Bellator & SF ratings (shocker)

[Warner2BruceTD]

I cnat confirm this officially but I got a text from someone who would know.

Bellator did 200,000 viewers, which is a massive success.

Strikeforce did 412,000.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Bellator peaked at 231k, and the replay did 127k. A lot of people just left the channel on and probablt weren't really watching, but who cares. Some of it is people who left for SF at 10 and came back for the replay.

I'm beyond shocked.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I'm also comfortable saying that Dan Henderson is not a draw. CBS, now this, only 7,000 tickets sold during the Arnold weekend. He's not a terrible draw, but he definately isn't a good one.

[EmpireWF]

over 200k? Nice.

MTV2 played a Bully Beatdown in the hours before the live show so I wonder what the 8pm ratings were.

From Junkie:

Most importantly, the figures represented a massive increase in key demographics for the cable channel.

MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com
) has learned from industry sources that Bellator 35's ratings viewership represented an 83 percent increase in men ages 18 to 49 years old, 80 percent rise in men ages 18 to 34 years old and a whopping 133 percent increase in men ages 25 to 34 years old.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I don't understand what that article is saying. Are those percentage increases based off of the MTV2 prime time average? The lead in? Last year Bellator numbers? What?

[EmpireWF]

I don't understand what that article is saying. Are those percentage increases based off of the MTV2 prime time average? The lead in? Last year Bellator numbers? What?

I took it to mean the network's averages in general.

[Steel Mamba]

I think this proves that Bellator has a better TV deal than SF does. Say what you want about MTV2, but it's still far more accessible than SHO is. Also, with that is actual advertising on their family of networks whereas most SF events get 0 pub. MTV2 typical primetime numbers may be low, but you have to keep in mind that they usually only air reruns on that channel, but there's no doubt that people pass through, or check/notice what's on MTV2 far more than they do with SHO. Even their lingerie football show did well on MTV2.

[Warner2BruceTD]

The person who gave me the numbers works in the business. He said when the numbers hit his desk he thought someone was fucking with him. His boss thought there was an extra zero accidentally tacked on to 20,000. Lol.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I think this proves that Bellator has a better TV deal than SF does. Say what you want about MTV2, but it's still far more accessible than SHO is. Also, with that is actual advertising on their family of networks whereas most SF events get 0 pub.

Based on these numbers, I think Bellator would have beaten SF if they were on FX, and nipped at the heels of the 600k UFC just did on Versus.

The number will almost surely drop and level off lower than 200k, but fuck, what a success.

[Steel Mamba]

It basically went head to head with a big SF card and still did good numbers. Give them a vacant weekend + big card and the numbers will be even better.

[Liquidrob]

these ratings articles are so frustrating, where the fuck are the peak numbers for Strikeforce?

those would help a lot, this show for Strikeforce did a higher number than Hendo's december show (350k average), plus the average was the same as Fedor vs Werdum, at the SF board we said weeks ago that an average over 400k would be good, thats what it got

The peak could be in the 600k range for all we know, Bellator stropped half way thru it

Also, good job by Bellator, I was thinking 150k would be a good number, this is very good, but the key will be next week with Razor Rob being the only 'name', this week was the debut and there best WW's all in one card

Also, Bellator would kill for SF's TV deal, they get 750k a show and production costs covered, so its silly to think MTV2 is a better deal, Bellator had a good debut on FSN I believe, plus, on a down note, the card didnt 'deliver' for the casuals, much like the SF CBS with all decisions, nothing big came out of this Bellator card

[Liquidrob]

this is an article of Bellators debut on FSN from last year, very similar

Bellator debut drastically boosts Fox Sports ratings
Posted by Staff on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 10:19 am· 14 Comments

CHICAGO, Ill. (April 19, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships made its FOX Sports Net debut April 8th as FSN’s highest-rated national program on both Thursday and Sunday night. The Thursday premiere lifted the network’s prime time ratings by an impressive 60 percent compared to the same time period average in the 2nd Quarter of 2009. In addition, the Bellator 13 re-air was also up 57 percent from the 2nd Quarter time period average on Sundays.

Bellator 13 from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., was the highest-rated program nationally distributed by FSN on Thursday, April 8th and Sunday, April 11th.

The show was especially successful in attracting males under the age of 54 to the network. Bellator 13:

- Increased FSN’s Thursday night 18-34 male audience by 143 percent;

- Increased FSN’s Thursday night 18-49 male audience by 153 percent; and

- Increased FSN’s Thursday night 25-54 male audience by 180 percent.

Bellator also showed the ability to draw strong local ratings for individual FSN affiliates. For example, Bellator 13 drew a .85 local rating for FSN Pittsburgh, where the event aired live and in prime time.

“In our first week on FOX Sports Net, we were able to drive a substantial increase in viewership to the network nationally,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “We are confident that working with FSN, together we can significantly build upon this strong foundation. My focus from day #1 has been to produce and promote compelling, competitive tournament based MMA programming designed to appeal to MMA fans just like me. My belief is that our tournament format, combined with great fights, world class fighters and strong attention to production quality will continue to increase viewer support for our events on Fox Sports Net.”

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at Incompatible Browser | Facebook.

[Warner2BruceTD]

This is what I was saying earlier. Debuts are almost always the high water mark, and they will likely settle in and level off lower.

And as I have been saying all along, I am not of the belief that either show drastically effected the other. DVR views count when viewed within a certain time frame, and I would suspect a good chunk of the people who wanted to watch both did so on Saturday or Sunday via DVR.

[EmpireWF]

Well, the XFL is the king of awesome debuts turning into the shits.

[Warner2BruceTD]

It was not a huge success for Bellator.

Lucha Libre opened at 178,000. They opened at 200,000. Lucha Libre lasted how long?

It was an 0.2 rating for Bellator. A 1.2 for Strikeforce. Bellator was doing better numbers on FSN even being bounced around. Yeah, they were 83% up in Males 18-49, when they tout that, that's generally meaning they are grasping. What show did they have on last week and was that show aimed at Males 18-49? It's a 12-24 network that older people don't watch, so yeah, they're way up in older people.

He's not so bullish on the number.

I asked him to send me the FSN numbers he has, I cant find anything other than the .83 from FSN Pittsburgh from week 1 of last season.

To me, if they hold 75% of the audience next week, it's impossible not to call this a good number. I was expecting the 50k range.