Hatton Confirms It's Primetime For Comeback

Hatton Confirms Primetime as UK broadcaster for
comeback fight against Senchenko

What: Hatton vs. Senchenko
When: From 7pm, 24th November 2012
Where: Manchester Arena
Watch: Exclusively on Primetime, Channel 498 on Sky, Virgin on Demand and Primetime Website (click here)

Hatton Promotions have today confirmed that Primetime will be the exclusive live UK broadcaster for Ricky Hatton’s epic comeback fight against Vyacheslav Senchenko. The pay-per-view broadcaster will broadcast the headline fight as well as the full undercard on channel 498 on Sky, Virgin on Demand and streamed live via their website www.primetimeboxing.co.uk.

When Hatton retired last year it was with a record of 45 wins and only two defeats. After his defeat of Tszyu in 2005, Hatton began to make a mark on the world boxing scene. He went on to become a world champion in two weight divisions and garnered a massive international fan base, making him one of the biggest British fighters of all time.

His defeat against Manny Pacquiao in May 2009 not only knocked Hatton off his feet, but was a massive blow to his self-esteem and identity.

The 24th November fight against Senchenko promises to lay some demons to rest and be marked as one of the greatest comebacks in boxing history. The ‘Hitman’ himself has stressed the personal importance of returning to the ring not just to have a comeback but to ‘redeem himself’ to his family and fans.

"I want British boxing to be proud of me again," Hatton professed. "The only way to convince everyone I'm back is by flattening someone on 24th November."

Since its launch in 2009 Primetime has offered viewers a host of premium boxing events to British audiences. Over the last three years the channel has been proud to show some of the world’s greatest fighters, from British champions Carl Froch and Amir Khan to international heavy hitters Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

For the Hatton vs. Senchenko fight, Primetime will also be providing the world feed as well as the pay-per-view for viewers in the UK and Ireland.

“To be offered this opportunity, to broadcast Hatton vs. Senchenko, is a huge deal for us.” said Director of programming Chris Ratcliff.

“This could be the start of a comeback tale of Hollywood proportions! We will support Ricky and his team all the way and wish all the best for him on 24th November.”


Ricky Hatton vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko will be shown live on Primetime, Channel 498 on Sky and Virgin-On-Demand, on Saturday 24th November for only £14.95. To order call 0871 200 4444 or go online to Primetime Website (click here)

Well that's that decision made...

Won't be paying £15 for his comeback fight, especially on the Poopie that is Primetime.

Senchenko isn't a PPV worthy opponent and Ricky's missed a trick here by not going on terrestrial and taking less money for greater exposure.

He's setup for life, if he's coming back for a few fights he could've taken the hit on this one and given both boxing and his stable of fighters a massive boost.

Really disappointed and won't be watching.

rob-glos wrote:Well that's that decision made...

Won't be paying £15 for his comeback fight, especially on the Poopie that is Primetime.

Senchenko isn't a PPV worthy opponent and Ricky's missed a trick here by not going on terrestrial and taking less money for greater exposure.

He's setup for life, if he's coming back for a few fights he could've taken the hit on this one and given both boxing and his stable of fighters a massive boost.

Really disappointed and won't be watching.

I agree and wont be paying for this!

For all we know, he's got nothing left and the fight will be poor anyway.

All the best Ricky, but my £15 will remain in my wallet!

Pretty disappointing really. I'm not really interested in Ricky's comeback and don't see the point in or believe it will end well for him but I would have watched it if it was free to see if he had anything left or could prove me wrong

I'm in no means one of these people that are dead against PPV. Some fights are PPV worthy and some are not. This one clearly isn't. For a so called "man of the people" its a bit disappointing that hes chosen to put this fight on PPV against a fairly average opponent.

"I want British boxing to be proud of me again," Hatton professed. "The only way to convince everyone I'm back is by flattening someone on 24th November." Yeah sure........ Again nothing against Primetime or PPV in general (if its a fight worthy of it) This just isn't.

Undercard

Martin Murray v TBA
12x3 Middleweight Title

Scott Quigg v Rendell Munroe
12x3 WBA Interim World Title S-Bantamweight

Serghey Rabchenko v Cedric Vitu
12x3 EBU L-Middleweight Title

Gary Buckland v Stephen Foster Jr
12x3 British S-Featherweight Title

Adam Ethes v TBA
8x3 Middleweight

Jazza Dickens v TBA
S-Bantamweight

Scott Jenkins v TBA
6x3 Lightweight

What time is the fight?

seanmichaels wrote:What time is the fight?

Show will start at 7pm and main event ring walks will be 10pm

rob-glos wrote:

Senchenko isn't a PPV worthy opponent and Ricky's missed a trick here by not going on terrestrial and taking less money for greater exposure.

Assuming terrestrial were interested, though? In the current economic climate, I doubt any executive would have either the appetite or financial backing to head back into boxing, certainly not at ITV/BBC, Ricky Hatton or not. And who can blame them, it's hardly a guaranteed product is it?

Channel 5 have probably got a very limited boxing budget, and already have commitments on that front so that would almost certainly rule them out. You could argue he could have looked to get back in at Sky, but he is probably looking out for the rest of his stable and that might not have been applicable in this instance. Sky isn't free to air anyway.

I don't think it is fair to just say Ricky has missed a trick not being on terrestrial, as I doubt he had much choice or any options there.

But, having said that, I agree with the general sentiment. It is never a PPV fight, the channel was very poor last time I used it and I certainly won't be watching this 'epic' comeback.

Primetime wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:What time is the fight?

Show will start at 7pm and main event ring walks will be 10pm

Cool, thanks. Is it being held at Wembley Arena?

seanmichaels wrote:Cool, thanks. Is it being held at Wembley Arena?

No, manchester arena

Primetime wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:Cool, thanks. Is it being held at Wembley Arena?

No, manchester arena

Oh, I'd heard that him and his brother were fighting in London next. Who else is on the undercard other than Matthew Hatton?

seanmichaels wrote:

Primetime wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:Cool, thanks. Is it being held at Wembley Arena?

No, manchester arena

Oh, I'd heard that him and his brother were fighting in London next. Who else is on the undercard other than Matthew Hatton?

scroll up, undercard has been posted above

This is irritating, although I believe Hatton to be one of the most over rated boxers to come from these shores, he's a thoroughly nice bloke and I hoped this was going to be a good comeback - his TV viewing figures will be dire.

Primetime don't offer coverage even close to being worth £15 and to be honest, £15 covers a month of movies for my little girl, why would I spend it on one event?

Primetime, if you want to reach out to fans, make this event about £4. You'll get an incredible amount of people buying it then.

Another shame is that the Quigg vs Munroe fight will be on the undercard away from the viewing public, and it was heating up nicely imo before the cut stopped it

This fight is never PPV worthy and will do awful figures despite hattons large following

That's why I don't get why a Terrestrial channel won't want to pick up a hatton fight. To me, he a Goldmine for a terrestrial channel an assuming that he beats senchenko you would assume they would hae rights to his other potential fights.

If Fury against nobodies with a weak undercard can get millions of viewers, hatton would do huge numbers. If he beats senchenko, him vs malignaggi for a world title will do bigger numbers, then a domestic clash with either khan or brook will be huge for the sport of boxing.

The only problem I see is that X Factor usually starts around the time hatton would fight and that I think Jonathan Ross is after which means the card won't start untill 11ish

WHU_Champo_League_in_7Yrs wrote:Another shame is that the Quigg vs Munroe fight will be on the undercard away from the viewing public, and it was heating up nicely imo before the cut stopped it

This fight is never PPV worthy and will do awful figures despite hattons large following

That's why I don't get why a Terrestrial channel won't want to pick up a hatton fight. To me, he a Goldmine for a terrestrial channel an assuming that he beats senchenko you would assume they would hae rights to his other potential fights.

If Fury against nobodies with a weak undercard can get millions of viewers, hatton would do huge numbers. If he beats senchenko, him vs malignaggi for a world title will do bigger numbers, then a domestic clash with either khan or brook will be huge for the sport of boxing.

The only problem I see is that X Factor usually starts around the time hatton would fight and that I think Jonathan Ross is after which means the card won't start untill 11ish

It depends on what terrestrial TV are willing to pay and as you say, scheduling. For talented up and comers, terrestrial TV is the best route. That way they get their name out there. But will terrestrial TV risk it a la Audley?

I took you off my foe list Az. Usually you're alright to debate with.

Anyway - Audley Harrison is one thing, Hatton is quite another. like I said, I don't think he's as good as people give him credit for but he's a great guy and has a huge following already. Audley was just a gold medallist when he signed for the Beeb, not much was known about him. Everyone knows Ricky.

