UPDATED: EliteXC Ratings Down 40%, 1.9 on Overnights
July 27, 2008
The overnight ratings are in and it doesn’t look good for EliteXC’s second CBS card.The numbers :
And there really still isn’t much to say except for this: EliteXC Saturday Night Fights without any buzz surrounding Kimbo Slice performed much worse without Kimbo than it did with him. CBS initial foray into MMA didn’t draw a slew of viewers but at least performed well in the 18-49 and 18-34 demos.
That airing back on May 31, 2008 scored 4.3 million viewers and a 1.9/6 among 18-49 year olds and since the Kimbo Slice bout for that airing aired past primetime (11p) the most viewed portion wasn’t included. But lacking any Kimbo anticipation, last night’s fights pulled a mere 2.62 million and a 1.0/3 from 9pm-11pm.
Not a good number at all for EliteXC, the 4.3 to 2.6 million viewer drop represents a 40% dip from May. That number may increase slightly as all the markets come in but would still have to be below expectations. While the numbers are down, it is unsure what effect this number will have on the planned October CBS show. With CBS/Showtime’s increasing ownership stake in ProElite, EliteXC would look to have a wider leeway with respect to the ratings number.
UPDATED: Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting the show got a 1.9 rating on the overnight. When all markets finish reporting in the numbers should bump up a tenth or two for either a 2.0 or a 2.1. This would fall into the low 2 range that MMAPayout.com felt would be a decent number for the show, per our show preview
Rating Expectations
Without the high profile fighters of the first card, ProElite and CBS are both admittedly coming into this card with muted expectations. While a rating somewhere in the 2.5 range would be an excellent overall rating for the show, they are probably looking at somewhere in the low 2’s. Anything below a 2 would have to be a troubling sign to both Elite and CBS and a cause for concern.
