David Haye returns to Dave to keep comeback trail on free-to-air TV
David Haye will return to free-to-air channel Dave for his upcoming heavyweight clash against Arnold Gjergjaj on Saturday 21 May.
The British boxer's blistering knock-out of Mark De Mori in January was Dave's first ever live sports event and scored the channel its second-highest ratings hit as a peak audience of 3m tuned in.
Increasingly British boxing fans wanting to watch some of the UK's best fighters, such as Haye's heavyweight rivals Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, have to stump up for pay-per-view events.
In an interview with City A.M., Haye revealed he wanted his follow-up fight against Gjergjaj to be broadcast on free-to-air in order to maximise its potential audience.
“I want as many people to watch me as possible, I do,” he said. “To reach out in this next fight which hopefully can also be on a free-to-air platform so everyone gets to see, gets to follow the journey. It’s hard to follow the journey when you’re telling people to pay for it."
Haye v De Mori was the top non-public broadcast service programme of its day, receiving a higher share of the audience than Channel 4.
Its success has encouraged Dave, most commonly associated with comedy re-runs, to broadcast more live sport.
Earlier this week it partnered with promoter Frank Warren to broadcast the British Darts Organisation World Trophy over the May bank holiday weekend.
"After the incredible experience we had with the David Haye fight at the start of the year we are delighted to be delving further into the sporting world by partnering with the BDO in what is a fantastic opportunity to offer fans extended live coverage of the BDO World Trophy," explained Dave general manager Steve North.