MMA Junkie reports that the UFC 134 Prelims airing on Spike TV scored an average of 1.3 million viewers. In spite of power outages and a hurricane on the East Coast of the United States, the viewership remained solid.
Via MMA Junkie:
UFC 134 took place Aug. 27 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. It was the UFC’s first event in Brazil since 1998. Spike TV’s “UFC Prelims” special followed a preliminary-card stream on Facebook and preceded the night’s pay-per-view main card, which saw Silva defend his middleweight title with a one-sided beatdown of Yushin Okami.
To make up to those that missed the prelims, Spike is re-airing the show on Thursday preceded by an Anderson Silva marathon featuring some of his greatest hits.
Payout Perspective:
Good numbers despite power outages which could bode well for the PPV buy rate. The move to re-air the prelims is a good move by Spike TV which will use the replay as a lead-in to TNA Wrestling. The Anderson Silva marathon also serves as another ratings boost for Spike TV as it will take advantage of the UFC library before it officially leaves for Fox.
I am seeing a ton of Bellator commercials on Spike. Some are very cleaver like this one below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC65fpt6g4M
It seems clear that the Spike slot might not already be decided but Bellator has a huge advantage going on at the very least.