UFC
The Ultimate Fighter 13's penultimate episode ties for season low with one million viewers
May 26, 2011 - 10:30:14 PM The Ultimate Fighter 13's penultimate episode ties for season low with one million viewers

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Wednesday's penultimate episode of The Ultimate Fighter 13 on Spike took a dip back to the season low, bringing in just one million viewers for the hour long broadcast, according to figures emailed by Spike officials to MMATorch.

The hour was perhaps the most entertaining of the season, with the final two quarterfinal bouts bringing teammates Chuck O'Neill and Tony Ferguson into the semifinals of the season 13 welterweight tournament, as well as Ferguson's alcohol-induced breakdown to close out the episode.

However, it was up against heavy competition during its timeslot, with the NBA Playoffs on ESPN bringing 7 million viewers, including a 4.96 rating in one of Spike's key demos of men 18-49, and a 5.1 in men 18-34.

But it wasn't just from sports that the demo was hit, as the American Idol finale on FOX garnered a 7.06 in men 18-49 and a 5.39 in men 18-34. That final episode of the show's tenth season drew 29.3 million viewers.

By comparison, this episode of TUF garnered just a 1.0 rating in men 18-49 and a .9 in men 18-34.

Penick's Analysis: With the season winding down, Brock Lesnar no longer fighting Junior Dos Santos and the heavy competition from two programs that drew tons of viewers in the key demos make this number not surprising in the least. Next week's show should bounce up for the final two fights before the finale, as there won't be the major network shows in that timeslot and it shouldn't be up against anything major in sports, but overall this season has underperformed from the start.