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"Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers" earns CBS less viewers than "The Ultimate Fighter"
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MMA Fanhouse is reporting that Strikeforce's prime time debut, headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers, pulled in some 5.46 million viewers at its peak this past Saturday night on CBS. When considering that the fight's numbers (which earned the network a 2.5 rating for 4.042 million viewers from 9:00 P.M. to 11:24 P.M. ET) is a 283% increase for the network on Saturday nights, and that it was the top program for both adults and men ages 18-34, the night should be viewed as a success. But success is always relative.
Aside from losing to both Fox and ABC in ratings for the night, the event, touted as one of the largest in the history of mixed martial arts, might also have lost any bragging rights it might have had over Strikeforce's number one competitor: the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
As MMA Junkie reported last month, the promotion's reality television show which airs Spike TV saw numbers that not only dwarf those of the Emelianenko vs. Rogers bout, but put the promotion to shame considering that the show airs on cable television,
According to Spike TV, 6.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the elimination bout between Roy Nelson and Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, and the show drew an average of 5.3 million viewers.
As if UFC Dana White needed any more ammunition against the promotion, right? In an interview with the LA Times, White predictable tore the event and its ratings apart,
CBS would be out of their mind to put that rinky-dink [Strikeforce] . . . on the air again . . . and without that backing, [promoters] won't have the money to pay [Emelianenko].
When considering that Emelianenko will be out of action due for the next four to six months due to injury, Strikeforce's extended future with CBS might very well be in trouble.
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