DREAM 16 was placed on network prime time (Tokyo Broadcasting System) once again on 9/25/10 as part of the network’s MMA/Boxing doubleheader titled “The Martial Arts Festival of Autumn”.
The event did a 11.9 rating, peaking at 18.1 for the Satoshi Ishii vs. Minowaman fight. The event was aired after a boxing title bout between Japanese WBA title holder Kaiki Kameda and challenger Takefumi Sakata, which pulled in a 14.8 rating.
For the time slot, DREAM on TBS finished in 4th place behind shows televised on Fuji TV, TV Asahi, and Nippon TV. The event was the number 1 rated sports program for the week, placing ahead of Sumo which did a 10.9 earlier in the week. DREAM finished second in ratings trailing only the boxing bout aired just before it as part of the fight festival double header.
Payout Perspective:
The rating number DREAM 16 pulled, considering the number boxing pulled in before it, has to be considered an okay result, though it was clearly not a success and also not a failure. Typically for Japanese events on network prime time, they expect you to get above a 10.0 rating to not be considered a failure and around a 20.0 to be considered a huge success. DREAM 16 and the boxing bout both drew 11.9 and 14.8 ratings, which is a decline from the previous fight festival on NYE but gives them another shot to make a huge impression on 2010’s NYE Dynamite!! event.
Satoshi Ishii is currently seen by TBS and FEG as a ratings attraction, and is the reason the network scrambled to get him on the event on short notice. Ishii along with Sakuraba, were the two fighters the televised event was built around and whose fights were shown in their entirety. The network scrambled to get the Japanese star (2008 Japanese Olympic Judo Gold Medalist) on the event after a few key DREAM fighters (“Kid” Yamamoto and DREAM FW champ Fabiano Fernandes) were not able to be secured for the event. Ishii was coming into this televised event off the NYE Dynamite!! event back in 2009, were they pulled a 16.7 peak rating during the Ishii vs Yoshida and Masato vs Souwer portion of the event, the most FEG had seen on TBS since 2006. It is expected that TBS and FEG are now in talks to secure Ishii for the 2010 NYE Dynamite!! event.
I just cross my fingers and keep hoping that Dream can turn it around. I thought they were going to PPV in Japan. If they are going to do that Dynamite would be the obvious choice to do that with. Any one know if that is going to happen?
jv:
Have not heard anything about a PPV, but that model won’t work in Japan anytime soon, and not well enough to keep them going.
Any info on the K1 rating? Watched it on HD Net, must say it was the best event I have seen this year so far.
mmaguru:
Yup, coming up sir!
=)