Spike Continues Anti-UFC Rhetoric By Touting Past Ratings
by Josh Nason on Jan 24, 2012 9:01 AM EST
in UFC News
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Less than a month into 2012, Spike has given another preview as to what their goals seem to be this year when it comes to the UFC: taunt the existing product by reminding people about the good old days when the two were live programming partners.
The latest snipe came Monday when Spike executives sent out an email comparing last Friday's UFC on FX debut to three Fight Nights they aired in 2011. According to Spike, the FX show averaged a 1.19 rating with males 18-49, a 1.20 with males 18-34 and garnered 1.3 million viewers.
They pointed out their three Fight Night events last year averaged a 1.8 rating with both males 18-49 and 18.34 with 1.9 million viewers. Those three events were January 22 (Melvin Guillard vs. Evan Dunham/Fight For The Troops 2), March 26 (Phil Davis vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira) and September 17 (Jake Ellenberger vs. Jake Shields).
While both networks are seen in roughly 100 million homes, it's worth noting that all three Fight Night events aired on Saturdays as opposed to FX on Friday. One could also argue the star power of the March co-main event with Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson and the September Ellenberger vs. Shields main event was greater than anything on the FX show.
Spike's counter-programming of a Guillard marathon brought in 648,000 viewers at 9 PM EST, 751,000 viewers at 10 PM EST and 543,000 viewers at 11 PM EST. The UFC on FX prelims from 6-9 PM EST on Fuel TV averaged 148,000 viewers.
Again, Spike is paying the UFC to air second run programming in the final year of their contract before Bellator moves over in 2013. Speculation from industry insiders is that Spike's efforts are meant to irritate Zuffa to the point they buy back the rights to the programming, allowing Bellator to come over early.
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Oh snap!
Forget the live events. I’m going to watch re-runs on Spike in celebration of the old days! I love to live in the past.
by benhamil on Jan 24, 2012 9:05 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Spike is FINISHED without UFC. Without them they have NOTHING.
I love Bellator, but it is not going to bring huge ratings they think it is going to.
Sheeeeeeeee-it
Basically this
Spike is in jealous ex-girlfriend mode right now.
aimed at the crotch...
by Damon O. on Jan 24, 2012 9:25 AM EST up reply actions 5 recs
It cracks me up, really.
The Spike brass originally made it appear as thou gh they were going t
"Today, a joke was murdered in cold blood" - Hendo_One-Shot
by dajulzta on Jan 24, 2012 10:24 AM EST via Android app up reply actions
Sorry about that.
I was going to say it looked as though they were going to be good sports about this whole thing, and then they pull little stunts like this!
"Today, a joke was murdered in cold blood" - Hendo_One-Shot
by dajulzta on Jan 24, 2012 10:27 AM EST via Android app up reply actions
i logged in just to say this
I cannot imagine an executive sending out an email bragging about how they used to do it better.
Pathetic to say the least
by troyd on Jan 24, 2012 12:00 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Spike TV is a fan of fire; hates bridges
"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."
Daniel James Miller Foundation - Please donate, every penny helps.
by menckenstein on Jan 24, 2012 9:11 AM EST reply actions 10 recs
interested in seeing how their new mmajunkie weekly tv show will go
seeing it’ll be airing on spike and needs ufc access
I’m not resting until I’m officially Anderson Silva status.- Jon "Bones" Jones
lol
This must be the work of some Viacom higher-up. Dana White is as bullheaded as it gets; there’s no way he (and Lorenzo) buy back the rights, especially after this kind of behavior.
So long, bitch you did me so wrong
I don’t wanna go on
Living in this world without you
Visit fiveouncesofpain.com
by RECE ROCK on Jan 24, 2012 9:28 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
Aw look at daddy's little girl...
SIT DOWN BITCH, YOU MOVE AGAIN I’LL BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU! DON’T MAKE ME WAKE THIS BABY, SHE DON’T NEED TO SEE WHAT I’M ABOUT TO DO! QUIT CRYING BITCH, WHY YOU ALWAYS MAKE ME SHOUT AT YOU!?
BUT NOT FOR HIM TO TAKE MY PLACE, ARE YOU OUT YOUR MIND? THIS COUCH, THIS TV, THIS WHOLE HOUSE IS MINE! HOW COULD YOU LET HIM SLEEP IN OUR BED? LOOK IT KIM, LOOK AT YOUR LITTLE BOYFRIEND NOW, HE’S DEAD!
…some shit like that, it’s been a while since I’ve listened to the song, so I’m sure I messed up the lyrics a bit.
