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Elite XC pulls solid ratings for Saturday card
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(Las Vegas)
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The ratings verdict on Elite XC’s third CBS special isn’t completely in. But early indications are that if the promotion remains in operation, a fourth prime-time network special would take place sometime in the first quarter of 2009.
Based on the fast nationals ratings, the show did a 2.65 rating and 4.31 million viewers from 9-11 p.m. (which aired live everywhere except the West Coast). That doesn’t factor in the 11-11:20 p.m. segment featuring the 14-second Kimbo Slice loss to Seth Petruzelli, which based on metered market data was the most watched part of the show and should slightly increase the final average.
“It was a great number as far as I was concerned,” said CBS senior vice president of program operations Kelly Kahl. “The people saying it’s the end of Elite XC and the end of Elite XC on broadcast television are misinformed.”
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While the rating was important, the bad loss by Slice, the top drawing card for a company that has lost money at such a rapid rate, leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
The rating for the two hours was along the lines of the first two hours of the debut show May 31. The final number, including the Slice fight, is expected to wind up slightly lower than the debut show’s 3.0 because the first show went longer, built more audience and Slice’s fight went three rounds, giving more people the chance to tune in a match that was over almost literally as soon as it started. It will most likely wind up as the third-most watched MMA event ever in North America, trailing the EXC debut and a Sept. 8, 2007, UFC event on Spike headlined by Dan Henderson vs. Quinton Jackson.
The rating was a huge increase over the 1.75 final number of the second CBS card July 26. That was without Slice and second-biggest draw Gina Carano, and was headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith. The July card was almost universally praised for fight quality, but drew what would be considered an unacceptable number for a major network prime-time broadcast, even losing some key market demos to taped UFC fights on Spike head-to-head.
Saturday’s rating was good in that it at this point looks to have won the night in the key male adult demos, strongest in males aged 25-54, doing a 2.7 in the first two hours. The best ratings markets were in the South, and in particular in markets that were 1980s pro wrestling hotbeds.
This was a different audience than what watches UFC, whose shows do the best with males 18-34, with their best ratings markets consistently coming from the West Coast and Hawaii.
Based on early numbers, the Elite XC show appears to have beat college football in males 18-34 and 18-49 ?CORRECT THAT BOTH SETS START AT 18 AGE RANGE?, which was the goal of the show.
The sports competition Saturday was tough with the both the Wisconsin-Ohio State college football game, as well as baseball playoffs on TBS going head-to-head. Spike also counter-programmed by airing UFC 86 head-to-head, featuring Forrest Griffin’s UFC light heavyweight title win over Jackson. The May 31 debut show went against only the lower-rated Stanley Cup Finals as far as major sports competition and weaker UFC programming, beating both.
This show had the advantage of a far stronger marquee main event, because Slice’s scheduled opponent, Ken Shamrock, who ended up injured hours before the show and replaced by Petruzelli, is one of the biggest drawing fighters in MMA history. Slice’s foe on the first show, James Thompson, was an unknown except for the most ardent MMA fans. It also had the advantage of heavy promotion to the desired demo on NFL games the prior two weeks. But the first show had the advantage of the hype that surrounded the first MMA show on network television, which after the second show rating, was where the fear was that the success of MMA on network TV could be a one-time thing.
Any good news about Saturday’s rating is tempered because the big question becomes whether Slice can draw numbers of this level again after losing the way he did. If Slice is the main draw and they need him to maintain competitive network numbers, the future is very much uncertain unless they can come up with a new goose that lays golden eggs, preferably one who doubles as a top-notch fighter.
It isn’t so much that Slice lost, but that he was put down so quickly by a jab from a fighter 30 pounds lighter who few beyond hardcore fans had ever heard of. With Slice’s street-fighter image, the fantasy people have about him is that he’s a great striker, even though the reputation was made on non-fighters on YouTube and with a washed-up Tank Abbott. If Slice had lost on the ground to a slick submission, it wouldn’t have hurt him nearly as badly as the quick TKO.
“I still think that people will still want to watch him in the future,”
said Kahl. “His being on the show can help the popularity of other fighters. People may tune in to watch him, but end up liking Jake Shields (Elite XC’s welterweight champion) or Gina Carano.”
Based on the data available, the Carano vs. Kelly Kobold fight was the hit of the night, adding 950,000 viewers from the previous segment. That makes Carano two-for-two as the top ratings mover. Carano’s fight with Kaitlin Young on May 31 added 1,020,000 viewers.
