Strikeforce Challengers 10 ratings peak with 280,000 Showtime viewers

[Liquidrob]

http://mmajunkie.com/news/20312/strikeforce-challengers-10-ratings-peak-with-280000-showtime-viewers.mma

Strikeforce Challengers 10 ratings peak with 280,000 Showtime viewers
by John Morgan and Dann Stupp on Aug 17, 2010 at 12:30 pm ET

Ratings for this past weekend's Strikeforce Challengers 10 event were better than expected and topped out at 280,000 viewers, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with an industry source.

Overall, the Aug. 13 event averaged 237,000 viewers, a 17 percent increase from Strikeforce Challengers 9 in July, for its initial run.

So which fight coincided with the peak audience?

It wasn't the Joe Riggs vs. Louis Taylor headliner, nor was it any of the official fights from the organization's single-night tournament, which included 135-pound female fighters Miesha Tate, Hitomi Akano, Maiju Kujala and Carina Damm. Surprisingly, the peak audience came during a Colleen Schneider vs. Liz Carmouche tourney-reserve bout, which likely was just a quirk since it preceded the night's tournament finale and Riggs vs. Taylor main event.

Strikeforce Challengers 10 took place at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix and marked the organization's Arizona debut.

The event again took place in a traditionally ratings-unfriendly summer month and in a late-night timeslot (11 p.m. ET/PT). Additionally, the ratings don't include viewers who tuned in for the immediate replay, Monday's re-airing of the show, or the many viewers who watch the event via Showtime On Demand.

Still, Friday's event was the fifth held under the Strikeforce Challengers banner this year, and it stacked up well in comparison. Strikeforce Challengers 7 (316,000 viewers) set the bar in March thanks to a free-preview weekend of the premium-cable station. It also fell just behind Strikeforce Challengers 8 (249,000) but well ahead of Strikeforce Challengers 9 (197,000) and Strikeforce Challengers 6 (189,000).

Showtime has 12 million subscribers and is home to the Strikeforce Challengers series and many of the fight promotion's major shows, which also now air on CBS.

For more on Strikeforce Challengers 10, including the night's official results, check out the MMA Events section of MMAjunkie.com.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Shockingly high number. It was a nothing show with no draws. Maybe Riggs being a former Zuffa guy, but that was many years ago.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason to these Challenger numbers. I think it's just a matter of who happens to be flipping channels that particular night, because weak sports competition always seems to be the only pattern for the ones that do well. Nothing but baseball head to head.