This afternoon HBO announced that it had secured the rights to distribute the November 12 pay-per-view boxing rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. As part of the deal, HBO parent company Time Warner will be promoting the fight on all of its platforms, including during the 2011 Major League Baseball playoffs on TBS.
Also joining in the synergy to promote the fight: Time Warner’s own CNN.
Two people familiar with the matter tell TVNewser that CNN will replay episodes of HBO’s “Pacquiao-Marquez 24/7,” a docu-series that chronicles the two men training for the bout. In addition, ESPN boxing reporter Dan Rafael reports that Pacquiao will be interviewed on an upcoming edition of “Piers Morgan Tonight.”
Media companies regularly use their platforms to promote shows on sister networks. News channels and programs are not exempt from the promotions. Earlier this year Fox News featured programming from Arizona in advance of the Major League Baseball All Star Game, and NBC’s Matt Lauer appeared in an episode of the USA series “Royal Pains.”
Last year, CNN hyped up the return of Conan O’Brien to TV… on sister network TBS.
Talk shows like the broadcast network morning shows and Morgan’s CNN program are ripe for cross-promotion. In June the cast of TNT’s “Men of a Certain Age” appeared on Morgan’s show… just weeks before the program ended up getting canceled by the network. Last month TBS late night host George Lopez also appeared on the program, just a few days after Morgan appeared on Lopez’ show.