Something tells me with all the coverage it seems to have got on Sky Sports about his comeback I would imagine a fair few will still tune in to see him despite the £15. He was probably the last big draw for UK fans on PPV aside from Haye for the last few years and I think it will draw the casuals back out of the woodwork because its Hatton.

ITV/BBC sporting producer: "I have a great idea, lets broadcast the Ricky Hatton comeback"?

ITV/BBC Sports Director: "We are in the middle of a brutal recession, we have to cut our cloth accordingly and we have a limited sporting budget. We can't afford to throw good money after bad"?

ITV/BBC sporting producer: "He was huge back in the day. Massive PPV numbers, massive fan base. We could screen the Senchenko fi....."

ITV/BBC Sports Director: "Sen who"?

ITV/BBC sporting producer: "Vyacheslav Senchenko, bear with me. We could screen that, then when he wins we can screen the Mallignaggi fight as that will defo be next. Then when he wins that, we can screen his first defense in an all British superfight with Amir Khan. The cash will roll in"?

ITV/BBC Sports Director: "But how do you know he will win? Wasn't his last fight over 3 years ago and in the subsequent time he has been up and in down in weight, suffered from family problems and stuffed a load of Columbian marching powder up his nose bag"?

ITV/BBC sporting producer: "Yep, that's the chap, but he is really famous you know and used to be a boxer".

ITV/BBC Sports Director: "OK, pass me my wallet".

You missed the part of the conversation Tina where if Hatton wins a couple of fights and is drawing good numbers, Sky offer him more money to go back on box office for the Khan fight and he duly does just that.

Looking at the (pretty stacked) undercard would seem to confirm that Ricky's major interest wasnt' his back-pocket but the ability to get a number of the fighters in his stable showcased.

Given that Adam Smith dumped him I can see why he might be reluctant to go back cap in hand and I can't imagine ITV having the budget to finance this, esp if Ricky wants/wanted a multi-show deal. The BBC will never touch boxing again after Audley and C5 have probably hit their limit with budget spending assigned to boxing.

rowley wrote:You missed the part of the conversation Tina where if Hatton wins a couple of fights and is drawing good numbers, Sky offer him more money to go back on box office for the Khan fight and he duly does just that.

I'm no script writer, Jeff. That much is obvious.

Fair point though.

alma wrote:It is disappointing. It all depends on how Hatton is viewing his comeback. My initial thoughts were that he was partly coming back as his own stable had been dropped by sky. Thus he could guarantee decent revenue and exposure as he just sticks his own stable on the undercard. As he doesn't need to tie himself into a contract with Primetime (presumably) maybe he is hedging his bets by going to primetime with this fight and then if interest is huge he can try and leverage a deal for the next fight. After all, if he faces brook or Khan, surely sky would be involved. I would personally never pay extra for a fight after haye's exploits, and with primetime not even being in HD, I will definitely give this one the swerve. Plus of course the opponent got KOd by paulie last time!

You and me both alma, but a few on here boycotting it will make no difference to the tens of thousands of casuals that used to follow him. They will pay because its him, regardless of opponent or PPV. I can't really see any good reason for him to come back other than exposure for his stable but after a couple more fights I wouldnt be suprised if he comes unstuck again.

Primetime is harldy the most accessible TV channel but Sky have been going on about Hatton a fair amount, be it on the 24 hour news channel, Ringside or just pundits gassing between fights. Anyone who follows boxing to certain degree knows about the comeback and you would think a fair few would at least enquire as to how to watch his first fight back. IF this were Khan then he wouldnt have a hope of drawing people in but Hatton was a big name and still a hero in many fans eyes. How long he can ride the wave though remains to be seen.

i have to say i think a hatton come back will be huge, senchko is pretty decent, and the fight has some credibility.

im also annoyed how boxing fans have to pay 15 just to watch one nights action (especially when you can watch it live for 30 quid normally), but thats a fact that has been around for ages. im just glad it didnt get the donaire treatment and not even get aired over here.

1st round KOs, cuts, stinkers are all part of boxing, you cant not have a fight ppv just because it might happen. the way round it (which seems the case for the 24th) is stacked undercards.

that said, i honestly beleive if you half your prices, in a few months your'll triple you audience

Sorry, Senchenko is decent!?

He had worse title defenses than Nathan Cleverly before he FINALLY stepped up to the hard hitting Paulie and got battered.

