MMA Junkie reports that last Friday’s TUF Live on FX scored an all-time low of 821,000 viewer average. Its the second time this season that the series has set its all-time ratings low.
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
TUF Live Episode 9: 954,000 viewers
TUF Live Episode 10: 948,000 viewers
Payout Perspective:
This is disappointing considering there were two fights on the card and we got to know the fighter that would replace Dominick Cruz. We’ll see what the numbers are for the Countdown show which followed TUF Live. If it did better, we might deduce that TUF Live just isn’t doing it for UFC fans this time around.
I think they are going to have to replace TUF with another program. FOX and the UFC have an agreement for this show. But clearly it cant continue for 9 years. They want an over haul. But at this point even if they were able to create the next big thing. It would be doomed under the TUF name. People are tired of the concept which TUF indicates and now TUF numbers have dropped so low there are to few people to even see the changes and no one will go back to see any changes later. This is clear by how things went this season. The season is actually good. Yet ratings decline. Then when the fights are great there was no one watching. When people do hear the fights and the season are good they are so tired of the name and format they just done care. They will have to replace TUF with another Idea. With these ratings and such a large drop in a single week and being so far behind previous years. I think we can offically say the series has been ran into the ground. It is to the point that word of mouth cant save it and changes would be pointless.
TUF is like that friend you once had that took the wrong path. You had lot of good times together but you went your seperate way. Now you hear he is off drugs and got a good job and is a real good guy now. You are happy for him but you have moved on and have no interest in being friends again. TUF getting those friends/fans back will be impossible.
I see 2012 as the beginning of the end for the UFC.
Bellator will be a major player next year no doubt about it. All BFC has to do is to bring back some old washed up MMA names that resonate with the general public and viola, instant traction.
The Avengers is still running, I guess
That damn solar eclipse..
Sampson,
Since you are doubt-free as to Bellator’s success, would you care to make a wager? I’m going to bet that Bellator on Spike has lower ratings than UFC on FX and Fox shows. What odds will you give me?
Nobody outside of the hardcore fanbase is aware of Bellator’s existence. Sure, Viacom now owns a majority stake, but that in and of itself doesn’t mean much other than a perceived commitment to the product. How will they become a “major player” when no casual fans have even heard of them?
Sampson, sometimes you have balanced opinions, but too often you seem to have some sort of blind bias against the UFC. Sure the FOX ratings have slid, but that’s part and parcel with the choice of date, as well as the lineup on this last card that didn’t resonate with casual fans. The FX cards are doing just fine, which a lot of people seem to ignore because all the media articles cover the low ratings of TUF (who cares? TUF can die and it won’t hurt the UFC) and the FOX show. “UFC” is a nationally (and internationally) recognized brand. Bellator… look, I enjoy Bellator’s shows immensely. They have a lot of very talented fighters in their lower weight divisions (kind of reminds me of the WEC) and consistently put on exciting fights. However, putting on exciting fights isn’t enough. The last UFC on FOX show had a slough of exciting bouts, yet received no hype and no real buzz post-event. If the UFC can’t succeed on FOX with exciting fights alone, that bodes ill for Bellator’s chances at breaking through. The organization has been run extremely well from a sporting perspective, but the format is a bit of a hindrance to their ability to put on the fights that people want to see, when they make sense. There’s just no way that Bellator can overtake the UFC in the near future. They don’t have an established brand that people recognize, they don’t have a lot of marketable stars (even Alvarez pulled a few flops in the ratings department), they don’t have the money (although we’ll have to see how much Viacom is willing to invest in the product – there’s no certainty in regards to that) to compete with Zuffa over top tier talent, and they have a format that dictates a lot of their matches, which takes away their ability to put on fights that make the most sense at any particular time. It’s an uphill battle for Bellator, and while I certainly hope they succeed, this “slam dunk” assumption is just asinine. The UFC does indeed need to figure out how to pull better ratings on big FOX, but the FX numbers should increase as more and more people become aware that the channel is the new home of the UFC. I have a sinking feeling that A LOT of casual UFC fans who continue to watch the product on SPIKE will vanish once the brand does, while some will stick around to see Bellator. The product is just too different to convert the majority of the viewers. The lower weight divisions in Bellator are exciting and impressive, and seem to be on par with the UFC’s, but other divisions show the glaring superiority of the UFC’s upper weight classes (Bellator’s heavyweights… I have been mocked when showing their fights to casual fan friends).
As for TUF, I just don’t see how the show’s success effects the UFC one way or the other as long as the FX fight cards draw well. It’s a stale show that’s ran for almost 15 seasons and probably needs to be scrapped. That’s not the UFC’s fault; there’s just nothing left that can be done with the thing. Imagine if TUF was scrapped: would it really matter? And if you think so, then why? It no longer produces much talent for the org and it fails to hype up the fights between the coaches. I really does nothing for the UFC (and doesn’t do much for FX), so why keep it around?
How is 2012 the begining of the end? As long as the UFC has a deal with Fox or can land on another good network there will not die anytime soon. If things get to rough they always have the option of sacrificing a few PPVs and stocking their Fox events to build a fan base for themselves and their fighter right back to the top. Fertita has already said they are going to do less PPVs in the future. Like Michael Van said TUF has no negative impact on UFC at all. No one stops watching the UFC because TUF sucks. It can create fans but it wont lose them.
Funny,
I see you have never attended a math class. The UFC only needed another million viewers to turn a respectable rating with a poor card. There was likely 10 million more people in the theatres that day than a typical Saturday. Stats show most of those extra people were the UFC’s target Demo. Making it very likely lots of them are fans or atleast watch UFC accasionally. Of course there is always something to compete against and the UFC needs to make sure they out out a card that will be higher on peoples priority list so they may not choose “The Avengers” over a UFC next time. My point of bring up the movie to begin with was not to show it was successful but to put it perspective when comparing the ratings to the other FOX cards. This cards didnt complete with anything. IF that was the case for FOX 3 numbers would not have dropped much at all. FOX 1 and 2 events would have taken a rating shit on that weekend if they went against the list of competition. Its always best to be on tv when people having nothing else to do or watch. Its common sense.
Just a slight correction. Check tvbythenumbers. Episode 10 got adjusted up to over 1 million average.
@Diego
Do I think Bellator is going to start doing 2 million live viewers out of the gate?
Nope. That’d be stupid.
However, if they’re able to consistently get 800k to 1.2 million for their shows, that definitely trounces what UFC does on FuelTV and it equals what heir FX shows are currently averaging.
PPV never breaks any huge number so Bellator would start to become on par with their TV exposure. 4 times a year for FOX shows that would pose an average of 3 million live viewers simply won’t do it. It’s not as if FOX replays the event consistently like Spike has in the past. In fact, I’m going as far to say that Bellator replaying the same event 10X per week on Spike provides better exposure for the brand than a one time shot on network TV. Internet exposure is different as UFC has built up their distribution channels quite well. That’s another thing that Bellator can change by pushing their internet channels on the broadcast consistently.
No need for a bet as I’ve just stated what my perspective is. I believe they are realistic.
I’ll say this for Bellator: they are MUCH better than Zuffa when it comes to YouTube highlights and such. Zuffa needs to ease off the copyright restrictions a bit. They don’t allow unauthorized parties to embed PROMO MATERIALS for crying out loud. It’s ridiculous. Also, FUEL TV really needs to lift the region locks from their YouTube channel. It doesn’t matter for me, but I’ve heard A LOT of complaints from fans in the U.K. and elsewhere that they’re locked out of the content, which again, consists mainly of promotional material designed to spark interest in their product. Since FUEL TV isn’t even available in those places, it’s mind boggling.
Sampson,
Notice that I didn’t include Fuel TV or TUF in my proposed bet. I definitely think that Bellator on Spike will beat UFC on Fuel. I don’t think Bellator will beat UFC on Fox or FX. We’ll see.
If Bellator can do ~1M views per episode, with the # of episodes they do per season that would be huge for them. It would mean a lot more money to pay for talent. I wish them the best and I hope Viacom continues to invest in them.
@Diego
The thing you must remember Diego is that since Viacom is invested in the Bellator brand, you must factor in the amount of advertising on Spike they will place for the brand as well as the number of replays taking place on the network consistently.
Live is important. There’s no doubt about it but the cummulative views on one network are also very important.
Like I said, 3 million live views on FOX or 5 million cummulative views on Spike… which one is better?
2012-2013 will be very interesting for the MMA landscape. FOX most definitely has an “out clause” that would allow them to discard the UFC deal if they so choose.
I believe that Bellator can use certain tactics to build their brand quickly much like WCW did a few years back in order to gain ground on the WWE. They basically used old names that still resonated with the public at a time when the WWE was trying to move ahead and push new names. This is exactly the transition taking place with the UFC right now.