MMATORCH
THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR
REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
HOME | CONTACT USABOUT USFACEBOOKTWITTERLIVECASTPODCASTFREE IPHONE APPFREE AMAZON APPRSS
JUMP TO A LIST OF ARTICLES ABOUT ANY CATEGORY -




GET OUR FREE PHONE APPS FOR IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID, AND AMAZON: JUST SEARCH "MMATORCH" IN YOUR PHONE'S APP STORE OR MARKETPLACE


Opinion & Analysis : Penick's Take
PENICK: Strikeforce on CBS draws good ratings, but were they enough?

Email This Article - Click for Printer-Friendly Page
Or Spread the World Below...
__


Nov 11, 2009 - 7:48:01 PM

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce on CBS drew the third highest rating for a mixed martial arts event on the network, bringing an average of just over 4 million viewers to the two hour timeslot and peaking with 5.46 million viewers for the 11:00-11:15 slot featuring Fedor Emelianenko's victory over Brett Rogers. It was lower than both EliteXC events featuring Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano last year, but still a good rating for Strikeforce in their CBS debut.

With that being said, the numbers are not breathtaking and have already received criticism in some areas and downright vitriol from, you guessed it, UFC President Dana White. In a story by Dave Meltzer at Yahoo! Sports, White is quoted saying, "CBS made its biggest mistake partnering with a tiny, small show with a roster no one cares about. Just because you read on MMA.TV that someone is a superstar doesn’t make it true. This should prove that no one out there gives a [expletive] about Fedor. We’re pulling those numbers on Spike. I mean, how the [expletive] is what they did considered any good in any way, shape or form? What kind of numbers do you think we would pull with a live show on CBS? I’ll tell you. Huge. It would be significantly, significantly more than what they got with these idiots from Showtime."

White also questioned whether Brett Rogers would last more than two minutes against multiple UFC fighters.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker didn't understand why White and the UFC wouldn't be happy with the rating, as he felt everyone doing well simply helped the sport overall.

So the question becomes, while the fight itself reached more eyes than probably should have been expected considering Fedor's past numbers on U.S. events, was this admittedly good number of viewers good enough for Strikeforce and CBS? It's a tough question to answer, because the reality is while the bout had the ninth most viewers in U.S. television history, the event as a whole was still well under the normal viewership for CBS in that timeslot.

The numbers were up in the key MMA demos of men 18-34 and men 18-49, but that rise didn't make up for the loss of viewers in other demographics. Also, while 5.46 million tuned in for the Fedor vs. Rogers fight itself, that number is a bit misleading. Those viewers didn't tune in when the bout was supposed to take place in the last 20 minutes of the two hour timeslot, and it was such an increase from the two hour event itself that most of the viewers tuning in at that time were likely looking for their nightly news. They stuck around and watched the fight, sure, but they weren't there for the remainder of the event and don't mean enough in the long run to CBS execs or advertisers who did not benefit from that increase in viewership.

Fedor's next fight for Strikeforce will have a lot more initial interest than this bout did, but it may not end up taking place on CBS. As of yet, there's no news as to if this show was successful enough to bring a green light for another Strikeforce event on CBS. And if and when that next event takes place, because of the way this first show was sold, Fedor may be the only fighter that will bring in close to that number a second time unless Gina Carano is also on the card. They just haven't built anyone else up enough at this point to put together a really strong draw for CBS the next time out, at least not yet.

And in some ways Dana White is right, because the UFC would pull blockbuster numbers on network television even without their top, top stars; and if Brock Lesnar was in a main event on network television I guarantee it hits ten million viewers, easy. The UFC brand and marketing leading the charge on a network, which is how a deal would have to work for them and one of the reasons they have not appeared on network TV as of yet, would drive more viewers to a Fight Night type card, and a full on pay-per-view worthy card on CBS would have every UFC fan tuning in.

Strikeforce brought in an amicable rating for what could have been expected from them, but it's not set in stone that they'll get another crack at the network spotlight, either. If they don't, it may be another case of a promotion putting the majority of their eggs into one basket and falling short again. The numbers look good, but again the fact is they've still only succeeded in making Fedor a much larger draw and Brett Rogers a much more respected heavyweight. Whether any of that translates into success for they themselves down the road still remains to be seen.

Please Recommend This Article at StumbleUpon...



MORE "Penick's Take" ARTICLES
PENICK'S BLOG: Thoughts on Nick Diaz's drug test failure out of UFC 143
PENICK: UFC 143's Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit - A Round by Round Breakdown of What Actually Happened
UFC 143 "DIAZ VS. CONDIT" PREVIEW: Penick's breakdown and fight picks for Super Bowl weekend event
PENICK: Notebook 1/30 - Chicago memories, UFC on Fox 2 BTS thoughts, Jon Jones on Evans-Davis and heavyweight aspirations
PENICK: UFC on Fox 2 notebook - In person thoughts from the United Center
UFC ON FOX 2 PREVIEW: Penick's breakdown and fight picks for "Evans vs. Davis" headlined event in Chicago


MMATORCH LIVECAST - EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT

ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.


CLICK TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING



LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!

MMATORCH and USA TODAY
UFC VIDEO PRESENTATION


FEATURED MMATORCH EXCLUSIVES

GREG JACKSON ADDRESSES UFC 143 CRITICS

Greg_Jackson_80_1.jpg
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...

*CLICK TO READ ARTICLE

AMADI: WHY DIAZ FIGHTS LIKE HE DOES

Staff10Amadi_70_40.jpg
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...

*CLICK TO READ ARTICLE

KOSCHECK EXPLAINS SPLIT FROM AKA

JoshKoscheck_150_5.jpg
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...

*CLICK TO READ ARTICLE

MMATORCH POLL

SEE PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS


10 HOTTEST MMATORCH ARTICLES
UFC 143 ROUNDTABLE: Should the UFC book a Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz rematch this summer?
ENNIS: Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down for UFC 143 - Carlos Condit, Fools/Crybabies, Bad Judging/Officiating, and more
AMADI: Why Nick Diaz Fights the Way He Does, and Why Carlos Condit Was Right to Avoid It
PENICK: UFC 143's Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit - A Round by Round Breakdown of What Actually Happened
PEREZ: The UFC 143 Highlight Reel - The Top 5 stories out of "Diaz vs. Condit" event in Las Vegas
UFC 143 "DIAZ VS. CONDIT" ROUNDTABLE: MMATorch staff and contributors rate and review Super Bowl weekend event
UFC 143 "DIAZ VS. CONDIT" PREVIEW: Penick's breakdown and fight picks for Super Bowl weekend event
UFC 143 ROUNDTABLE: Nick Diaz or Carlos Condit? Who has the better chance at defeating Georges St-Pierre?
PENICK: Notebook 1/30 - Chicago memories, UFC on Fox 2 BTS thoughts, Jon Jones on Evans-Davis and heavyweight aspirations
PENICK: UFC on Fox 2 notebook - In person thoughts from the United Center


ALSO: UFC PPV Reports: Results, analysis, fight ratings of all recent events
LATEST PRO WRESTLING NEWS FROM PWTORCH






HOME | CONTACT USABOUT USFACEBOOKTWITTERLIVECASTPODCASTFREE IPHONE APPFREE AMAZON APPRSS
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP | © 2006-2011 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY