Cable, pay-per-view problems leave viewers fighting mad

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: AP

For some boxing fans, the big fight Saturday night turned out to be between them and their cable companies.

Strong pay-per-view demand for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas caused problems for cable and satellite systems, especially when people tried to order at the last second, which delayed the start of the fight. It's another sting to the reputation of an industry that's already beset with criticism over poor service and competition from streaming video providers.

Still other boxing fans circumvented cable companies entirely, watching the fight live video-streaming apps such as Meerkat and Twitter's Periscope, which let users broadcast video directly to the Internet from their smartphones.

Some who used this workaround had tried to buy the fight and failed. Others just didn't want to pay to watch, bragging on Twitter how they saved the $100 fee. Some went as far as calling it the future and knock-out victory for social media, although there are no concrete numbers at this time of how many people watched via Meerkat or Periscope

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BOX_MAYWEATHER_PACQUIAO_TV_PROBLEMS?SITE=AP

[yuiyoshida]

1. The link does not seem to work

fyi..

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Full link

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BOX_MAYWEATHER_PACQUIAO_TV_PROBLEMS?SITE=AP

I was wondering why, just after 1 am (not long after the fight had apparently concluded), I had been awakened by what I found was fireworks going off a couple blocks from me (and not just the pop pop / bang bang kind - literal shootin' star types). I finally deduced the reason.

[Jesus Malverde]

6. Thanks...nt

[Cryptoad]

3. Re-definition of "Sucker"

somebody that will give over $150 to watch two old geezers too old to fight, run around a ring for less than tn hour! Rematch coming Soooooooooon! Get your tickets early! geeez

[Chakab]

8. Too old fight, yet they still decisively beat all of the younger fighters that they face?

the worst thing about the "fight of the century" is getting to hear people who know absolutely nothing about boxing opine about the sport.

[Cryptoad]

9. It aint a sport no more

just like pro wrestling,,,,,it entertainment. its all script!

[Chakab]

11. If anything, boxing is much less corrupt now than it was during most of the 20th

century.

[cosmicone]

4. It is the modern day version of Roman gladiator fights

It is violent, subhuman and not a sport. We should be evolved enough to not get a thrill from watching two guys beat each other up causing permanent brain injuries.

Boxing should be banned.

[davidpdx]

5. Closely related I saw a video on Yahoo Sports where they were talking about the number

of people who subscribed. They were arguing about what the final number was going to be, but one of the two guys pointed out (rightfully so) the high price of the fight and how high people's cable bills were already. He said something like (paraphrasing here) "people's cable bills are already so high, you know once they get over a certain amount the cable companies will freeze their accounts". I thought it was nice that this commentator (can't remember his name) made this point.

I went back and looked and looked for the video but couldn't find it. I would have liked to posted a link.

[Kelvin Mace]

7. Isn't one off the boxers

a sexual predator?

[Chakab]

10. I assume that you're referring to Mayweather's previous conviction for domestic

violence.