Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts

Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts
Also known asThe Wednesday Night Fights
GenreSports
Presented byRuss Hodges / Jack Drees / Bill Nimmo
Theme music composerBill Gale
Opening theme"What'll You Have? (Pabst Blue Ribbon)"
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Original release
NetworkCBS (1948-1955) ABC (1955-1960)
Release1948 (1948) –
1960 (1960)
Related
re-run under title Blue Ribbon Classics

Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts, later The Wednesday Night Fights, is a television program that broadcast boxing matches from New York's Madison Square Garden featuring Russ Hodges, Jack Drees, and Bill Nimmo.[1] It finished at #26 for the 1950-1951 season in the Nielsen ratings, followed by #17 in 1951-1952, #14 in 1952-1953, #23 in 1953-1954 and #25 in 1954-1955.[2] After its cancellation on CBS, the series was picked up by ABC, renamed The Wednesday Night Fights,[3] and continued until 1960.

Kinescopes of some of these matches were later re-broadcast under the title Blue Ribbon Classics. In recent years, ESPN Classic has aired some of the bouts. Most Pabst Blue Ribbon fights can be viewed at TVS Classic Sports Network.Com.

During the 1954-55 season, this show was pre-empted every fourth week by The Best of Broadway, which ran a total of nine episodes for the season.

References

  1. ^ "Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts / Fight Of The Week". classicthemes.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  2. ^ TV Ratings classictvhits.com [dead link‍]
  3. ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307483201.