By Jake Donovan

The theory behind the big investment in the initial Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series on NBC in March was to build an audience and allow the event to grow to where such shows are in demand by the networks.

Results from Saturday’s offering – the second PBC on NBC – offer hope for such a trend, though with work still to be done. The April 11 show from Barclays Center in Brooklyn saw its audience grow over the course of the evening, topping out at 3.07 million viewers according to Nielsen Media Research.

The downside was that it failed to win its time slot, as the show was outpaced by the other three big networks. Fox won the night with its NASCAR Spring Cup coverage, drawing upwards of 2 million more viewers over the course of the evening. 

Additionally, the April 11 edition was a slight dip from the inaugural PBC on NBC episode on March 7, which topped out at 3.4 million viewers.  

Headlining Saturday's card, Danny Garcia won an unpopular majority decision over Lamont Peterson in their 143 lb. catchweight bout. The non-title, above-the-limit aspect was a disappointment to most fans, given that Garcia is the reigning World 140 lb. king, while Peterson held an alphabet title prior to the bout.

Opening the show, Andy Lee recovered from two knockdowns to score one of his own in battling back to a draw with unbeaten Peter Quillin. Their bout was to be for Lee’s middleweight title – which used to own to Quillin before he vacated – but was downgraded to a non-title fight when Quillin failed to make the 160 lb. limit.

The next installment of PBC on NBC comes May 23, when Andre Dirrell faces James ‘Chunky’ DeGale in a 12-round super middleweight bout in Boston. Between now and then, PBC returns to Spike TV on April 24 in Chicago, and then CBS with a May 9 installment from Hidalgo, Texas.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox