Veteran producer Paul Buccieri is poised to join Twentieth Television as a senior development executive, sources said. It's unclear what the move means for Robb Dalton, president of programming and production, who is said to be staying with the company. Twentieth declined comment Thursday. Buccieri, a producer who was based at reality powerhouse Endemol USA, most recently executive produced Fox's short-lived reality boxing series The Next Great Champ.
- 1/14/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NBC is firming up its unscripted plans for next year, postponing the airdate of The Contender and adding lawyer Roy Black to the cast of The Law Firm. A boxing-themed reality series from Mark Burnett and DreamWorks TV, Contender will premiere sometime in January instead of next month as originally scheduled. NBC was expected to make the postponement in order to distance Contender from the similarly themed Fox series The Next Great Champ, which quickly fizzled in the ratings after its premiere last month (HR 9/20). "We look forward to positioning this classic American success story on a proper platform in January apart from the distractions of the fall," NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly said.
- 10/6/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- The Next Great Champ had to fight in court just to get on the air, but the boxing reality series couldn't survive a battering in the ratings. Fox confirmed late Monday that the show -- which debuted in fourth place in its time slot last month -- will move from the broadcast network to Fox Sports Net, where it will stay in the ring through mid-November. "Despite its loyal core audience, the underlying boxing theme of the series has proved too narrow for us," Fox entertainment president Gail Berman said in a statement. "In the end, it belongs on an outlet better suited to serve the boxing fan."...
- 10/5/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Next Great Champ just can't catch a break. Round two of Fox's new boxing reality series on Tuesday was beaten just as badly as it was in last week's debut. The Oscar De la Hoya-fronted Champ ran a distant fourth in its 9 p.m. time slot, even coming in under ABC's back-to-back According to Jim repeats with an average of 5 million viewers and 2.4 rating/6 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. The bright spot for Champ was the spike the show posted at the half-hour mark with men 18-49 (from 2.3/7 to 3.0/8) and men 18-34 (from 2.5/8 to 3.3/10). Fox was better off at 8 p.m. with a fresh episode of Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy (7.3 million, 3.3/10), which won the hour in adults 18-49.
- 9/16/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As Fox's The Next Great Champ prepared to debut Tuesday, the boxing reality show and rival series The Contender faced the prospect of having their entire premise compromised through a public records request to disclose the winners before the bouts are televised. Champ, hosted by Oscar de La Hoya, and NBC's Contender, fronted by Sylvester Stallone, each seek to build suspense by staging a series of matches that ultimately leave one winner at the end of the series. The shows have received a waiver allowing them to withhold the fight results, which otherwise would have to be disclosed immediately under California law along with such facts as the contestants, attendance, location and purse size. The California State Athletic Commission refused to disclose this information to the Los Angeles Times, leading the newspaper Friday to file a petition under the California Public Records Act. A hearing on the matter is set for Sept. 27. The Times refused further comment.
Fox was KO'd Tuesday with its debut of the boxing-reality series The Next Great Champ, while NBC took a hit in the competitive 9 p.m. hour with the second outing of the animated comedy Father of the Pride. CBS won the night on the strength of Big Brother 5 and The Amazing Race as the summer editions of the unscripted elimination-competition shows wind down to their Sept. 21 finales. Big Brother led at 9 p.m. with an average of 10.7 million viewers and a 4.5 rating/12 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. (Final national ratings for Tuesday were delayed until today because of the Labor Day holiday and disruptions at Nielsen's Florida facilities caused by Hurricane Frances.) Race followed at 10 p.m. with a healthy 10.7 million viewers and a 4.9/13 in 18-49.
Another lawsuit has taken aim at Fox's The Next Great Champ, with an independent producer claiming Wednesday that the idea for the boxing reality series was stolen from her. Leigh Burton has sued Champ producers Oscar De La Hoya, his Golden Boy Promotions and its CEO, Richard Schaefer, for breach of contract, breach of confidence and unfair competition. Burton seeks unspecified damages in Los Angeles Superior Court, the same venue where Fox successfully argued that it had a First Amendment right to air Champ despite concerns that Golden Boy and other producers violated California boxing law in rushing the show to its Sept. 7 debut (HR 8/30). Fox is not named in Burton's case.
Fox Broadcasting Co. can proceed with the scheduled Sept. 7 debut of its boxing reality series The Next Great Champ after a judge refused to stop the broadcast over concerns that the producers violated California boxing regulations in rushing the series to air. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Cole ruled Friday that it would be an inappropriate form of prior restraint to grant the preliminary injunction requested by DreamWorks Television and reality TV pioneer Mark Burnett -- developers of rival boxing reality series The Contender, which will air on NBC in the fall. "We are grateful the court clearly recognized that this action constituted an improper prior restraint, which would have inappropriately infringed upon our First Amendment rights," Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said.
- 8/28/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fox Broadcasting Co. can proceed with the scheduled Sept. 7 debut of its boxing reality series The Next Great Champ after a judge refused to stop the broadcast over concerns that the producers violated California boxing regulations in rushing the series to air. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Cole ruled Friday that it would be an inappropriate form of prior restraint to grant the preliminary injunction requested by DreamWorks Television and reality TV pioneer Mark Burnett -- developers of rival boxing reality series The Contender, which will air on NBC in the fall. "We are grateful the court clearly recognized that this action constituted an improper prior restraint, which would have inappropriately infringed upon our First Amendment rights," Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said.