The disappointment of the night was Andrei Arlovski. The former UFC heavyweight champion’s fight with Roy Nelson, the last IFL heavyweight champ, lost 110,000 viewers from the Carano fight.
Based on the fast nationals ratings, the show did a 2.65 rating and 4.31 million viewers from 9-11 p.m. (which aired live everywhere except the West Coast). That doesn’t factor in the 11-11:20 p.m. segment featuring the 14-second Kimbo Slice loss to Seth Petruzelli, which based on metered market data was the most watched part of the show and should slightly increase the final average.
“It was a great number as far as I was concerned,” said CBS senior vice president of program operations Kelly Kahl. “The people saying it’s the end of Elite XC and the end of Elite XC on broadcast television are misinformed.”
ADVERTISEMENT
While the rating was important, the bad loss by Slice, the top drawing card for a company that has lost money at such a rapid rate, leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
The rating for the two hours was along the lines of the first two hours of the debut show May 31. The final number, including the Slice fight, is expected to wind up slightly lower than the debut show’s 3.0 because the first show went longer, built more audience and Slice’s fight went three rounds, giving more people the chance to tune in a match that was over almost literally as soon as it started. It will most likely wind up as the third-most watched MMA event ever in North America, trailing the EXC debut and a Sept. 8, 2007, UFC event on Spike headlined by Dan Henderson vs. Quinton Jackson.
The rating was a huge increase over the 1.75 final number of the second CBS card July 26. That was without Slice and second-biggest draw Gina Carano, and was headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith. The July card was almost universally praised for fight quality, but drew what would be considered an unacceptable number for a major network prime-time broadcast, even losing some key market demos to taped UFC fights on Spike head-to-head.
Saturday’s rating was good in that it at this point looks to have won the night in the key male adult demos, strongest in males aged 25-54, doing a 2.7 in the first two hours. The best ratings markets were in the South, and in particular in markets that were 1980s pro wrestling hotbeds.
This was a different audience than what watches UFC, whose shows do the best with males 18-34, with their best ratings markets consistently coming from the West Coast and Hawaii.
Based on early numbers, the Elite XC show appears to have beat college football in males 18-34 and 18-49 ?CORRECT THAT BOTH SETS START AT 18 AGE RANGE?, which was the goal of the show.
The sports competition Saturday was tough with the both the Wisconsin-Ohio State college football game, as well as baseball playoffs on TBS going head-to-head. Spike also counter-programmed by airing UFC 86 head-to-head, featuring Forrest Griffin’s UFC light heavyweight title win over Jackson. The May 31 debut show went against only the lower-rated Stanley Cup Finals as far as major sports competition and weaker UFC programming, beating both.
This show had the advantage of a far stronger marquee main event, because Slice’s scheduled opponent, Ken Shamrock, who ended up injured hours before the show and replaced by Petruzelli, is one of the biggest drawing fighters in MMA history. Slice’s foe on the first show, James Thompson, was an unknown except for the most ardent MMA fans. It also had the advantage of heavy promotion to the desired demo on NFL games the prior two weeks. But the first show had the advantage of the hype that surrounded the first MMA show on network television, which after the second show rating, was where the fear was that the success of MMA on network TV could be a one-time thing.
Any good news about Saturday’s rating is tempered because the big question becomes whether Slice can draw numbers of this level again after losing the way he did. If Slice is the main draw and they need him to maintain competitive network numbers, the future is very much uncertain unless they can come up with a new goose that lays golden eggs, preferably one who doubles as a top-notch fighter.
It isn’t so much that Slice lost, but that he was put down so quickly by a jab from a fighter 30 pounds lighter who few beyond hardcore fans had ever heard of. With Slice’s street-fighter image, the fantasy people have about him is that he’s a great striker, even though the reputation was made on non-fighters on YouTube and with a washed-up Tank Abbott. If Slice had lost on the ground to a slick submission, it wouldn’t have hurt him nearly as badly as the quick TKO.
“I still think that people will still want to watch him in the future,”
said Kahl. “His being on the show can help the popularity of other fighters. People may tune in to watch him, but end up liking Jake Shields (Elite XC’s welterweight champion) or Gina Carano.”
Based on the data available, the Carano vs. Kelly Kobold fight was the hit of the night, adding 950,000 viewers from the previous segment. That makes Carano two-for-two as the top ratings mover. Carano’s fight with Kaitlin Young on May 31 added 1,020,000 viewers.
The disappointment of the night was Andrei Arlovski. The former UFC heavyweight champion’s fight with Roy Nelson, the last IFL heavyweight champ, lost 110,000 viewers from the Carano fight.