Anderson Silva, Edson Barboza, Jose Aldo, Charles Oliveira, Thiago Alves = Muay Thai wrecking machines!
by SentientAndroid on Jan 24, 2012 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
O lord brings me back to high school
by youfailme91 on Jan 24, 2012 10:58 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I hope they buy the programing back so Bellator can go to Spike in HD and off horrible mtv2
everything is an act......... T.N.Crew Bronx 13 1/2 12 juror's ,1 judge = 1/2 a chance
by biggant on Jan 24, 2012 9:41 AM EST via mobile reply actions 2 recs
Ratings and bitching aside...
I’ve gotta say, this card was great. The fights (prelims and the maincard) and the production was awesome.
Hardly anyone will care about Spike's press release
Spike is still giving UFC publicity by airing their shows. All it means is on certain nights, cable television through Spike, FX and Fuel is dominated by UFC programming.
Bloody Elbow Grappling Editor.
Follow me on Twitter @KJGould
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Spike is available in way more places.
If you were in Canada (well ontario at least) you didn’t see this card if you only have basic cable.
"If you think, you're late. If you're late, you muscle. If you muscle, you get tired. If you tired, you die. When you die is when you tap..."
-Saulo Ribeiro
Are you talking about FX or Fuel?
Who's the only one here who knows illegal ninja moves from the government?
No holds barred, no time for move fakin,
Gots to get the loot so I can bring home the bacon - Charlie Brown
All UFC content in Canada is shown on Sportsnet.
We only recently got FX in Canada as of this month.
Sheeeeeeeee-it
If FX is what he meant then the numbers suggest it’s a wash…
While both networks are seen in roughly 100 million homes
But if Canada only recently got FX, then those numbers should rise. Regardless, more people watch the UFC than Bellator.
Who's the only one here who knows illegal ninja moves from the government?
No holds barred, no time for move fakin,
Gots to get the loot so I can bring home the bacon - Charlie Brown
The Card was only shown on Sportsnet One where I was.
That was channel 99. Regular sportsnet was showing hockey.
"If you think, you're late. If you're late, you muscle. If you muscle, you get tired. If you tired, you die. When you die is when you tap..."
-Saulo Ribeiro
Canada doesn't get Fuel at all.
From what I saw, this card was only available in Ontario on Sportsnet One, which is a premium channel here.
"If you think, you're late. If you're late, you muscle. If you muscle, you get tired. If you tired, you die. When you die is when you tap..."
-Saulo Ribeiro
I was going to talk smack about how Canada sucks
But it doesn’t.
Who's the only one here who knows illegal ninja moves from the government?
No holds barred, no time for move fakin,
Gots to get the loot so I can bring home the bacon - Charlie Brown
by tigerlee on Jan 24, 2012 11:04 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
And if you have Sportsnet, you got to see the Prelims and main card without having to change channels.
I honestly loved having it on a Friday. Finish work, come home and get to watch MMA from 6-11. Its like a dream come true
Sheeeeeeeee-it
I didn't get the fights on Sportsnet
Only on Sportsnet One.
"If you think, you're late. If you're late, you muscle. If you muscle, you get tired. If you tired, you die. When you die is when you tap..."
-Saulo Ribeiro
The problem is the average/casual UFC fans are morons and can get duped into watching reruns instead of the live product.
by The_Devil_You_Know on Jan 24, 2012 10:01 AM EST reply actions
If Spike continues to carry 600k+ viewers into their first season of Bellator
That will triple the viewership of Bellator overnight. I wish I knew more about the deal between Bellator and Spike. The added revenues from ad sharing could greatly influence the final payout of the tournaments and the amount Bellator could pay for both potential free agents and “super” bouts.
Throw in some well-timed co-promotion events with DREAM, One-FC and ProElite, and we may actually have a real potential challenger to the throne.
Soccer...sort of like gay hockey on a giant lawn - Scottidog 1/12/12
It will be interesting to track throughout the year how these Spike shows do in the ratings. Twelve months is a LONG time. I suspect their ratings will begin a steady decline as more and more fans catch on that the Fox networks are the UFC’s new content partners.
I agree. A year is a long time.
but 715k peak viewers for a re-run is really, really solid. The ION live pre-lims were getting around 800K, so it tells me that viewers associate the UFC with Spike enought o make it a possibility toi channel those viewers over to Bellatore and create MMA fans. Spike will need to focus on the fights that Bellator has staged that are top of the heap fights or brutal KO’s. Heavy on Alvarez, Lombard, Curran and the Pitbull brothers, light on Askren and Conrad.
