What Simultaneous Pacquiao-Mayweather Battle Airing will do to TV Networks

Streets are starting to seem like it's a shooting day for The Walking Dead in the country. Cable networks are earning big like it's a blockbuster film. And for the first time, three major TV networks in the Philippines are getting ready for the simultaneous airing of The Greatest Battle: Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. As they have agreed to air it as one, what have we to expect from this as an outcome? Let's give you a straight-to-the-point answer.

A few days from now, results from AGB Nielsen and Kantar ratings will come out and we will all see this order:

1. ABS-CBN
2. GMA 7
3. TV5

You read it right. That's what a simulatenous airing will show us-- the reality of viewership in the Philippines.

We bet our cards on that.

Why PBA Teams Draft Non-Basketball Celebrities

First, Manny Pacquiao. Now, Xian Lim. These two non-basketball celebrities have been included in the basketball arena lately. For Pacquiao, he's now playing for one of the PBA teams. For Lim, the deal was supposedly pushing through.

What happened to Xian Lim though is a different case at some point. Since he was not able to catch the proper timeline to be part of the draft, he was denied.

“With regard to your [Cloudfone] request to allow your product endorser, Mr. Xian Lim, to play for your team without going through the Rookie Draft, we have a rule that all new players should go through the draft, with the exception of players of school-based teams. Hence, we cannot grant your request,” Commissioner Chito Salud said.

But why are PBA Teams after these celebrities to play with them?

We won't answer that question. But we have two undeniable facts we can realize if we look at the cases of Pacquiao and Lim.

1. The teams drafting them are not yet established.
They need all the branding. They need people talking abou them. They need attention.

2. Both Manny Pacquiao and Xian Lim are not hotshot basketball players.
They like playing basketball like most Filipino men. But they're not the type who would create a huge mark in the league.

Undeniably though, they both are really popular.

There you have it. Make your own conclusion.