He is there for the taking. Anyone who gets stopped by Paulie Malagnaggi seriously needs to hang them up.

I agree with the majority that this fight is a joke of a PPV. And for that reason, I hope Ricky gets put to sleep again for trying to rob people of £15 to watch him fight a found out euro trash fighter.

And before anyone tries to throw out "oh he was unbeaten" remember.............so was Dmitry Salita when he fought Khan.

I wouldn't have minded this a routine comeback opponent if it was on Sky, but jeezus!! £15 to watch it.

Its the price that's annoyed people. If Primetime was even moderately priced for its level of quality/coverage then I can imagine people will buy it. £15 is an insane amount of profiteering bullshine started by Sky that other companies in the UK seem to follow.

I have paid roughly £100 in my life for PPV events and only once has the fight lived up to being close to worth the £15. That was Lewis/Tyson and I bought that for the main event because it was cheaper than flying over. Ever since, it has been letdown after letdown. If the event was £5 I'd buy it. But they're charging me £15 for a pretty poor undercard and a main event that has a boxer that hasn't fought for 3 years and a boxer who got stopped by Maglinaggi.

I think the undercard is pretty decent. Quigg/Munroe is a great match up. Not PPV worthy but still a very decent card. Shame I wont be able to watch it.

JabMachineMK2 wrote:Its the price that's annoyed people. If Primetime was even moderately priced for its level of quality/coverage then I can imagine people will buy it. £15 is an insane amount of profiteering bullshine started by Sky that other companies in the UK seem to follow.

I have paid roughly £100 in my life for PPV events and only once has the fight lived up to being close to worth the £15. That was Lewis/Tyson and I bought that for the main event because it was cheaper than flying over. Ever since, it has been letdown after letdown. If the event was £5 I'd buy it. But they're charging me £15 for a pretty poor undercard and a main event that has a boxer that hasn't fought for 3 years and a boxer who got stopped by Maglinaggi.

Also, if you're a firstimer, don't you have to pay an initial subscription fee to Primetime?? And then there's all the other crap like 'no HD' and 'cannot record' etc.

15 quid for a comeback fight no thanks,I wish these PPV channels would die a death. Hatton fan but hope this ppv fails miserably nowt but greed as usual.
Boxing fans open your eyes its another rip-off.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Also, if you're a firstimer, don't you have to pay an initial subscription fee to Primetime?? And then there's all the other crap like 'no HD' and 'cannot record' etc.

The registration fee for primetime is only £2.50, a lot less than some others and you can record primetime events following the sky platform rules :-)

So £17.50

Thats a lot.

So, at £17.50 psf, Primetime is the most expensive PPV in Britain and doesn't even do HD??!

What a joke.

I hope that Primetime have agreed a fixed fee for this rather than percentage...

They'll lose a fortune.

Actually scrap that...
I hope it's a percentage and hatton gets hardly anything...

fury did approx 1m mark on ch5, you'd think someone such as hatton could pull in more than 5 million on ITV, i dont know how much advertising goes for but surely it would make a killin'

Fury's been doing more than that on CH5 Sweet Pea.

You would imagine Hatton would do fantastic numbers on terrestrial, but sadly that just doesn't pull anywhere near as much money as a PPV show can.

I most certainly won't be paying for it, sorry Primetime, it's just not worth a PPV showing.

Also, "The 24th November fight against Senchenko promises to lay some demons to rest and be marked as one of the greatest comebacks in boxing history."

Really? You promising that Primetime?

The only fights I would honestly pay for in this country would be a combination of Brook/Khan or Hatton, must stress ONCE HE HAS PROVEN HIMSELF TO BE HALF DECENT STILL. Think Brook takes them all at WW, though.

£15.00 is a rip off, it must be said. I understand that Primetime can't adjust this because it's team Hatton's choice of how much the PPV is, but still, have a word...

Disappointing that from Hatton, should have been on ITV/Channel 5 or, at the very least, Sky Sports 1. Can see his comeback being a flop now.

A sellout MEN is a flop?

Disappointing, vowed never to use Primetime again after the service I received, and I won't be buying this one.

Cheers rodders

is the m.e.n sold out? being from manchester think id rather pick up a 40 quid ticket, get a good day out and all the card rather than pay 17.00 quid to watch it on a non HD broadcast on tv where you wont get all the card.

i wouldnt mind but the majority of my intrest is in the quigg v munroe fight, if paulie is stopping this guy a hatton at 50% should get rid within 5.