Not saying they will pull it off, but it excites me for MMA. With HDNet becoming the new reality station, I suspect Spike has the ability to make a play for all of HDNet’s MMA rights and corner all upper-tier MMA that is not the UFC.
Soccer...sort of like gay hockey on a giant lawn - Scottidog 1/12/12
HDNet (AXS.tv) isn’t giving up on MMA just yet. Despite the rumors, Mark Cuban knows that MMA is still growing, he’s a fan and he can make money off of it.
Hate to sound like Subo 2.0, but Bellator won’t draw anywhere near the UFC numbers because they don’t have the name or the depth of talent. They can be a solid 3rd, but Viacom is no where near Zuffa/Fox in terms of MMA market strategy.
Who's the only one here who knows illegal ninja moves from the government?
No holds barred, no time for move fakin,
Gots to get the loot so I can bring home the bacon - Charlie Brown
They’ll probably just go from 150-250k viewers to 350-500k, depending on the card. It’s very unfortunate that they couldn’t of began to broadcast Bellator this year in lieu of showing content from their UFC library; people will begin to realize that SPIKE is no longer the home for live MMA, and once even the old UFC content is gone they’ll tune out. This year, they could’ve put Bellator on SPIKE so that casual fans would discover Bellator while still looking for UFC content. The only thing Bellator/SPIKE have going for it is the lack of reach of FUEL TV, but who knows what that will be like next year.
I would have a horseshoe surgically implanted in my ass just so Brock would pull it out and beat me over the head with it while I pleasure myself.
PS: Melvin and I say: Please visit the
Daniel James Miller Foundation and donate.
by Machiel Van on Jan 24, 2012 11:24 AM EST up reply actions
Cuban will sell anything for hte right price.
And will actively shop his MMA catalogue if the reality shows Seacrest produces ourdraw the live MMA events. He has said MMA will not change, but I will wait and see to judge.
Bellator does not have to draw UFC numbers. They won’t. If they double their current viewership to 400K average per live show, that is a BIG step. 400k is 60% of the viewership of a re-run of a UFC fighter marathon and only 20% of the highest rated Spike/UFC prelims.
Doubling their viewership is an entirely doable goal without being extremely optimistic. Extremely optimistic would be 600k viewers, which is a possibility within the first year if Bellator continues to showcase fights like Alvarez/Chandler.
Soccer...sort of like gay hockey on a giant lawn - Scottidog 1/12/12
Doubling their viewership is an entirely doable goal without being extremely optimistic.
From what I understand, Bellator’s plan is to run on Fridays so that the don’t run against the Saturday UFC schedule. Fridays are notoriously bad for MMA (as seen on FX), so it’s a tricky situation for Spike. But hey, it has to be better than whatever the hell they show on Fridays at the moment.
MMA is on the rise and I’ll watch both days (or at least DVR it), but I’m not sure that the same goes for the casual fan that is going to wonder why Rogan isn’t calling these Friday fights.
Who's the only one here who knows illegal ninja moves from the government?
No holds barred, no time for move fakin,
Gots to get the loot so I can bring home the bacon - Charlie Brown
Heard that before, still don't believe it.
Who's the only one here who knows illegal ninja moves from the government?
No holds barred, no time for move fakin,
Gots to get the loot so I can bring home the bacon - Charlie Brown
Throw in some well-timed co-promotion events with DREAM, One-FC and ProElite, and we may actually have a real potential challenger to the throne.
Come on now Ulf, When I read post like that I just laugh. especially with those promtions you named,do you know how many times these mma co-promtion fantasy’s have been posted and brought up over the years ? thousands,And more important how many times they have all failed or nothing materializes at all.
Its makes me want to go back and drag out all the old post saying all MMA talent will soon be moving over to Affliction. Or how the Pro Elite/SF co-promotion was soon to rival the UFC. those are just a few examples of the so many.
It just shocks and amazes me still that some fans still bring up these Fantasy’s and wild message board theories that Some magic co-promotion will just happen or some new super MMA promotion will come along and just sweep Zuffa out of the way and become the new #1. I thought that just maybe After Affliction went under we would stop seeing them but NO.
There was a time when K-mart had dominating market share over Walmart as well.
Rome was not built in a day, and unlike any other “challenger” to the UFC, which funnily enough passed Pride FC only 7 short years ago as the #1 MMA promotion in the world, Bellator has a deep pockets owner, a cable TV deal, national sponsors and a format that is different enough from the UFC brand that it will always have a chance at luring young prospects for the chance to win a much larger sum from winning the toiurnament than they would get from even an initial 4 fight deal (almost unheard of) from the UFC.
