MMA Junkie reports that the eighth episode of TUF Live averaged 929,000 viewers. Its the lowest ratings ever for the TUF series.
TUF Live Episode 1: 1.28 million viewers
TUF Live Episode 2: 1.1 million viewers
TUF Live Episode 3: 1.2 million viewers
TUF Live Episode 4: 1.1 million viewers
TUF Live Episode 5: 947,000 viewers
TUF Live Episode 6: 1 million viewers
TUF Live Episode 7: 1 million viewers
TUF Live Episode 8: 929,000 viewers
Payout Perspective:
Did Zuffa execs think that the TUF franchise would fall this far in the ratings when moving it to FX and on Fridays? TUF Live went unopposed (no Bellator) last week and fell to the lowest point in the franchise. Its a sign that viewers are not really interested in this season.
Just let it die Zuffa. Most shows don’t even make it 15 seasons… did they think it was going to become like “Days of Our Lives” and run in perpetuity?
You have to remember that 900k people is still 900k people that watch these young fighters on the way up. Very good exposure for the next crop of fighters.
If it makes money it makes sense. As long as they are getting high enough ratings to make a profit on the show’s production then keep filming.
Its a good show it just sucks that about 20 minutes are what happen the previous episode. They only show a little of the guys training and they dont really focus and introduce any of them for people to pick who they are going for.
The thing that really bothers me is they had a chance to fix what i felt was a problem for me over the last few years and that is the constant never changing athmosphere. They went to the live format so they no longer have to lock the guys up to protect the outcome of the show. Yet the first thing they do is lock them all up in that house for even longer than any other season before. So we get more of the same crap. This may change later but it is unexcuseable imo. This shows that they clearly didnt see the atmosphere being a problem all this time and had no plans to change it.
Why not allow 2 people each week to leave the house? This makes it easy to follow them with a camera crew. Im sure 16 fighters all going different directions would be a mess. But 2 fighters each week. Have a challenge to decide which two. Maybe the two fighters who fight that week get to training but leave the house that week when they are not training. There are many options that would give the show a new feel and a shot in the arm.