Fox Will Box

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

NBC won't be the only network next season to have a reality boxing show.

Fox has picked up Endemol's take on boxing and reality television, tentatively titled The Next Great Champ.Mike Darnell, executive VP of specials and alternative programming, says the winner "could get a shot at a legitimate title holder." If both shows are successful, perhaps the winner of The Next Great Champ could take on the winner of The Contender, NBC's take on the topic, with executive producers Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sylvester "Rocky" Stallone at the helm.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.