The president of Showtime’s parent company, Paramount Global, Chris McCarthy, has dropped devastating news in a memo that went public recently and announced that Showtime would no longer be broadcasting sports, which will also mean that boxing will no longer be featured on the network.
This news comes several weeks after rumors first arrived of Showtime shelving boxing, and nearly a year after it had been hinted that boxing would no longer play a role at Showtime. These changes are likely a result of Showtime’s merger/acquisition by with Paramount Global, who seem to not be interested in sports in the slightest and may be more so looking to capitalize on the production of mostly movies and series.
Last year, the dissolution of sports was certainly considered a possibility when Showtime and Paramount merger had been announced, and after Paramount’s CEO had already hinted at making cuts in several programs that had been ongoing.
This decision will put an end to more than three decades worth of broadcasting boxing fights by Showtime and draws comparisons to the cable network HBO canceling their boxing programs roughly five years ago after they too had spent many decades showcasing boxing matches.
Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), who has been affiliated with Showtime since 2018, will now be looking for a new network to broadcast their fights on.
The merger between Showtime and Paramount may have played an imminent role in Showtime’s departure from boxing as it became a subsidiary of Paramount during the merger. Paramount+, Paramount’s streaming service, will apparently adopt many of Showtime’s programs, but sports will apparently not play a role for the company in the future.
However, this is still subject to change in the near future depending on how the business model of Paramount pans out. What is clear, however, is that boxing has suffered a similar blow as it did when HBO removed boxing from its programming. Coincidentally, both Showtime and HBO operate as cable networks that offer a wide range of different programs that viewers can enjoy.
Interestingly, the current actors’ and writers’ strike in the United States, known as the SAG-AFTRA strike, which is a labor union governing media professionals such as screenwriters and actors, puts Paramount Global in a tough spot. The media conglomerate has seemingly decided to focus more on television and movie programs, even though the SAG-AFTRA strike has prevented the production of many television shows and movies across all networks.
November 25th will herald the last boxing show to be featured on Showtime, with super middleweights David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade set to headline a fight card that has now been confirmed to be the final boxing show to be broadcasted on the network.
More significantly, the decision virtually means the last couple of megafights that have been produced and acquired a lot of success and attention, including Spence Jr. vs. Crawford and Davis vs. Garcia, has apparently not convinced Paramount Global of boxing’s relevance, even though the sport as a whole has benefited from the showcasing of these highly-anticipated and important fights.
Time will tell whether this decision will prove to have been the right one for Paramount as the boxing industry shifts again, with there being plenty of other networks who may look upon these developments and consider boxing as an intriguing avenue of sports to explore.
