5 million viewers, or a third of the network’s total subscribers. Despite the subscriber base nearly tripling since then, HBO’s most-watched fight in 2018 drew only 1.3 million viewers. “This is not a subjective decision,” Nelson said in a recent interview. “Our audience research informs us that boxing is no longer a determinant factor for subscribing to HBO.” HBO’s final televised fight will be Daniel Jacobs vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko on Oct. 27. [NYT]