When I began my working career years ago, the owner of the company was well known for sharing the Yiddish saying, “A fish stinks from the head, not from the tail,” with management employees who had problems in their area of responsibility. The message was clear and remains with me today – Don’t blame your people for following your failed policies. I mention this because it reminds me of the situation with HBO in their apparent decision to fire Larry Merchant, or not to renew his contract, if you prefer, after 29 years of loyal service.
Corporations have so many devious ways to get rid of people that they rarely have to mutter the words, “You’re fired.” I remember a colleague who was told after 25 years in management that he “might be in the wrong line of work.” Ditto with Larry – throwing out insulting and degrading offers that can only be interpreted as a demotion is not negotiating – it’s hoping you walk away. Then if you don’t, they simply fail to renew your contract that runs out in June and cite “contractual differences.” Apparently, dignity is often too high of a price to offer when you’re in need of a scapegoat.
HBO was unquestionably the premier boxing network for over three decades. Over the years they have boasted the best talent, the highest ratings, and solid pay-per-view success. Fans just assumed that a fight on HBO was worth watching. But slowly, a steady decline, barely perceptible at first, set in to “The Heart and Soul of Boxing.”
The turning point, in retrospect, seems to be that long term Roy Jones Jr. contract. Jones and his Square Ring deal was an embarrassment for the Time-Warner cable giant because Jones didn’t want competitive fights. That caused the first rumblings of discontent. Then there was a parade to follow of HBO house fighters who faced increasingly soft competition as HBO concentrated on building stars instead of programming good fights.
As the years passed, HBO’s boxing budget became half of what it was at the turn of the millennium. The stars that HBO nurtured, or more accurately, promoted, wanted to make even more money by being on PPV. By my count there were 10 such broadcasts last year. HBO may not have much to risk financially in a PPV event, but there is little return for them as well. So the PPV fights were shown largely to satisfy the pockets of their stars and the promoters.
Typically on a PPV card a fighter is seen by fewer viewers than on HBO World Championship Boxing or Boxing After Dark, which is bad for a sport that is seeking a rebirth of interest in the United States. But evolving over time, the biggest attractions could only be seen on PPV because those fighters no longer had any use for the mere licensing fee paid to broadcast fights to subscribers.
HBO President of Sports, Ross Greenburg, has taken a considerable amount of heat for the demise of their boxing programming in recent years, particularly in comparison to the success of his predecessor, Seth Abraham. But in fairness to Mr. Greenburg, it’s possible that the climate has changed. Abraham operated not only with a larger budget, but with considerable support for boxing from the HBO hierarchy according to an informed source. One wonders if Greenburg enjoys that same amount of support from current HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht.
So when you hear the rumors that the UFC is coming to HBO despite Greenburg’s objections and 33 year old Max Kellerman is replacing 76 year old Larry Merchant, you can’t help but think that the reason is demographics at best, and age discrimination at worst. You also wonder if Greenburg, who hired Merchant in 1978 has the juice he once had.
You also wonder – why did Greenburg pick Merchant as the sacrificial lamb, given their 29 year history? Why not Jim Lampley? It’s simple. Lampley is signed through 2011.
Yes, the times are a changing. In 1990, HBO stood behind Merchant when Don King and Mike Tyson wanted to force him out, losing Tyson in the process. In 1997, they backed him again in a dispute with Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum. Today, after a series of poorly matched fights and falling ratings, it appears that Merchant is about to be the fall guy, his biggest crime apparently being that he was unafraid to call a terrible fight just what it is.
It is that same refusal to be intimidated that placed his job in jeopardy that separates Merchant from most commentators. He saw the flaws in the HBO system and refused to accept them. If he sees failings in the politics of boxing, he stands unafraid to address them eloquently, with honesty and insight. Whatever his detractors may offer – Larry is cranky, he’s outspoken, whatever – he maintains the same persona the he had before the ratings fell.
Ratings don’t drop because commentators get older. If that’s the case, explain the popularity of “60 Minutes.” It’s insulting to have them think that we tune in to a sports event to hear the announcers. Ratings drop because the public is not getting what it wants, in this case good fights.
HBO seems to be welcoming in the MTV generation with its promotion of Max Kellerman. Maybe it’s me, turned off for life after seeing an episode of “I, Max.” But as far as I can see there isn’t anything in Kellerman’s past to indicate that he is up to the task of replacing the legendary Merchant. He’s been somewhat short of average on BAD, and it’s almost as if he’s being set up for failure. Myself, I’d rather be the guy that replaced the guy that replaced Larry Merchant than I would want to be the guy that stepped directly into his shoes with very little experience.
Kellerman’s herky-jerky movements perfectly match his wandering comments as he has worked to get his footing on BAD. Is he even capable of critical, objective analysis? Is he going to drive Manny Steward crazy? In fairness, he has had the albatross of working with Fran Charles, (until Bob Papa replaced Charles last month), and Lennox Lewis to form arguably the worst boxing announcing trio in television history.
I think it is safe to say that Max won’t be enjoying a 29 year tenure at HBO. No one else will either – it’s a very shallow talent pool and even if Merchant has lost something off his fast ball, as has been suggested, he would still be head and shoulders over everyone else in his role, with the possible exception of Teddy Atlas.
So much has been made of boxing being reduced to a niche sport, yet 100,000 stood by to see Ruslan Chagaev after his victory over Nikolai Valuev. Kassim Ouma was mobbed in Uganda. The Ugandan Ambassador came to see Sam Peter beat James Toney in their second fight. Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton are revered in England. Manny Pacquiao carries the hopes of a nation of Filipinos on his back. Mikkel Kessler is King in Denmark. You have Eric Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera at odds for years basically on the issue of who is most worthy to assume the God-like status of Julio Cesar Chavez. Oscar De La Hoya is literally an industry in himself. The Eastern-Bloc is suddenly a hotbed of boxing. French and Italian boxing is strongly supported.
Internationally, boxing is healthy. The response to De La Hoya-Mayweather Jr. shows that the potential is still here in the U.S. Showtime consistently outperforms HBO in putting on good fights with half the budget. Yet HBO throws money at their elite fighters to draw crowds of 5,000-8,000. According to a Showtime source, promoters make a deal, along with the fighters, and present the matchup to the network, where it might be accepted or rejected. No surprises there. No fighters under contract to keep happy. HBO, on the other hand, gives dates to promoters without even knowing who the fighters will be. Although they ultimately approve or sign off the card, it seems apparent that promoters know how far to push the envelope.
Meanwhile MMA fighters accept $200,000 to headline sold out shows that deliver 500,000 PPV buys. No wonder then that HBO wanted the UFC. UFC president Dana White has said that the HBO shows will feature high echelon performers, but I didn’t hear anything about PPV quality. So look out.
HBO has always been the network on the cutting edge in terms of programming. Shows like The Sopranos, Big Love, Sex and the City, their original movies, documentaries and specials are always the best entertainment on television because they dare to be better. They’re about to make a terrible mistake with Larry Merchant’s dismissal, which is a shame because he might be 76 but he is definitely cutting edge.