Baby steps. Don’t for a minute think that the UFC didn’t overpay for SF due to the hype they got from their HW GP. The difference with Bellator is that Viacom won’t sell to the Ferititas.
Even if the possibility at this time is remote, it is still possible and Bellator has so far made none of the mistakes of its predecessors.
Soccer...sort of like gay hockey on a giant lawn - Scottidog 1/12/12
nice strawman
If it is out of the realm of your possibility, then just don’t reply with your self-created hyperbole of a super-promotion to combat the UFC.
Some of us actually like to watch businesses progress and make good decisions to grow into something more than they are now.
Cheers.
Soccer...sort of like gay hockey on a giant lawn - Scottidog 1/12/12
People need to re-find the UFC now. If they settled on assuming UFC would be on SPIKE then they probably didn’t change their DVR/TIVO settings to include the new channels Certainly there would be an adjustment period.
It also doesn’t help that many systems don’t carry FUEL, and those that do place it on a special “tier” so that it’s not readily available.
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
Mohandas Gandhi
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
Muhammad Ali
"If MMA is like dog fighting, those are some pretty fucking smart dogs."
"I don’t want to lick any butt."
GSP
If I was dana..
I’d view this as free promotion! What’s better than the UFC on one channel.. Two channels. Is send spike a thank you letter just to piss em off.
by kinghaze on Jan 24, 2012 11:07 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Childish, unprofessional, ridiculous,
but amusing. Something tells me Spike will never mention the UFC again come Jan. 2013…
I would have a horseshoe surgically implanted in my ass just so Brock would pull it out and beat me over the head with it while I pleasure myself.
PS: Melvin and I say: Please visit the
Daniel James Miller Foundation and donate.
I just don’t get what spikes end game is ? Even with there counter programming the UFC pulling a 1.3 on FX buy Meltzers reports is pretty solid, he and Brain Alvarez did not think the show would even do a 1.1 so a 1.3 is not to shabby, and like Meltzer says all this is going to do in a long run is hurt spike and Bellator ounce it starts airing, buy the time Bellator is on spike the UFC’s shows on FX and Fuel will be more known to the casual fan and they Zuffa can do a hell of alot more damage to Spike/Bellator’s ratings then vise vera now.
I don’t know what their end game is, but their present game is to get good ratings. UFC reruns (especially on a day where mma fans are home and watching TV) will do better than this Friday’s lineup of Walking Tall at 8 and 10. I don’t know what they plan to gain or that they do gain anything from putting out these press releases after the fact now, but airing their highest rated shows when fans of it are home watching TVs has always been a smart business idea for them.
true but its like a robbing Peter to pay Paul mentality in my eyes.It’s not like they are killer ratings eather, The pay off now for the end result is not at all worth it at all. All I see this doing is #1 actually promoting the UFC more and the worst part when Bellator does Air on spike getting them just killed with counter programming.
they are killer ratings for spike, and counterprogramming hasn’t successfully killed anything. Fox has enough of their own stuff going on, they don’t need to bother with it. Spike counterprogrammed with UFC stuff because their options were Manswers or UFC reruns, Fox, FX, and Fuel are not in that situation (well fuel maybe, but they can’t hurt spike).
Are these figures international?
Or just the U.S?
by Un Sandpiper on Jan 24, 2012 5:15 PM EST up reply actions
Spike's theme song for 2011-2012
Anderson Silva, Edson Barboza, Jose Aldo, Charles Oliveira, Thiago Alves = Muay Thai wrecking machines!
by SentientAndroid on Jan 24, 2012 1:06 PM EST reply actions
Is this some kind of animal cruelty awareness image?
The pig in that photo doesn’t look starved or abused really.
"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."
Daniel James Miller Foundation - Please donate, every penny helps.
by menckenstein on Jan 24, 2012 1:36 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Dude, I'm going to atheist hell for laughing at that
But honestly I was surprised at an article I read recently talking about her weight loss. She lost some weight apparently, but she still looks unhealthily large.
by discoandherpes on Jan 24, 2012 2:13 PM EST up reply actions
Does anyone have any insights into the actual deal?
Because to my understanding, they have the library for the rest of 2012, but was it completely bought out at the outset or do they still have to pay the UFC? That would be ridiculous if they were trying to counterprogram the UFC by putting on their content for which they’ll have to write a check.
"To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential." - Bruce Lee
by Genki Sudo's Choreographer on Jan 24, 2012 9:53 PM EST reply actions
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