In an email provided to MMA Payout by Spike TV, ratings for episode No. 6 of The Ultimate Fighter earned an average of 1.7 million viewers and a 1.3 household rating. A slight slide from last week’s season high.
TUF aired at 10pm on Wednesday night. It scored a 1.71 in M18-49 and a 1.94 in M18-34.
The quarter hours for TUF are as follows: 1.14/1.19/1.33/1.42.
Payout Perspective:
Despite a dip from last week’s episode, viewers were treated to a pair of TUF fights with exciting finishes. Cody McKenzie’s swift disposal of Marc Stevens was impressive. The look on Josh Koscheck’s face was priceless. Does anyone think it was planned that Jonathan Brookins (former Bellator fighter) fought on TUF the night before the big Bellator card? Conspiracy theory I know, but it still seems suspicious.
Was the slight decrease in ratings a sign of Brocktober fatigue or a result of MLB playoff baseball?
I think the comments from the UFC 120: Payout Perspective are apropos here as well. Ratings seem to move around a certain band. It seems like Spike is pretty much saturated and as many people are watching as are going to watch. Those numbers are solid, but not really growing.
The next step for UFC programming should be to try to break into a new audience – perhaps they’ve hit all the 18-34 year olds who are interested in the sport and it’s time to start converting some new demographics. Spike programming is targeted to 18-34 yr olds, so that is going to involve a shift to a new network. The alternative is waiting as the current demo matures while continuing to convert the younger generations, but that’s tantamount to giving up the fight for market share.