By Ariel Helwani
- Video Reporter and Writer
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As of Monday morning, the
Bobby Lashley vs.
Mike Cook fight video had been seen almost
two million times on YouTube. This is tremendous exposure for MMA, Lashley, Maximum Fighting Championship, and most importantly,
HDNet.
However, the excitement surrounding Friday's MFC 21 telecast was surely short-lived for HDNet officials, as Time Warner Cable
announced on Sunday that they would be dropping HDNet and HDNet movies from their channel lineup "on or about" May 31.
Time Warner Cable currently has close to 15 million subscribers, with many of those based on the East Coast. HDNet is available in over 90 million homes, but only has approximately 14 million subscribers.
Recently, HDNet has done a fantastic job of showcasing MMA to its audience by airing their weekly magazine show, "Inside MMA," and broadcasting live DREAM, Sengoku and MFC events.
The network boasts that they are, "Your home for MMA," and despite not having the rights to televise UFC events, given how much time they dedicate to live or taped MMA programming per week, they can surely make that case. Needless to say, if Time Warner does remove HDNet, it would be a huge blow to diehard MMA fans.
However, before MMA fans who are Time Warner customers start getting depressed, consider the fact that the cable provider has threatened to drop HDNet in the past. These announcements are usually part of the the negotiation game played by cable providers and the network, and while this is the first time that they have actually set a date to do so, HDNet co-founder,
Mark Cuban, told FanHouse on Sunday that there is still some hope for a resolution.
"We are still in discussions," Cuban said via e-mail. "The best thing fans can do is call their local Time Warner general manager and tell them that. They love HDNet and would be upset if its taken off."
So, if you're a Time Warner customer and want to make sure that DREAM.9 is not the last MMA telecast you'll see on HDNet for a while, take Cuban's advice and call your local Time Warner general manager to demand that your steady fix of MMA does not disappear. If not, you may miss out on Lashley's next big fight, or better yet, Jose Canseco winning the Super Hulk Tournament later this summer.
(Just kidding. We all know Lashley's next fight is on PPV against Bob Sapp.)
Read More: bobbylashley, hdnet, mark cuban, markcuban, mike cook, mikecook, mma media watch, Bobby Lashley (MMA)
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