PBC on NBC hits all-time low for primetime television

Premier Boxing Champions is clearly struggling. The Andrzej Fonfara vs. Joe Smith Jr. card held on primetime NBC this past Saturday was a dud, scoring a 0.8 overnight rating by Sports Media Watch. This number is down 20% from PBC on NBC’s previous telecast in April, which scored a 1.0, and down 39% from the show before that, which scored a 1.3 last December.

The 0.8 rating is the lowest of nine PBC telecasts which have been held on primetime TV by a major broadcast network. Not only that, but the rating ranks among the lowest ever for a sporting event on primetime broadcast television.

Saturday night’s PBC rating was more than doubled by MLB coverage on FOX, which scored a 2.0, and surpassed with a 1.3 rating by ESPN’s O.J.: Made In America finale (which was a pretty damn good mini-series if you ask me).

So whether you blame this poor performance on lackluster matchmaking, the so-called “Mayweather-Pacquiao fallout,” or just a general decline in the interest in boxing, this is clearly a troubling trend for the series. PBC on NBC has seen a decline in each of its six shows since debuting in March 2015, carrying a 2.5 rating.

Without more compelling fights to draw in larger audiences, advertisers for the shows will be increasingly difficult to come by, eventually making this operation completely unsustainable.