I shalln't be paying, and truth be told, i'm more interested in the Quigg/Munroe fight, but good luck to Ricky. Sadly, to me it's pretty apparent that he's fighting for his fighters, and whilst that's quite admirable, it's also pretty unfortunate.

For various reasons; his history with Warren, Sky's cuts, enforced BBC frugality, Hennessy's exclusivity with 5, etc, Ricky's promotions company seem to be between a rock and a hard place at the moment. Hopefully they'll get sorted, they deserve to, but a long-term relationship with Primetime probably won't do it.

alma wrote:More likely Hatton is hoping this fight is such a big success that for his other fights, other tv companies will come sniffing around.

Most likely, but i just don't see who, or how that will happen without Ricky either having to eat a huge portion of humble pie or taking bottom dollar.

Hatton vs Senchenko Fight to be Aired Across Multiple Platforms.
What: Hatton vs. Senchenko
When: From 7pm, 24th November 2012
Where: Manchester Arena
Watch: Exclusively on Primetime: Channel 498 on Sky, Virgin on Demand, TalkTalk Player and Primetime Website (click here)

Pay per view sports channel Primetime have today announced that the Ricky Hatton vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko will be broadcast across three television platforms as well as live in selected cinemas and pubs up and down the country. In an unprecedented move Primetime will now be in more homes than ever before. With the inclusion of commercial premises and cinemas Primetime can offer Team Hatton its broadest audience to date.

“By securing commercial premises Hatton fans can decide whether to watch at home or get in the spirit and cheer Ricky on down their local,” said Head of Programming at Primetime Chris Ratcliff. “We’re really pleased to be able to, through a deal with Sky Business, extend our reach to a wider audience of boxing fans.”
As well as airing via its regular TV outlets Sky and Virgin, TalkTalk will also pick up the event and broadcast the fight via the TalkTalk Player on their new YouView boxes. TalkTalk is celebrating the ring-return of Ricky Hatton by offering the event as a gift to its YouView TV customers. This free gift, worth £14.95, will allow TalkTalk customers access to Primetime’s exclusive coverage of Britain’s biggest boxing event of the year.

As with previous fights Primetime will continue to support our servicemen abroad by offering Hatton vs. Senchenko to British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) to broadcast live to troops in Camp Bastion and British army bases around the world.
It will also be available to stream online from www.primetimeboxing.co.uk. This stream is compatible with iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ricky Hatton vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko will be shown live on Saturday 24th November for only £14.95. To order on Sky call 0871 200 4444 or to see full list of where and how you can watch go to:
Primetime Website (click here)
• Channel 498 on Sky
• Virgin-On-Demand
• TalkTalk Player on YouView
• Selected pubs and cinemas
If you are a business, such as a Pub, Club or Bar, please visit www.sky.com/business

Very very shrewd move by Primetime. I imagine they will make a killing via Pub coverage as pubs up north will be eating his return up.

Just a shame the channel don't offer HD!

Tapping in to a niche market showing a sport event in a pub. Very shrewd.

I presume Primetime haven't gt the cheek to show Pacquaio v Marquez 4 two weeks later and demand another 15 quid?

Rodders

Do Primetime ever get any sales or is it just cool to be anti Primetime while in reality people buy the fights.

I dont think boxing should be on ppv its not good for the sport and not fair on the fans. But at least Hatton is a great fighter and its great to have him back. The sport needs more fighters like Hatton and less hype jobs like Haye, Khan, Harrison and so on so I can see both sides of the argument for having him on ppv. Having fighters like Haye, Harrison and Khan on ppv is a disgrace though. Only the best fighters in the world should be on ppv if it must exist.

Strongback wrote:Do Primetime ever get any sales or is it just cool to be anti Primetime while in reality people buy the fights.

could have gone further about measures they are or aren't using to exploit public sentiment but don't want to be banned.

I actually feel a bit sorry for Hatton over this, apart from diehard fans, I can't imagine why anyone would pay £15, sorry, £17.50 for this. It's not any better than a normal night on Sky, I admit to being one of the mugs who shelled out to see Fraudley against Haye, but that was allegedly a HW title fight, not some bloke who got makes Paulie look like Tyson against a former champ trying to get his promotion business on the box. It's like charging M&S prices for a Tesco Value fight.