MMA Junkie reports Bellator rebounded from its worst ratings of the season hitting an average of 199,000 for its Easter weekend offering. Bellator 42 on MTV2 included a solid 180,000 viewers for its replay.
Via MMA Junkie:
In addition to the 199,000 viewers who tuned in for the live broadcast, 180,000 tuned in for an immediate replay on MTV2. That’s a 59 percent increase over Bellator 41, which drew 132,000 for the first airing and 107,000 for the replay.
The first-run season-four ratings include:
- Bellator 35 ratings: 200,000 viewers
- Bellator 36 ratings: 230,000
- Bellator 37 ratings: 173,000
- Bellator 38 ratings: 150,000
- Bellator 39 ratings: 174,000
- Bellator 40 ratings: 218,000
- Bellator 41 ratings: 132,000
- Bellator 42 ratings: 199,000
Payout Perspective:
The yo-yo continues for Bellator ratings. It’s a pleasant surprise considering the Easter holiday and the fact that Bellator was going up against another boxing event on Showtime. Bellator head Bjorn Rebney has maintained that the ratings will eventually come with the goal of establishing its core audience. He also stated that MTV execs are happy with the overall viewership for its Saturday night time slot.
I’m sure MTV is happy, but how much are they willing to pay for those ratings? The can show old re-runs of Real World or Cribs essentially for free and probably get around 100k viewers. I would like to know how much Bellator is getting per show from MTV. A core audience of 200k viewers on an ad-driven network won’t keep the promotion going. Which is a shame because I enjoy their product.
IIRC, MTV2 was getting around 80K in that time slot prior to signing Bellator, so even the low-water mark of 130K represents a pretty substantial improvement.
It’s an improvement over something that cost nothing, so there is still a question of how much MTV is willing to pay for something that is 1.5x to 2.5x better than something which costs nothing. My guess is not much.
You cant run a network with all reruns. MTV will gladly take original programming they are making money and getting new viewers with rather than turn their network into the “Real World rerun channel”. Reruns have no potential. Bellator has huge upside potential given the growth of the sport and it basically being #2. If it gets the following other #2 Orgs have had then MTV will be sitting on a gold mine. All that is needed to to create a few stars.
People, Bellator is not getting a dime from MTV2, it the other way around. This is a time buy or barter deal for Bellator, and they also most likely have to pay for all production. Most likely Bellator gets half the ad time to sell and keep, and MTV2 gets half the ad time to sell and keep. Great deal for MTV2 as they get free programming!