CBS' Saturday Night MMA Broadcast Draws Huge Ratings

Monday, June 02, 2008


Whether you enjoyed CBS' first attempt at an MMA broadcast or not you can't argue with the numbers. The Elite XC fight that aired Saturday night on the network beat out the Stanley Cup Finals in most major markets and just about every other program on in the same time slot. Not all the numbers are in but Variety and the L.A. Times are reporting a windfall for the "Eye"...

Variety- According to preliminary Nielsen estimates that will be finalized Tuesday, CBS led the two-hour block from 9 to 11 p.m. in adults 18-49 (1.9 rating/6 share) -- a 36% improvement over what the network averaged with its crime programming on the night during the recently concluded 2007-08 season.

But it was in younger and male demos that the fights hit a bull's-eye: Among adults 18-34, the event's 1.9 rating more than doubled the Eye's season average (0.9), while in men 18-34, it more than tripled the net's average (2.6 vs. 0.7).

Times- The first mixed martial arts event shown in prime time on a major network was a big hit for KCBS-TV Channel 2.

The Saturday night tape-delayed Elite Extreme Combat event from Newark, N.J., came in with a local overnight rating of 4.7 and a 9 share. The rating peaked at 7.2 the final 15 minutes.

By comparison, a Stanley Cup final hockey game shown earlier in the evening on KNBC-TV Channel 4 averaged just a 1.3 local rating and a 3 share.
While this was an overwhelming success, the next broadcast is going to be the telling one for the network. They're not going to get Kimbo Slice for every broadcast, and with the hardcore MMA fans mostly displeased, they're going to have to come up with some other draws to get people coming back for Round 2.

CBS punches Saturday ratings (Variety)
Mixed martial arts show with Kimbo Slice scores big in Los Angeles (LA Times)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 7:23 AM

3 Comments:

I'm almost 100% sure that Columbus, Ohio did not get these fights televised. CBS sucks. I wanted to see Crush beat some ass.

GMoney said...
Jun 2, 2008, 10:38:00 AM  

How can it have huge numbers if the main event was delayed for 45 minutes past the 11pm hour?

Jun 2, 2008, 11:11:00 AM  

Tito Ortiz anyone? He IS a free agent (but most likely will command mucho $$$). Maybe sign Ken SHAM-rock to fight Kimbo.

Otherwise we all know the real reason for the ratings. Gus Johnson = RATINGS!

Anonymous said...
Jun 2, 2008, 12:11:00 PM  

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