MMA Junkie’s John Morgan tweeted that the ratings for Episode 7 of Fight Master on Spike TV earned an average of 398,000 viewers. After a week of a ratings rebound, this is the lowest point for the Bellator reality series.
It was even more discouraging as viewership in the 18-49 demo was down 47% compared to a rerun of COPS, the show’s normal lead-in.
Episode 3: 676,000 viewers – DVR + 3; 810,000 viewers
Episode 4: 505,000 viewers – DVR + 3; 607,000 viewers
Episode 5: 441,000 viewers – DVR +3; 498,000 viewers
Episode 6: 629,000 viewers – DVR +3; 745,000 viewers.
Episode 7: 398,000 viewers
Payout Perspective:
The numbers are discouraging and reflect the instability of the series – a characteristic of Bellator live events when it was on MTV2. The viewership almost dropped in half from episode 6 and we should be getting to the meat of the series.
Show is boring, I forward to the fights. the coaches arent interesting, not likable, the fighters arent very good, its alot like TUF only not as good imo.
Also always wondered why the UFC events never get that DVR + 3 rating.
Every Bellator event, live event and FM gets it but I’ve never seen a single UFC event, Fox, Fight Night or TUF get it. Why?
I still think FM gets a second season only because they have to try and keep this going, if Viacom pulls out it wouldnt be a good sign. I think the plan is def to get Tito and Page on the show, both are names and personalities. Maybe get Mo or I believe the deal with Eddie called for him getting a spot on this show so if he resigns he could be on it.
I could see Tito, Page, Eddie, Mo as the next coaches. So they def should get a second season no matter how terrible the ratings are. Also think they would be smart to move the show to THurs after TNA. Even at 11pm I think they’d do better than Weds at 10pm.
Its clear the TNA lead in added a good 200-400k viewers.
DVR +3 numbers are rarely reported because advertisers don’t give a shit about DVR viewings (since everyone fast-forwards over the commercials). The only reason to report them is because they make your numbers look slightly less embarrassing.
Too bad about the ratings. Fight Master is a better show than The Ultimate Fighter. The pacing is better so I don’t end up getting bored before they show the fight as often happens to me when I watch The Ultimate Fighter. The fights have been entertaining and at least 2 fights per show. The UFC should hire the same production crew for Fight Master and re-do The Ultimate Fighter in the same style.
In any case, another sign of the bad future ahead for MMA in general.