- 8/28/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mel Gibson, William Shatner and James Caan are among a host of stars who have had to sign confidentiality agreements after viewing tapings of Sylvester Stallone's new boxing reality show. The Contender, in which 16 fighters compete for a $1 million prize with mentoring from Stallone and boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard, is due to debut in November. And those who attended the first three segments of the 15-episode show in a 300-seat arena in Los Angeles - including Mr T, Elliot Gould and Tony Danza - have had to sign agreements not to disclose the outcome of any of the bouts. Bosses of the NBC show are currently locked in a bitter battle with rival Fox show The Next Great Champ to stop block its September debut.
- 8/27/2004
- WENN
A Los Angeles judge declined Wednesday to issue an emergency order barring Fox Broadcasting Co. from proceeding with its planned boxing reality series The Next Great Champ because of alleged violations of California boxing regulations. The four-page decision by Judge Linda Lefkowitz marked only a partial victory for Fox because the proposed injunction, which is being sought by producers of rival boxing show The Contender, will be taken up in depth at a hearing Sept. 8 -- only two days before the debut of The Next Great Champ. "This is yet another in a series of never-ending attempts by 'The Contender's' producers to stifle competition," Fox officials said. "They are simply trying to impede Fox's First Amendment rights by inserting themselves into a procedure in which they have no legitimate role. In an effort to protect themselves from fair competition, it is particularly disingenuous that they are using the guise of 'protecting the public, ' when in fact what they are really attempting to protect is their pocketbook."...
- 8/19/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A Los Angeles judge could issue a ruling as early as today that would effectively block Fox Broadcasting Co. from airing its The Next Great Champ boxing reality series because the producers allegedly violated California boxing regulations in rushing the show into production. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Cole surprised attorneys Tuesday by agreeing to consider the injunction requested by DreamWorks Television and Mark Burnett, creators of The Contender, a rival boxing series set to debut this fall on NBC. Fox, Endemol USA and Lock & Key Prods. had hoped to have the case dismissed as an inappropriate prior restraint of a broadcast. They said the case is without merit but declined further comment. DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg and Burnett said they were seeking the restraining order, which could stop Fox from using footage shot to date, because of concerns raised about The Next Great Champ in an 18-page report by California State Athletic Commissioner Stanford Michelman.
- 8/18/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
During last month's Television Critics Assn. summer press tour, TV critics asked NBC if it was first with the idea for The Contender, a show in which 10 boxing champ wannabes slug it out until only one is left. Days later, the critics asked Fox if it was guilty of turning down a pitch only to steal the same idea for The Next Great Champ, a similarly themed reality show. Only a few TCA attendees asked the most important question of all: How could anyone in good conscience, knowing what we know today, develop a series that glorifies a sport in which victory occurs when one man beats another unconscious? Because beneath all the rationalizations of good storytelling and giving worthy people a chance of a lifetime, what both shows are doing is capitalizing on and profiting from an activity that has more in common with cockfighting than with any athletic contest.
- 8/13/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fox Broadcasting Co. entertainment president Gail Berman on Thursday defended her network's reality programming during the opening session of Fox's portion of the summer Television Critics Assn. press tour. Fox has been criticized this week for what some perceive as its blatant copy of concepts and formats for unscripted series from other networks. "The baseless allegations of theft and extortion are outrageous and unacceptable," Berman said. At NBC's session Saturday, NBC Universal Television Group president Jeff Zucker slammed Fox for greenlighting the unscripted boxing series The Next Great Champ two months after losing a bidding war to NBC for The Contender, another pugilist reality series (HR 7/12).
- 7/16/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Pummeled by allegations of creative piracy, Fox alternative programming chief Mike Darnell took a few jabs of his own against his detractors Thursday. Wearing boxing gloves and a hooded robe, Darnell entered a news conference Thursday during Fox's portion of the summer Television Critics Assn. press tour to the strains of the Rocky III anthem "Eye of the Tiger." He dismissed claims that Fox's upcoming boxing series Next Great Champ, hosted by Oscar De La Hoya, was a rip-off of NBC's The Contender. Darnell accused NBC Universal Television Group president Jeff Zucker of attempting to deflect attention from Fox's successes in the genre. "I think they're scared," he said.
- 7/16/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Furious with Fox for counterpunching The Contender with a boxing series of its own, NBC Universal Television Group president Jeff Zucker came out swinging Saturday during the opening session of NBC's portion of the summer Television Critics Assn. press tour. "Quite frankly, they used to be innovators, and now they're imitators," Zucker said of Fox, which greenlighted unscripted series The Next Great Champ just two months after it lost a bidding war to NBC for Contender (HR 4/19). NBC, DreamWorks brass and Contender executive producer Mark Burnett have openly criticized Fox and its alternative programming chief Mike Darnell for fielding Champ on the heels of the bidding for Contender, but neither NBC nor production company DreamWorks has filed suit against Fox, which has denied any wrongdoing. Zucker not only slammed Fox at numerous junctures but retaliated by divulging to assembled journalists that Fox was developing "two secret shows," one of which he said was titled Who's My Daddy? "I think it's not right what they are doing, and frankly they should be called on it," Zucker told reporters gathered at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City.
- 7/11/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Canadian broadcaster CanWest Global Communications unveiled Wednesday the 2004-05 primetime lineups for its Global Television Network, toplined by U.S. boxing- and boardroom-based reality shows acquired at the recent Los Angeles Screenings, and its CH national network. Two boxing talent reality series make their way to CanWest Global: Mark Burnett's The Contender, to be hosted by Sylvester Stallone, and The Next Great Champ, in which young boxers train for a chance to fight Oscar De La Hoya.
- 6/10/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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