How is the Contender doing in the ratings and is there a possibility of a second season? I can't believe that there are 400 plus postings for other other shows on this forum (American Idol, Amazing Race...) and only 144 topics for the Contender. Where are all the fight fans!

• RE: Contender Ratings,VegasFightWriter, 06:19 PM, 04-26-05
• RE: Contender Ratings,ARnutz, 06:28 PM, 04-26-05
• RE: Contender Ratings,PhoenixMons, 06:34 PM, 04-26-05
  • RE: Contender Ratings,ARnutz, 06:40 PM, 04-26-05
• RE: Contender Ratings,slk188, 01:49 AM, 05-16-05
  • RE: Contender Ratings,Lazt Boy Scout, 03:18 AM, 05-16-05
    • RE: Contender Ratings,eeler1, 04:55 PM, 05-16-05
      • $2 million reasons,AyaK, 05:12 PM, 05-16-05
        • RE: $2 million reasons,SLW3, 08:46 PM, 05-16-05
        • RE: $2 million reasons,RealityMom, 12:01 PM, 05-17-05
• NBC,PagongRatEater, 00:09 AM, 05-17-05
  • RE: NBC,slk188, 00:31 AM, 05-17-05
  • RE: NBC,Captain_Savem, 05:49 PM, 05-17-05
• RE: Contender Ratings,Bebo, 08:00 AM, 05-17-05
  • RE: Contender Ratings,PagongRatEater, 10:50 AM, 05-17-05
    • RE: Contender Ratings,pollardsvision, 01:38 PM, 05-17-05
• RE: Contender Ratings,ladro, 11:24 PM, 05-17-05

There's an interview with Tommy Galagher on FightNews today, in whih he says there is a plan to begin filming a second season in July. Here's the link. http://www.fightnews.com/richardson134.htm

Whether that is still happening, given the fact that ratings are not exactly Earth-shattering, I don't know. The first show on Sunday pulled a 2.5 rating/7 share (i.e. it as watched by 5.5 million households), while the second one improved to 3.3/7 (6.4 million households).

All of those other shows have lots of postings in the forums because they have been around for several seasons. Those topics span 4 seasons for AI and 7 seasons for AR (not to mention all of the threads that are now archived).

If this show lasts that long, it will have many postings too. 144 topics is a lot considering this show has not even finished it's first season.

Welocme to the boards!

'nutz: Proud member of the inoffensive OT Triumvirate... and Shroomhater! - shroom go boom!

Well, for one, The Contender is a new show. American Idol and TAR (The Amazing Race) are tried and true and have been around for years.

I hope The Contender catches on with the same mass appeal that these other shows have, but I doubt that it will. By in large, boxing is still watched mostly by men (I'm a woman, but I can count on one hand the number of women I know who enjoy boxing and most of my female friends are sports fans in general), so you lose a big chunk of the viewing population right there. Then, a lot of more 'serious' boxing fans don't like the preface of the show and feel that it's too 'game show' like and not enough like the real world of boxing. I actually don't like the way the show is edited (especially hate the slow-mo stuff and dramatic musical accompaniment during the last round of the fight, but that's just me) on the whole, but I like that it's exposing boxing to the general public and also showing the 'real lives' (inasmuch as that's possible without it being a documentary - but then who would watch other than boxing fans?) of boxers. I think 144 topics is pretty darn good for a show that is in its first season.

Got blog?

Ha ha! Brilliant minds think alike PM!

Funny, we must've been typing at about the same time.

'nutz: Proud member of the inoffensive OT Triumvirate... and Shroomhater! - shroom go boom!

LAST EDITED ON 05-16-05 AT 11:33 AM (EST)

You know what the Contender is the best reality TV show because unlike Survivor, Amazing race ect...this is really reality TV. This is what they do with their lives even when the show is over and the wins and losses count towards your career record.
If the ratinga are low it is because boxing fans aren't usually reality tv fans and reality tv fans aren't boxing fans. Also I bet more Women watch reality TV then Men so a show one with boxing is tough to get the Women to watch.
Does anyone know what the rating are?

No, there isn't going to be a second season. Sad, I know.

I emailed NBC and told them I think not renewing stinks. It would be different if they had anything decent to replace it with, but my guess is it will be a stupid ripoff from a popular show on some other network. Might as well let this one limp along as replace it with some other junk. Who knows, it might grow?

When NBC bought The Contender last year, it paid $2 million per episode -- the highest price ever for a reality-competition show.

If the price were more reasonable, the show might stand a chance of renewal, despite its dismal ratings. But it isn't.

They should have put it on mondays after fear factor. It would have done great. Idiots!! Its like they wanted it to fail.

Stacey

Does anyone know how much of the $2 million goes to Sly and Sugar Ray? I'm sure that they're a big part of the cost and I really don't think having celebrities adds much to the show. I think that this show could appeal to women if they realized how much heart this show has. I'm not a boxing fan but I watched an episode and I started to care about the boxers. Including the families really shows us how much they have to lose and how much winning might better their lives. Each of their stories is like an "up close and personal" segment on the Olympics. I think that the show could have reached a much bigger audience if the publicity put more emphasis on these personal aspects.

I'd like to second the sentiment that NBC did about all that they could to make this program fail - carppy time slot, moving it around for the first two episodes, minimal promotion, start and stop deadlines on the premier date. Would it have hurt to try to use The Apprentice as a springboard into the huge RTV audience? Is it any wonder that in an era where RTV makes up a huge segment of potential programming that NBC has become the fourth network specifically because of their inability to target that audience?

Personally, this has become the show that I look forward to the most on television - more than TAR or Survivor. This is quality television with compelling characters, great storytelling and superb production value. Is it the shows fault that it got dropped into a black hole of Sunday night television?

I can understand that it was an expense show to purchase - but I'll bet that can be renogiated. I certainly understand that it all boils down to ratings. But when I look at the quality of this program you just have to wonder - are the poor ratings the fault of the show or the fault of the network?

You are so right. The network should be ashamed of themsleves
This show is the best reality TV show ever.
What exactly are the ratings anyways?

I agree PRE. It's definitely the networks fault. I mean, generally speaking, boxing isn't a sport that women gravitate towards. So tell me why would you put a boxing show in the same time slot opposite one of the most watched programs by women on television? Absolutely mind boggling.

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