ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael wrote Saturday night boxing cards that "went head-to-head" on HBO and Showtime "hurt both of them." Viewership for the two fight cards in Las Vegas last Saturday -- HBO’s tripleheader headlined by Timothy Bradley Jr.-Diego Chaves and Showtime’s quadrupleheader headlined by Amir Khan-Devon Alexander -- were “basically a draw.” While both broadcasts “did OK neither set the world on fire in their respective viewership universe.” Bradley-Chaves averaged 966,000 viewers for the live, first-time airing. Khan-Alexander averaged 762,000 viewers (ESPN.com, 12/17).
FIND YOURSELF A CITY: In Orlando, Paul Tenorio noted MLS expansion club Orlando City SC has entered a “multi-year partnership” with WOFL-Fox and WRBW-MYT for “all English-language broadcasts.” The deal gives the nets “all rights to Orlando City's regular season and playoff games" not aired by MLS’ national TV partners. It was “not immediately clear if Orlando City would be handling production costs for the broadcasts, however the club has listed on-air jobs for television play-by-play and color commentary roles on its official website" (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 12/17).
TAKING A DIP: In Jacksonville, Vito Stellino noted local ratings for Jaguars-Ravens last Sunday “dropped more than” 20% from the previous week. The game produced the “second lowest audience of the year” with an 18.2 local rating. The previous week’s Texans-Jaguars game had a 23.2 rating on WJAX-CBS (JACKSONVILLE.com, 12/17).
