UFC Primetime series St. Pierre vs. Shields debuted on ESPN2 last night to the surprise many as the airing came with no notice. In addition, UFC Primetime was seen on Spike TV as part of the regular Wednesday night lineup.
MMA Junkie reports:
UFC president Dana White today confirmed the series will continue to air on the all-sports channel as the UFC continues to look for increased viewership on a variety of networks.
No word on whether the UFC and ESPN will broadcast further UFC programming.
UPDATED 4/21/11, 4:35PM: Via MMA Fighting: ESPN reports that “Primetime episode 2 at 11:00 and 11:30 p.m. on ESPN2 generated a combined .3 cable rating.”
Payout Perspective:
The internet was a-twitter last night when UFC Primetime appeared on the “Deuce” without prior notice. It seems strange that there was no lead-up seeing as the UFC’s intent was to produce more viewers to the show. Is this the equivalent of a product “soft launch”? Doesn’t the same night airing of its series cannibalize ratings on Spike TV? Ratings will be interesting to compare the first two weeks on Spike TV versus next week’s airing on ESPN2.
Leave a Reply