'PBC On ESPN' Boxing Card Draws Nearly 800,000 Viewers

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ESPN’s inaugural Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) fight card Saturday night drew nearly 800,000 viewers, the network said Tuesday.

The July 11 event, headlined by the Keith Thurman-Luis Collazo welterweight championship bout, was the first event as part of a multi-year deal between ESPN and boxing promoter Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Championship series. The 800,000 viewers was up 110% over the 381,000 viewers generated by the network’s 2015 Friday Night Fights telecasts, said ESPN.

The main event bout, in which Thurman won in an eight round stoppage, averaged nearly 1 million viewers. The next PBC On ESPN telecast will take place Aug. 1 with the Danny Garcia-Paulie Malignaggi fight.  

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.