MyNetworkTV signs up with fight league

from broadcasting and cable

MyNetworkTV and FSN Reach Deal With International Fight League
By Caroline Palmer

MyNetworkTV and FSN have created a comprehensive programming alliance
with the International Fight League (IFL), it was announced Tuesday.
According to the deal, IFL bouts will air on a weekly basis on
MyNetworkTV and FSN, and the deal includes pay-per-view events,
video-on-demand product and distribution of IFL digital media across
several platforms.

evwill...

Noteworthy in two aspects...

Steven L....

Well, that's the official admission that their all-telenovela lineup has
flopped.

The IFL, founded by Shamus and Kurt Otto, is the first team-based
professional Mixed Martial Arts league. The League, which consists of
12 teams spread out across the country, holds bouts in an oversized
boxing ring with three, four-minute rounds of fighting. At the end of
the season, the top four teams move onto the semi-finals.

According to sources close to the project regarding the content issue,
the approach to the show is going to similar to that of wrestling, and
be much calmer than similar programs that appear on pay-per-view.
There is also going to be a heavy focus on the information on the
althetes and their background.

William George Ferguson...

'The approach is going to be similar to that of wrestling' and 'be much
calmer than similar programs' don't really seem to go together.

Zombie Elvis...

I can assume that this means that:

* The fights will be "real" and the outcome will not be predetermined.

fred_h_haddad...

I'm curious to see if they put it on Fridays to go head-to-head with

evwill...

That's very doubtful unless The CW moves WWE Smackdown. Pro wrestling

fred_h_haddad...

Exactly. Networks are well-known to compete directly with the
competition. We see comedy vs. comedy. Cop show vs. cop show.
Reality vs. reality. And so on.

and mixed martial arts draw from the same audience pool with the
established WWE figuring to have the advantage over a fledgling fight
league.

Everett W.

the WB/UPN (CW) programming. Also curious if it will actually improve
the ratings (higher than 0.7%) or not.

* Similar rules and format to that of UFC (Ultimate Fighting
Championship) which in its early days was very violent but over years
has added stricter rules to become more like a real sport and less of
a spectacle.
* There will be a heavy emphasis on backstage trash talk but without
the silly characters and storylines which wrestling typically throws
into the mix.
* Few or no babes at ringside.