Wednesday 12th July 2017
Hayemaker Ringstar, the joint venture between two weight World Boxing Champion, David Haye and world renowned promoter Richard Schaefer, announce milestone TV rights deal with UKTV, the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK, for its entertainment channel Dave.
The three-year deal will see five fight nights broadcast free of charge per year and the partnership marks an important move for channel Dave to continue its sports offering and wide range of programming.
The channel first entered the market of live sport in January 2016, broadcasting David Haye's highly anticipated comeback fight. The show broke network records peaking at over three million viewers, 461% up on slot and capturing 14% of the audience share, beating Channel 4 for the duration of the fight.
The exclusive deal looks to satisfy Britain and Ireland's appetite for free-to-view boxing, ensuring fans can tune in to great boxing matches on regular basis. The upcoming clashes will showcase Hayemaker Ringstar's latest signings which include; European and Commonwealth Games Champion and Olympic silver medallist Heavyweight Joe Joyce. Joyce will be getting to work quickly, with a sharp trajectory to World Titles. Commonwealth Games silver medallist, European bronze medallist and Olympian, Qais Ashfaq. Scotland's double World Champion and European Champion, Willy Hutchinson. As well as Michael Venom Page, 10-time World Kickboxing Champion and the UK's most exciting MMA fighter who produced Bellator's ultimate knockout of 2016.
David Haye said
I've personally enjoyed huge success with UKTV, smashing viewer records on previous live broadcasts. As a result, I am thrilled to announce a long-term partnership to introduce the next generation of boxing stars to their audience. An incredible 40 million people tune into UKTV's programme offering every month which without question provides the Hayemaker Ringstar stable with an incredibly strong platform for a rapidly growing fan base.
Richard Watsham, UKTV director of commissioning said,
David Haye's excitement for his brilliant new line up of emerging stars is infectious. He's signed some thrilling prospects and I know Dave's audience will get behind them and support them as they build up towards leading their divisions. I frequently hear fans call for a bit of a shake up in the world of boxing; we're proud to be part of that and to give so many people the chance to watch.
Richard Schaefer said,
We're delighted to be working alongside UKTV, taking the sport back to the masses where it belongs. I enjoy building prospects and champions into superstars that transcend the sport of boxing and become global household names, just like I have done with Floyd Mayweather, Canelo and many more.
ENDS
Notes to editors
About Hayemaker Ringstar
In January 2017, David Haye's Hayemaker Promotions signed a historic deal with boxing promoting giant, Richard Schaefer, to form Hayemaker Ringstar. Hayemaker Ringstar have announced their first signings which include some of the UK's most promising up and coming prospects. The company aims to be recognized as the home of World Champions and future World Champions.
About Dave
Sky 111/246, Virgin 128/194, Freeview 12, BT & TalkTalk 12 On demand on Sky, Virgin and UKTV Play
Dave's had a haircut and shave in recent years as it grows from awkward teenager to fully-fledged commissioner of new and original shows. And it's not just comedy these days but entertainment and even some knock-out live sport. Hit UKTV Original commissions include Taskmaster, Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled and Crackanory, all laden with the biggest names in British comedy. Dave enjoyed critical success with two series of Hoff the Record, a mockumentary ensemble comedy led by the living legend David Hasselhoff.
As well as home-grown delights Dave also goes stateside, cherry-picking cult US Shows including the sharp-witted and sharp-suited Suits and much-loved Parks and Recreation along with Emmy-nominated The Last Man on Earth. This all contributed to Dave's award win at the 2016 Broadcast Digital Awards for Best Entertainment Channel.
Dave is the UK's most watched non-PSB channel broadcasting to over 27 million people per month, and viewers continue to enjoy the ludicrously addictive American Pickers and UK remake of Storage Hunters. The channel continues to grow its original commissioning slate with political show Unspun with Matt Forde, Red Dwarf XI, Dara O Briain's Go8Bit, fantasy comedy Zapped! and Celebrity Storage Hunters airing later this year.
About UKTV
UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.
The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £319m and EBITDA of £82m. It invested £148m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.
UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.
Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.